Little Andrew: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLittle Andrew: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 25 May 2016. Volume:714;Page:11241. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]3.ANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statements with regard to housing that “we take responsibility; we need to do a better job of it” and “we need to do more”?Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister): I stand by my full statement on housing which went on to say “To say we’ve done nothing in the last few years is absolutely not true. Just think of the things we’ve done in the last 2 years alone.” and then I listed them.Andrew Little: Given he has stated that the public’s concerns about housing are due to his Government’s failure to explain its policies how has his Government’s failure to explain its policies caused building materials to be more expensive investors to buy 80 percent of houses in some places and homeownership among under 40s to plummet to just 25 percent?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: The member is making things up. But what he may like to know—Phil Twyford: All facts.Rt Hon JOHN KEY: —because he would not want the facts to get in the way of a good story from his point of view—is that we are building on its own 40 houses every working day in Auckland. [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order!Andrew Little: How has his Government’s failure to explain its policies caused house prices to rise at over 20 percent a year in many places deposit inflation to run at $500 a week and homeownership to plummet to its worst level in 65 years?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Again the member is making things up. It is quite true that from 1986 to 2014 the year of the last census homeownership rates have declined but that has been across successive Governments. If you look at the Government programme which has been very extensive of everything from releasing more land to having more people building houses over time the supply side will actually fix the issues just as it did in Christchurch. If the member does not believe that why would the member now support the Government’s policy of releasing more land?Andrew Little: How has his Government’s failure to explain its policies caused children to live in cars and motels because there are not enough State houses and for families in rental houses to too often find them cold mouldy and unhealthy?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: The Government has done a substantial amount to help the least well off including I might point out replacing 134 tenants and their families into social housing every week. We are building 17 new social houses every week. We will be the first Government in history to give people money as they move into emergency accommodation. On top of that the Government spends nearly $10 billion a year on supporting the least well-off in New Zealand including $4.4 billion on benefits $2.4 billion on Working for Families $1.2 billion on the accommodation supplement $800 million on income-related rents $277 million on hardship assistance $143 million on recovery assistance and $340 million on improving other conditions.Andrew Little: If it is all just a failure to explain which of his three housing Ministers has had the worst failure—Nick Smith who says homelessness is a figment of our imagination; Paula Bennett who announced $41 million for emergency housing and then had to admit it did not buy a single new bed; or Bill English who says “crisis” is overstating it when homeownership is plummeting to its worst level in 65 years?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Again the member is making them all up. But one thing we can be sure of—if any one of the three of them was the Leader of the Opposition they would be polling better than 8 percent.Andrew Little: Does he really think that kids living in cars and a generation shut out of homeownership is just a political problem for him to spin his way out of?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: There has been an international decline in homeownership rates but still 65 percent of New Zealanders own a home. There are varying reasons why—because of societal changes some of them are different including people living in retirement homes. But if you look overall at the assistance that the Government gives to the least well-off New Zealanders this is the most assistance any Government has given.Andrew Little: Does he not think it is just grotesque of him to talk about a $3 billion unfunded tax cut election bribe when kids are living in cars and a generation is being shut out of homeownership?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: As I said earlier if you look at the amount that we are spending which is more than any other Government in the history of New Zealand has spent we are spending $10 billion a year on helping the least well-off. I might point out that the issue of homelessness and people living in cars is not a new issue. In 2008 when Michael Cullen did cut taxes the situation was the same.Andrew Little: Will he promise that by the time of the election next year the homeownership rate in New Zealand will be rising and every child will have a warm dry healthy home; if not why is he so lacking in ambition for New Zealanders?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: What I will promise is that the Government will keep delivering for New Zealanders in the way that it has including more assistance to low-income New Zealanders than ever before. That includes free GP visits for under-13s $10 billion worth of assistance for the least well-off breakfast in all schools that want it social workers in all low-decile schools the Youth Service for young teen beneficiaries—I could go on. They are very comprehensive responses to New Zealanders’ needs.