PRESS RELEASE

MANA Vice President John Minto

Tuesday 22nd January

MANA Welcomes the Sacking of the Minister of Housing

MANA welcomes the sacking of Housing Minister Phil Heatley in the cabinet restructure announced by Prime Minister John Key today.

“Likewise low-income communities around New Zealand will also be pleased at his demise” states MANA Vice President John Minto.

“Heatley has presided over policies which have made it harder for low-income families to access affordable housing. Under his watch we have seen declining numbers of state houses and additional housing hurdles for low-income families”.

“We have also seen policies launched which are devastating low-income communities such as Glen Innes in Auckland, Pomare in Lower Hutt and Maraenui in Napier as they are stripped of state houses”.

“MANA is calling on incoming Minister Nick Smith to take a fresh approach and begin by sitting down and listening to those people being hurt badly by current policies. It’s a long list which includes state housing tenants in GI, Maraenui and Porirua; people in the far north living in subsistence housing with currently no hope of help; homeless people in Christchurch, Auckland and elsewhere, as well as church and community groups working with the homeless and families on low incomes”.

“The country needs a breath of fresh air in housing and we will hold the new Minister to the high housing standards any decent society provides for all its citizens”.

ENDS

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Scoop Business: Bathurst Gets Nod For DoC Access To Denniston Mine

Conservation Minister Nick Smith has approved access over conservation estate land for Bathurst Resources to develop an open cast coal mine on the Denniston Plateau, above Westport, to the dismay of environmental opponents.

The timing for Smith’s move avoids Bathurst having to resubmit applications for access agreements under the revised Crown Minerals Act, which comes into force tomorrow and would have required public consultation.

The announcement lands in the middle of delicate negotiations between the company, environmental groups and other interested parties that could pave the way to a broader agreement on the Escarpment proposal, whose resource consents are still subject to court appeals. More>>