Ngaro Alfred: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeNgaro Alfred: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 16 June 2015. Volume:706;Page:4395. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]7.ALFRED NGARO (National) to the Minister for Building and Housing: How many new houses have been completed at Hobsonville Point and how many more are now planned with the Government announcement to speed up the development?Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for Building and Housing): Four hundred homes in Hobsonville are completed and occupied and a further 316 have been sold and are at various stages of construction. Saturday’s announcement brings forward 1000 homes by 2 years in Buckley B the village and the apartment complex around the new Hobsonville Point Primary School. Of these 1000 homes 300 are priced as starter homes for first-home buyers.Alfred Ngaro: When was the development in Hobsonville first announced and what mechanisms were used legislatively to enable this former Defence Force base to be used for housing?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: The plan to develop the ex - Defence Force land in Hobsonville as housing was announced in 2002. Interestingly it was declared for housing purposes under the Housing Act and Cabinet made a decision that it would not be offered for Treaty land banking or for offer-backs. By 2008 no infrastructure had been built and not a single house had been built. In fact after those 6 years not a single sod of soil had been turned. This project was mired in resource management and planning issues. With the use of these special housing areas the project is now blossoming at pace.Alfred Ngaro: What has been the relationship with local iwi on the Hobsonville project and how has the Government ensured that Treaty settlements—right of first refusals—have been complied with?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: This Government completed a Treaty settlement with Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara in July 2013. The Government negotiated in good faith with Ngāti Whātua in regard to the Hobsonville development. A pragmatic and mutually beneficial agreement was reached last year in which Ngāti Whātua will be a development partner for the village precinct at Hobsonville which is part of the 1000 homes we accelerated in the announcement on Saturday. This example shows that the Government and iwi are able to work together to bring more housing on stream while respecting Treaty settlements. I am confident we can do the same in respect of the new programme for using Crown land for housing.Phil Twyford: Can he confirm based on recent ministerial statements whether or not the newly announced houses at Hobsonville are a guesstimate like the 500 hectares he announced in the Budget and whether they are in fact only a conceptual house like the land he showed journalists on his magical mystery tour; and does he not think that Aucklanders deserve more than a ghost housing policy?Mr SPEAKER: The Hon Dr Nick Smith—any of those three questions.Hon Dr NICK SMITH: What I can assure the member of is that the houses in Hobsonville are a lot more real than the 3000 houses that were announced by Labour in 2002 of which they did not build a single one.