“Housing Minister Megan Woods has today told Parliament she’s written a $30 million cheque for Ihumatau with taxpayers’ money but has absolutely no idea how it will be spent,” says ACT’s Housing spokeswoman Brooke van Velden.

“I asked the Minister at Select Committee how many houses are projected to be built at Ihumatao and by when?

“It’s completely unacceptable the Minister couldn’t answer, saying instead this is unique.

“The money for Ihumatau came from the Land for Housing fund. They now have the land, so where’s the plan for housing?

“There is no certainty for New Zealand taxpayers about how many houses will be built at Ihumatao or a timeline for when. The only certainty is that taxpayers have been charged $30 million.

“This deal never should have taken place. The Government has told New Zealanders if you own land and someone squats on it, the Government won’t respect your property rights and it use taxpayers’ money to buy the land off you.

“Not only that, it won’t be accountable for what it does with the land afterwards.

“We have a housing crisis. The Government has used $30 million of taxpayers’ money that was meant to be used for housing. We need a plan and answers from the Government.”

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