Heatley Phil: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Heatley Phil: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:645;Page:14478] 
12.  
PHIL HEATLEY (National—Whangarei) 
 to the  
Minister for Land Information 
: What progress has been made in reviewing public landholdings in Auckland to identify what new land “might be made available for significant housing developments” and what work still needs to be done? 
Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister for Land Information) 
: 
 Last week the Prime Minister announced a comprehensive package of measures to improve housing affordability. Land Information New Zealand has already commenced work on one of the measures announced—the review of public landholdings in Auckland. 
Phil Heatley 
: When asked late last year for “work done to identify public land available for affordable housing” why did the Government itself supply a list of properties including the Auckland Zoo the Auckland libraries and 16000 hectares of Department of Conservation land; does it simply indicate how poorly thought out and ill-advanced this latest idea was? 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: The list to which the member refers is different from the list that is being prepared now. The list last time was not comprehensive. The current list being prepared will identify all public land held in Auckland. It will consider its suitability for housing developments. This will include looking at factors such as current and proposed uses of the land its size and its location. Obviously not all public land is suitable for residential development. We have to reserve land for schools etc. 
Phil Heatley 
: Why then was the Prime Minister’s statement so bold about providing public land for affordable housing when the background work was so ill-advanced and so much in its infancy that the paperwork the Government supplied still listed the zoo libraries and 16000 hectares of Department of Conservation land? 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: The member misrepresents the list to which he refers. There is no doubt that the stocktake of public lands will actually identify some lands that will be suitable for public housing. 
Darien Fenton 
: Will the review lead to unsustainable urban sprawl? 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: No it will not. There is no need to abandon proper urban planning and environmental protections which I would note seems to be the simplistic solution proposed by National. 
Phil Heatley 
: When does the Minister expect that this new list of suitable public land to be identified by Land Information New Zealand will be available and when does he expect that this land will be made available for housing so that first home buyers can have a sense of when this latest promise is to be fulfilled? 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: This promise will be fulfilled in the same reliable way that we have already assisted the 3000-plus first home buyers who have secured mortgages through the Government’s Welcome Home Loan scheme and of course more than 400000 people are in KiwiSaver many of whom will receive up to $10000 to assist them to buy their first home. I have no doubt that this stocktake of public lands will be helpful. 
Phil Heatley 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I specially asked when the Minister expected the public land schedule which is being done now to be finished and the land to be available. I was not interested in Welcome Home Loans— 
Madam SPEAKER 
: I understand the member’s point. I listened very carefully. The Minister did address the question in the first part of his answer. 
Phil Heatley 
: Why was the Prime Minister’s promise to release public land heralded as a bold action plan when such land may not surface for years; why after all this time are all the Prime Minister’s solutions still in the pipeline? No shared-equity homes are available today; the planned homes for first home buyers in Hobsonville are not built yet and when they are built a person would have to be on $70000 a year to afford one; and now we know that the public land list is so much in its infancy that we may not see it for years. How does all this help first home buyers today? 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: All of the numerous steps that are being taken will assist. The likes of the Hobsonville development will assist as will identification of other public lands. In terms of this misapprehension that we are somehow proposing to build houses on zoo land it has always been a nonsense argument. 
Phil Heatley 
: I seek leave to table the Government’s land schedule for affordable housing. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is objection.