1. Question No. 1—Prime MinisterHon JUDITH COLLINS (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Prime Minister1. Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all of her Government's statements and actions?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes particularly the Government's decision to support more first-home buyers with the deposit on their first home tip the balance in favour of first-home buyers through our demand measures incentivise investment in newly built homes and jump-start developments by funding the vital infrastructure like pipes and transport links needed for new housing. New Zealand's housing crisis has been decades in the making and there is no silver bullet and there is no quick fix. It's an issue that will take time to turn around but our package of both urgent and long-term changes will increase housing supply relieve pressure on the market and make it easier for first-home buyers.Hon Judith Collins: Can she confirm that under her Government weekly median rent has increased $120 house prices have increased $250000 and her KiwiBuild programme has only delivered 792 houses?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Based on the member's question I'm expecting full support for the package of initiatives that the Government has announced today because obviously that package is in response to the fact that since February of last year we have seen an over 20 percent increase in house prices in this country and we cannot stand by and allow that to continue to happen because it means that houses will be out of reach for our first-home buyers and it means that many families who are in housing literally feel trapped. These measures are about reducing the immediate heat that is in the market—the risk that we have a housing bubble that if it bursts will cause issues for our wider economy—and it creates longer-term supply because that is what will make a difference for renters in the long term and that is why we're encouraging investors to invest in new builds by exempting them from brightline changes and deductibility.Hon Judith Collins: Does she believe that extending the brightline test this year will have a different result from the $250000 increase in house prices that occurred since the last time she extended the brightline test?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I believe it will have the same impact as the National Party believed it would when they introduced it. It was intended of course to put greater clarity around the existing intention test that was already in place in New Zealand and we've already had as part of our tax regime that if someone purchases a home other than their family home with the intention of selling it to make profit that was intended to be taxable income. Putting a measure on that has been a way that the National Government tried to reduce ambiguity. We are doing the same. We've extended it on the advice of officials.Brooke van Velden: Is she concerned that advice from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development on the HomeStart grant in regional areas stated that Increasing the existing home grants is more likely to inflate house prices"; if so is she confident that the policy to increase the grants announced today will not further inflate house prices?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Yes. The reason that we have that element of the package is because we also have an element of a package around supply. So of course that advice is squarely based on the idea that if you do anything that potentially increases demand without having measures to increase supply then potentially you cause extra heat in the market. At the same time we've also got measures to dampen down demand particularly driven by speculators in the market which of course—the Reserve Bank and others have pointed to the considerable growth in the proportion of the market that is taken up by speculators at present. [Interruption]SPEAKER: Order! There are as the member the Hon Mr Brownlee knows numerous Speakers' rulings about repetitive interjections. I think that he has given the same interjection on seven occasions and I think that is now getting to the point of just about disorderly. Hon Judith Collins: Does she consider families who offer a second property for rent for a period of nine years to be speculators?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Certainly the issue we have at the moment is that those who are purchasing on the basis of trading in a market where they make a gain by flipping a house at a point when the market is high are causing extra demand in the housing market. What I would say to anyone who is choosing to purchase a property for the purposes of a long-term investment: make it long term. That provides extra stability for tenants. It means they aren't being removed from their housing when there is heat in the market. And we also encourage those who may be wanting to invest in New Zealand to invest in a new build. It will be exempt from the brightline changes and from interest deductibility changes.Hon Judith Collins: Is she seriously telling New Zealanders that people who invest and provide rental housing for nine years are flipping the market?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The advice that we've been given was that an extension was in order and we agreed with that advice. What I would also again say as a general message to those considering investment property: there will be a place for that in New Zealand; there is. We ask you though at a time when we have significant supply issues: turn your mind to investing in a new build.Hon Judith Collins: How is extending the brightline test from two years to 10 years anything other than converting what was an income tax on speculators into a capital gains tax on rental properties?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Of course the member is referring to the policy which her party introduced. Again I would point to the fact that at that time "A capital gains tax is something that you pay no matter when you buy and sell the property"—that was from John Key. "Some people characterise this as a capital gains tax. It is not …; it is actually an income tax and everyone has an obligation to pay"—that was Andrew Bayly. Again "This means … when somebody buys property with the intention of making a profit they must pay income tax on that gain"—that was Todd McClay. And Simon Bridges said that the brightline test is a "world away" from a capital gains tax.Hon Judith Collins: So which will deliver more houses: the $2 billion given to Kāinga Ora today for land acquisition or the $2 billion given to Kāinga Ora for KiwiBuild in 2018?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I can tell you that both initiatives will deliver more than what that last Government attempted to when for instance they put out a $1 billion infrastructure scheme for loans to council—knowing of course they had limited rating base; they had of course limits to how much debt they could take on as councils—and it simply did not move the dial the way we needed. The $3.8 billion acceleration fund we have for investment in infrastructure will be a game-changer for many and it's why for instance we have the likes of Nelson City Council coming out and saying this will shift the dial.Hon Judith Collins: What is her understanding of the difference between an income tax on people who purchase property in order to resell it immediately and a capital gains tax on people who own a property and provide rental accommodation for others for up to 10 years?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The same as John Key's and the same as many members of that side of the House."