15 June 2015

Govt cheating iwi, first-home buyers and our legal system

The Government must honour Treaty settlements and allow Ngati Whatua, Tainui and other iwi first right of refusal on Crown-owned land, rather than trying to please its property developer mates, the Green Party said today.

“What a complete and utter shambles ­– the Government is cheating iwi, young Aucklanders who are desperate to buy their own homes and our legal system,” Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said today.

“John Key, Nick Smith and Bill English are the fairy godfathers of property developers everywhere ­– they’re making all their dreams come true, at the expense of first-time home buyers.

“The Government is skirting around its legal obligations in order to fast track the transfer of land to profit-hungry developers, some of whom may potentially be based offshore and all of whom will be keen to cash in on the sky-rocketing Auckland housing market.

“Worst still, these very ‘lucky’ developers will be under no obligation to build the affordable housing Aucklanders desperately want.

“You can bet your bottom dollar ­they’re going to be hawking off most of the houses built on this land to the highest bidder, because this Government will let them do it.

“New Zealanders deserve to know exactly who these developers are, why exactly they’re getting preference over iwi and why the Government is willing to bend over backwards for them, without even demanding that they build houses Aucklanders can afford.

“Ngati Whatua has said publicly that they want to be part of the solution to the housing crisis, and I’m sure other iwi do too.

“The Government needs to honour that and honour its Treaty obligations, instead of acting in the interests of property developers.

“This is another massive misstep from Nick Smith, and yet another sign that this Government’s housing policy is both badly thought out and executed,” said Mrs Turei.

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