State Housing Action Network

Media Release:

Housing New Zealand’s chief executive Andrew McKenzie has to go

The State Housing Action Network is calling on the government to sack Housing New Zealand Chief Executive Andrew McKenzie.

McKenzie has consistently refused to be interviewed by journalists to explain and account for Housing New Zealand’s role in the meth contamination fiasco whereby $100 million in public funds was wasted by his agency on bogus science.

Under McKenzie, Housing New Zealand continued using the bogus meth test levels even after repeated warnings from the Ministry of Health that it was misusing the standard.

Under his watch not only were massive amounts of public funds wasted but endless suffering has been caused by hundreds of evictions, bans from access to state housing and hunting down of tenants through the Tenancy Tribunal to pay for hugely expensive and unnecessary clean-ups.

Yet McKenzie sees himself as somehow above public scrutiny.

He is a public servant who refuses to be accountable to the public. He has to go.

SHAN has written to Housing Minister Phil Twyford today demanding the government request McKenzie’s resignation and if it’s not forthcoming he should be sacked.

McKenzie has to go.

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