2. Housing—Homelessness and Emergency HousingANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterHousing—Homelessness and Emergency Housing2. ANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does he have confidence that his housing and social Ministers have homelessness under control given the number of grants for emergency housing has almost hit 30000 in nine months when only 1400 were expected for the whole year?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH (Prime Minister): Yes Ministers are doing a good job. The 30000 grants apply to around 8000 actual people because a number of them get successive grants. Over the past year the Ministers have overseen the first ever direct Government investment in emergency housing amounting to more than $300 million and supplying up to 8000 places for transitional housing. The member cannot have it both ways—on the one hand criticising the Government for not doing enough and on the other hand criticising the Government for spending too much money.Andrew Little: Does he stand by his statement yesterday that I don't know why people are complaining" about him spending $140000 a day putting homeless families in motels. Does he not understand that he caused this crisis by selling and knocking down thousands of State houses and not replacing them?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: The member is simply wrong in his assertion about State housing. There are more State houses than ever and I am pleased to say that the Government has taken a large number of initiatives including the Housing Infrastructure Fund designed to ensure that tens of thousands more houses are built.Andrew Little: When a study from Yale says New Zealand has the worst homelessness problem in the developed world is he going to admit—without ducking and diving all over the show—that after 9 years his Government has failed in its basic duty to put a roof over people's heads?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: If there is any failure in basic duty it is the basic duty of the Opposition to be a good critic of the Government which it has certainly failed in. Even Yale University itself says that the absence of an internationally agreed definition of homelessness hampers meaningful comparisons. In other words the comparison is meaningless.Andrew Little: Does he feel any responsibility for the children doing their homework by torchlight in cars for the families sleeping in freezing garages or for the homeless people dying on park benches?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: That is why the Government has gone to all the trouble of investing $300 million in emergency housing for the first time ever and setting out on a number of major initiatives to ensure that tens of thousands of new houses are built both by the Government and by the private market.Andrew Little: Given that overseas speculators are driving up housing costs will he ban those speculators from buying our homes; if not why is he protecting overseas speculators rather than the homeless in New Zealand?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: It is time that the Opposition stopped blaming New Zealanders with Chinese-sounding names for what goes on in the housing market. In case the member has not noticed house prices in Auckland are flat to falling.Andrew Little: Can he explain why when we have the worst homelessness problem in the developed world his latest move as Prime Minister is a $400 million tax cut to the richest 10 percent? [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order!Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: I think we do have the worst Labour Party in the developed world—I do not think there is any doubt about that. The homelessness comparison is irrelevant and the Government is very happy with the initiatives it has announced in the last couple of weeks with the Housing Infrastructure Fund that will enable 60000 new houses and Crown infrastructure partnerships that will enable tens of thousands more houses to be built.Andrew Little: After 9 years how does he feel to know that New Zealanders will remember his Government as the author of the worst housing crisis in our history and its legacy as being 41000 homeless New Zealanders?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: In a growing economy and with a growing population we need more houses. Unlike that member we are investing to support the infrastructure for more houses. That member says he wants to take a breather before he has even got on the job."