Turei Metiria: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Turei Metiria: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:668;Page:14844] 
2. 
METIRIA TUREI (Co-Leader—Green) 
 to the  
Minister of Finance 
: Is he satisfied that all the Government’s economic policies contribute to the goal of “clear credible ambitious and growth-friendly medium-term fiscal consolidation”? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance) 
: 
 The answer to that is yes. The goal the member is referring to is one that was set out either by the OECD or the G20 finance Ministers in their recent communiqué. 
Metiria Turei 
: How does it help to meet this goal by paying over $1 billion a year in accommodation supplement subsidies to landlords especially as the total Government housing subsidy is expected to rise to nearly $3 billion by 2016? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: The member will be aware there has been debate for some time about what drives the cost of housing. We will continue to pay the accommodation supplement to tenants. I know some believe that that is just passed on to landlords but they should try taking it off the tenants and see what happens. Of course it would leave them in an unacceptable situation. The member will know that the Government has done a review of State housing and a number of our Resource Management Act changes are designed to increase the supply of affordable housing. 
Metiria Turei 
: Does he agree then that it is an inadequate supply of housing to meet the current deficit of 70000 homes that is fuelling the projected blowout of the Government’s housing subsidy? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: I think the member is probably at least in part right that constraints on the supply of housing drive up the cost of housing including for those tenants that the Government is subsidising. I look forward to the Green Party’s support of the changes the Government is making to our regulatory structures to improve the supply of affordable housing. 
Metiria Turei 
: Will the Minister then consider a State house building programme like that proposed in the Green Party’s Mind the Gap package of 6000 homes over 3 to 5 years which will help to address the housing shortage constrain the growth in the housing subsidy and create 28000 jobs in the process? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: The Government’s obvious preference would be that the private sector was able to expand the supply of affordable houses. We have just done a review of State housing where a pretty broad-based group with a lot of experience in housing made the point that the simple growth in the number of State houses often does not help those who are most in need. They are the Government’s priority. 
Metiria Turei 
: Why then is the Government prepared to borrow ever-increasing sums of money to fund a housing subsidy for landlords yet is not prepared to borrow to invest in building homes for New Zealand families? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: I am not sure whether we are disagreeing here. The Government would like to see a greater supply of affordable housing. It is somewhat ironic though that the Green Party is among those who most vociferously object to new subdivisions and to the expansion of housing. If we could get those rules changed in local bodies so as to encourage more affordable housing then that might drop the cost of the rental subsidy as well as increase the opportunities for first-home buyers.