The following is a Speech delivered by Winston Peters, Elected Member of Parliament from Northland and Leader of New Zealand First Party at Pt England Protest held at Pt England Reserve, Auckland at 4 pm on Saturday May 13, 2017
New Zealand First is very concerned about the loss of one third of the total of the Pt England reserve.
It should be kept intact as a reserve for present and future generations.
Reserves of this size are rare in Auckland. If lost, it is gone for good. And the edges will continue to be nibbled away for housing.
While New Zealand First wants direct government intervention to provide sections and houses we would use suitable Crown land or local authority land for housing. We would not steal a reserve.
Meet not matched
Auckland needs well over 140,000 houses within the next 10 years.
This ham-fisted and desperate proposal is for only 300 houses, a drop in Auckland’s housing crisis.
Taking reserve land is cheating. People need open spaces in a city.
This is about National failing to deal with a housing crisis early on. Now the horse has bolted. It’s panic mode as Election Day nears.
National has been helpless and hopeless on housing in nine years. First, it claimed there was no housing crisis. Despite the former Prime Minister bellowing when in opposition that there was one.
Ineffective Minister
Nick Smith as Housing Minister has been worse than useless.
He has been in total denial and couldn’t even get a launch of new development sites right. Why he was not sacked a long time ago probably demonstrates the lack of talent in the National Party caucus. He kept shrieking about consents as though they were houses.
National has blamed everything and everyone from the Auckland council, to the RMA and the former government.
On the former government they have a point, Labour continued mass immigration and didn’t build houses to match it.
The old parties have a pot calling the kettle black on this issue.
National has tinkered.
Immigration deluge
IRD numbers and account numbers were supposed to stop speculators.
Now we find that land transfer documents are being filed with incorrect IRD numbers.
That’s no mistake. Of course not.
In fact, there were 12,500 incorrect numbers filed, or one in every 20.
National refused to turn down the immigration tap.
It is pouring a city the size of Rotorua into New Zealand each year, over half settling here.
Now Kiwis cannot afford homes, even if they are available. Rentals are few, and costly. Many people are living in garages, and cars, or worse.
The government shoves those in desperate need of a roof over their head into cheap motels as emergency housing.
Meanwhile, State housing is being sold, or run down. The big winners are banks, real estate firms, agents and speculators, many from overseas.
Our housing crisis is a story of wheeling and dealing by National’s friends.
National is trying to hoodwink the public into believing they are building and have land ready.
Stealing a reserve off the people is a low blow and a cheat’s way of trying to solve a massive crisis.
It is a super mess and people know it.
*
Photo Caption:
Winston Peters
