Turei Metiria: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeTurei Metiria: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 20 May 2014. Volume:699;Page:18077. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]3.METIRIA TUREI (Co-Leader—Green) to thePrime Minister: Does he stand by all his statements?Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister): Yes.Metiria Turei: Why did he say that homes in Auckland are more affordable than homes in London New York Singapore Melbourne Sydney and Brisbane when according to the OECD they are actually much more expensive relative to income than almost anywhere in the developed world?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I think the member is wrong in her facts.Metiria Turei: Is the Prime Minister saying to young Aucklanders that they are not locked out of the housing market when they know too well that they are locked out by rising rents high loan-to-value ratios $600000-plus median house prices and with student loans to pay off to boot?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: For a start off if the member wants to take a cursory look at TradeMe and refines her search to Auckland there are currently over 2000 properties listed under $400000. Most people can go to the bank and get a loan of 80 percent obviously subject to their mortgage but some people can actually get more than that because loan-to-value ratio restrictions overall are not in total. But the reality is that no one is arguing that Auckland is the cheapest place to buy a house. We are just arguing that the Government is taking a lot of steps to help address that with its special housing area and it was more unaffordable under Labour.Metiria Turei: Would the Prime Minister then be surprised to learn that on TradeMe yesterday excluding those properties without their own freehold land like removable homes and apartments there were actually just 11—just 11—three-bedroom homes or larger in Auckland City for sale below $300000 and just 36 for sale were below $400000?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: The member is putting all sorts of conditions around it but there are over 2000 properties under $400000 in Auckland. That is the very point as to why the Government has worked with the Auckland Council for there to be 39000 sections released. What is that member doing? I know—that member is standing in theway of the Resource Management Act which would help speed up the release of land. The member is doing what she always does—she is crying crocodile tears but is not actually prepared to do anything about it.Metiria Turei: Can the Prime Minister confirm that house prices in Auckland under National’s 5 years in Government have risen by the same dollar amount as they did in the previous 9 years under Labour about $187000 per home and when will he start taking responsibility for the housing crisis rather than denying it exists?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: What I can confirm is that under the Roost survey which is by far the best measure houses were more unaffordable under the previous Government than under ours. To run through it—this is the responsibility this Government is taking. We have organised the Auckland Housing Accord; 39000 consents will be issued over the next 3 years. We have suspended duties and tariffs on imported building materials. We have reformed legislation to limit development contributions. We have made some changes to the Resource Management Act and we would like to make more. We have increased the additions on Welcome Home Loans and KiwiSaver first-home deposit subsidies. We have built a strong and robust economy with the support of New Zealanders and their businesses to see them in jobs. What we do know is that no one will be able to afford a house if they lose their job which under a Labour-Greens Government many of them will.Metiria Turei: Does the answer to the housing crisis not include a major State house building programme so that those who need a house to rent or buy can get it and a capital gains tax to prevent investment driving up prices and ensure that those who are making money off property pay tax just like the rest of us helping to build a sustainable economy with real jobs?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Given that a capital gains tax includes the majority of homes I can only make the assumption that—and the member might want to correct this—what the member is telling the New Zealand Parliament is that under the Green Party if it were part of the Government every home would have a capital gains tax on it. That is an interesting assertion.Metiria Turei: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You have previously ruled that it is not necessarily appropriate for parties to talk about other political parties’ policy. That is all the Prime Minister did. He did not address the question of whether a capital gains tax excluding the family home and a major State house building programme were part of the solution to the housing crisis.Mr SPEAKER: The difficulty is the member herself brought in effectively alternative politics in her supplementary question.Metiria Turei: Is the Prime Minister basing his assumptions about home affordability on his own personal experience of owning several properties offshore and does that not show how staggeringly out of touch he is with young Kiwi families trying to buy a modest three-bedroom home in Auckland—staggeringly out of touch?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: No but what it does show is the Greens whenever they start losing an argument get personal. I think Jan Logie is a very interesting person to reflect on her own comments in the decorum of this Parliament. Actually the Green Party used to say under the old leadership that it stood up for decent values. That has clearly now gone and all New Zealanders should understand that the Greens have turned into the nasty party.Hon David Cunliffe: I seek leave to table a transcript fromHansard of the Prime Minister—Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member will resume his seat. We do not use the tabling of documents process to then attempt to tableHansard.