2. Housing—Ownership of New Zealand PropertyHon AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) to the Associate Minister of FinanceHousing—Ownership of New Zealand Property2. Hon AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) to the Associate Minister of Finance: Does he agree with the Minister of Finance's statement that he wants to see a significant increase" in the supply of housing and what role will non - New Zealand developers and capital play in meeting this goal?Hon DAVID PARKER (Associate Minister of Finance): Yes I expect non - New Zealand developers and capital will assist the coalition Government in our goal of resolving the housing crisis left by the past Government but non - New Zealand capital will no longer be allowed to speculate by buying existing New Zealand homes. We're backing Kiwis.Hon Amy Adams: Does his failure to give a precise answer to a written question on notice about the role non - New Zealand capital will have mean that this Government has failed to assess or bother to ask how much foreign investment will be required to significantly increase the supply of housing in New Zealand?Hon DAVID PARKER: Firstly I reject the assertion in the question but secondly the Opposition can't have it both ways. The past Government claimed foreign capital was negligible in the New Zealand housing market and that a ban on overseas buyers would make no difference; now in Opposition they say banning foreign speculators will crash the market. Which is it? The Opposition can't have it both ways.Hon Amy Adams: How does he see the changes his Government announced to the Overseas Investment Act in December contributing to a significant increase in the supply of housing given the low number of net foreign buyers of residential houses and the necessity for investment capital to build to increase the housing supply?Hon DAVID PARKER: Cabinet's already made some recommendations for changes to the bill following submissions at select committee to make it clear that large developments that are for rental or shared equity can proceed. But we do not resile from the viewpoint that the New Zealand housing market should be a New Zealand - controlled market not one that's controlled by foreign buyers. Hon Amy Adams: Why then did the Government announce changes to the Overseas Investment Act last month regarding forestry rights to make it easier to gain approval for foreign forestry buyers because this was a sector where the Government wanted to encourage growth at the same time as it's making it harder to invest in growing the housing supply? Hon DAVID PARKER: The member's answered her own question because the reason that we wanted to ease up on screening for forestry is that we are already reliant on foreign direct investment in the forest sector and we want more of it. That's why we're loosening the criteria in respect of forestry at the same time as we're trying to make it harder for foreigners to speculate in New Zealand homes—because we don't think that's a good idea. Hon Amy Adams: Is the truth not that his Government is more interested in ideological opposition to foreigners owning houses than it is truly committed to growing the housing supply in New Zealand? Hon DAVID PARKER: I don't call it ideological to back New Zealanders in respect of who owns New Zealand homes. I think that is a matter of common sense. New Zealanders want to live in a country where they're not tenants in their own country. We back Kiwi homeowners over overseas speculators. Hon Amy Adams: Well if that's correct why then is commentary on his Overseas Investment Amendment Bill describing it as likely to "make the problem worse" and in fact "aggravate the shortage of affordable housing."? Hon DAVID PARKER: We're quite confident that that's not correct."