Turei Metiria: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers Questions to MembersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeTurei Metiria: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members[Sitting date: 22 July 2015. Volume:707;Page:5196. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]11.METIRIA TUREI (Co-Leader—Green) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement that “You certainly wouldn’t want to say to a low-income family they can never own a home because I believe that they can own a home.”?Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister): I stand by my full statement. I was asked how realistic it was for people on low and middle incomes to aspire to own a home in Auckland and I said that it depends on their circumstances and they are many and varied. It depends on their family make-up and what sort of property they would buy. It depends on where they are prepared to live. It depends long-term on interest rates. But you certainly would not want to say to a low-income family that they will never own their own home because I believe that they can own a home but we will have to work hard to make sure we produce as much supply as we can.Metiria Turei: How does the Prime Minister seriously believe that low-income families in Auckland can own their own home—notwithstanding all the conditions he wrapped around that statement—when more than 80 percent of the homes sold in June in Auckland went for more than $500000 pushing them well out of the reach of low-income families there?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Of course it is far more difficult for a low-income family and the Government acknowledges that. But there are plenty of low-income families that buy homes. You only need to go and ask the Tindall Foundation the housing foundation that is helping a lot of low-income families into homes.Metiria Turei: Well can the Prime Minister tell the House how he believes a low-income family—that is one earning less than $700 a week—can first afford to save a 20 percent deposit of $90000 for a house worth $450000 then meet the weekly mortgage repayments of around $446 a week and still feed and clothe their family?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I am glad that member is not running the country because quite frankly firstly she does not understand the policies—for a start off it is 10 percent under a Welcome Home Loan—and secondly she lacks horribly in ambition. If the member wants to go and tell every low-income family in New Zealand that they should have no ambition to do better in life to be able to own their own home and to try to achieve that goal she is welcome to it. I think it is possible for people to be able to do that. I accept that it is extremely difficult and more difficult for low-income families but there are some very inexpensive homes even in a place like Auckland.Metiria Turei: Is this not just yet another example of a Prime Minister entirely out of touch with the reality of the lives of low-income families and of his Government being simply uninterested and worse incapable of delivering policies that will enable these families to own their own home?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: No I think the member is just so negative and so toxic for the Greens’ brand that it will not be very long before she is replaced by Julie Anne Genter.