Greens And Labour Not Interested in Solving Cause Of Housing Problem
Press Release by ACT Leader John Banks
Monday, February 25 2013

Today's comments by Labour leader David Shearer and Green MP Holly Walker prove that neither Labour nor the Greens have any interest in addressing the real cause of housing unaffordability - the lack of land supply, ACT Leader John Banks said today.

“David Shearer bizarrely asserts that increasing the freedom to build would increase red tape. How does this make sense and since when did Labour oppose increasing red tape? Labour put around 30,000 pages of new legislation on the books between 2000 and 2009 – by far the largest number in any decade in the history of New Zealand,” Mr Banks said.

“Labour could demonstrate its road-to-Damascus conversion to opposing red tape is genuine by publicly supporting the Regulatory Standards Bill that was recommended by the high-powered Regulatory Responsibility Taskforce. The Bill would oblige new and existing regulations to be tested against sound principles more rigorously than in any time in New Zealand’s history.

“As for the Greens, their assertion that freeing up the supply of land would make housing less affordable is, if anything, even more incoherent than Labour’s statement. At least they deserve credit for consistency in that respect.

“The Greens are staunchly opposed to the reasonable desire of most New Zealanders to own a house with a bit of green land around it for the kids to play on, the whole family to enjoy a summer BBQ, and off-street parking. They want to force New Zealanders to intensify but New Zealanders don’t want the chicken coop high rise living that the Greens want to force on them and their families.

"ACT’s Freedom To Build policy will address the key cause of housing unaffordability – land supply. It will give families the choice to live in an affordable home with a bit of green land, or in an apartment if that’s what suits them best,” Mr Banks said.

ACT's Freedom To Build policy can be found here

ENDS

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