5. PITA PARAONE (NZ First) Link to this
to the Minister of Housing
How many primary applicants who were not New Zealand citizens at the time of application were housed in Housing New Zealand Corporation properties in the 2006/07 financial year and how does this number compare with the number housed in the 2001/02 financial year?
Hon CHRIS CARTER (Minister of Housing) Link to this
In 2001 and 2002, 1,197 applicants housed by the corporation were not New Zealand citizens at the time of application. In 2006 and 2007, 1,466 applicants were not New Zealand citizens at the time of application but were lawfully resident in New Zealand. Many people who hold New Zealand residency, particularly from the UK and Australia, have been in New Zealand for a very long time.
How does the Minister think that ordinary New Zealanders who have been New Zealanders their whole lives feel, as they linger on Housing New Zealand Corporation waiting-lists for years, when they find out that this Government has overseen a 22.5 percent increase in houses—or as many as 7,000—granted to people who were not New Zealand citizens, in the past 6 years?
I remind the member and the House that anyone housed in a Housing New Zealand Corporation unit or house has to be lawfully resident in New Zealand. New Zealand residents have full rights of citizenship in our country, and are encouraged to apply for citizenship. Many people choose not to.
Russell FairbrotherApplicants for State housing must be lawfully, and ordinarily, resident in New Zealand to be eligible for a home. Housing New Zealand Corporation gives priority to people with the highest need. That is quite unlike the previous National Government’s approach, which merely focused on the ability of people to pay the Government’s exorbitant rents.
Can the Minister confirm that immigrants, other than refugees, are able to apply for, and receive, a State house after holding permanent residency for just 2 years; and can the Minister not see the irony in the fact that immigrants, who are supposed to come to New Zealand with jobs and a degree of financial support, even need to apply for State housing?
I can confirm that a resident, having been resident in New Zealand, can apply for a Housing New Zealand Corporation house, but I remind the House again that we have a priority system of allocation, based on the greatest need.
Can the Minister confirm that under the guise of providing “security of tenure” Housing New Zealand Corporation does not check to see whether the circumstances that led to people being granted a State house have changed at some time, a situation that means that an immigrant not only can receive a State house after being in New Zealand for just 2 years but also can live in it for life, no questions asked; and does the Minister agree that such a situation is grossly unfair for the thousands of Kiwis currently on the waiting list?
I can confirm that the waiting list for Housing New Zealand Corporation has gone down. I can confirm that tenants have security of tenure in their houses. That has been a feature of Labour’s policy for State-house tenants. I can confirm also that one in five New Zealanders was born outside our country. We are a nation of immigrants.