Building houses on the Ihumātao land appears to be all hui, no action, despite a desperate shortage of housing, says National’s Associate Housing­ spokesperson Tama Potaka.

The 32ha block designated as a Special Housing Area was for four years the subject of a protest by Māori who said the land should not be developed. In late 2020, the then Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the Government had bought the land from Fletchers for $29.9 million, with the money coming from the Land for Housing programme.

“More than two years have passed, and not one single house has been built,” says Mr Potaka.

“Additionally, Te Puni Kōkiri has provided a further $400,000 to support the Rōpu Whakahaere or committee established to oversee the project.

“This is unbelievable and typical of a Labour government that wastes public money and cannot deliver. There are 27,000 families on the state housing list right now and the Government is sitting on a $30 million site, doing nothing.

“The purpose of the Land for Housing fund is to deliver affordable housing. Yet two years later the site is still empty. The $30 million would have been better spent elsewhere.

“Labour has failed to deliver on housing. The Government is spending more than $1 million a week on emergency housing, Kiwibuild has delivered just 2,000 of the promised 100,000 homes and New Zealand has gone from the biggest-ever rise in house prices to people now worrying about losing their homes due to rising interest rates.

“National will reverse Labour’s interest deductibility and bright-line changes and stop Labour’s war on landlords.

“National will unlock more land for housing, drive infrastructure investment to create more housing, share the benefits of housing growth with local communities, increase long-term rental options with Build-to-Rent housing, boost social and affordable housing by backing community housing providers and ensure everyday Kiwis can get mortgages by fixing the Consumer Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act which has cut access to bank lending.

“National is determined that New Zealand can once again be a place where hardworking, aspirational, everyday people can see a path to home ownership. Where Labour has failed, National will deliver.”

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