2. Housing—Dwelling Consents and SupplyANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterHousing—Dwelling Consents and Supply2. ANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement that we are seeing a record number of houses being built" given 2016 isn't even in the top 5 years for number of dwelling consents issued?Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister): Yes and as I said in answer to an almost identical question from Mr Little last month according to the latest building activity survey from Statistics New Zealand the amount of residential building work in the 3 months to July was the highest since the series began back in the 1980s. That is up 6 percent on the previous record levels set in March this year. That is an increase of 50 percent since 2013 and over 90 percent since the start of 2012. As I said previously building consents have been running at the highest level for over 11 years and we are looking to increase them further.Andrew Little: Can he confirm that the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment's June state of the markets report says on page 5 that there is a building shortfall of 8000 houses a year in Auckland?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: No I cannot confirm that. But what I can confirm is that if we look at the special housing areas established by the Government since October 2013 over 1300 homes have been completed 2200 building consents have been issued 2458 new sections have been created and 7170 new sections have been granted resource consent—Mr SPEAKER: Order! Bring the conclusion to an end.Rt Hon JOHN KEY: The Government is making good progress.Andrew Little: Can he confirm that the report also says on page 5 that there was no shortfall in houses in Auckland when he came to office but now there is a cumulative shortfall of 34000 houses?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: No. I cannot confirm that. But it is hardly surprising that the demand for housing has gone up because when I became Prime Minister of this country 35000 New Zealanders a year deserted for Australia—because they were sick of Helen Clark's Government—and now they are coming home to New Zealand. [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! I need substantially less interjection than that which is occurring.Andrew Little: When the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment said months ago that not enough houses are being built in Auckland and the shortfall is going to continue to grow for years to come why did he not tell the public?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: The Government has through its comprehensive plan been demonstrating to New Zealanders that it is very serious about increasing supply and in fact that the increase in supply that we are seeing is having a dramatic effect. One only needs to go round Auckland for about 5 minutes and have a look at the enormous amount of construction that is under way. That is why we know there are literally thousands and thousands more people working in construction—tens of thousands actually—in Auckland than there were a few years ago.Andrew Little: If Auckland needs 34000 more houses today and he has managed just 18 affordable houses in the special housing areas in 3 years how long will it take to fix the housing shortfall?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: The member is talking nonsense when he wants to try to trot out his little number of 18 and it dents what very little credibility he has got. As the Minister for Building and Housing has pointed out over 500 houses meet the criteria that he defines and that is why the member has no credibility because he just keeps making things up—Mr SPEAKER: Order! That sort of final comment will only lead to disorder. [Interruption] Order! Now the interjections are coming from both front benches. I will ask people once more to desist. If I need to start mentioning them by name I can do that as well.Andrew Little: Why did he claim a $1 billion infrastructure fund would be the answer to the housing crisis when Treasury had told him it is not likely to result in additional housing in the short term?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I did not. What I did claim was that the $1 billion could be used by councils in the five areas. That will make a difference. That was as a result of ongoing discussions we have had with a number of councils over a long period of time where they talked to us about their inability to take more debt on their balance sheet. The Opposition members cannot have it both ways. On the one hand they want to tell us that we are taking it too slowly to get them what they want—and when we move rapidly they tell us we are going too fast. Maybe we have just got a Goldilocks situation: about right.Andrew Little: Can we just get a straight answer to this: when he has managed only 18 affordable houses in 3 years does he really think he is doing enough to fix the housing crisis?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: It does not matter how many times the member comes to the House with a made-up number that he cannot back up. It does not make it right. It is just like when he keeps telling everyone that he has the support of his caucus. That does not mean it is right either."