10. Question No. 10—HousingRICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH (Green) to the Minister of HousingQuestion No. 10—Housing10. RICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH (Green) to the Minister of Housing: Is she committed to ensuring the Kāinga Ora build programme will deliver enough housing for everyone currently on the waiting list and for projected future needs?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Housing): I'm proud of our Government's record adding a record number of homes through Kāinga Ora and community housing providers (CHPs) since 2017—more than any other Government since the 1970s. Through Budget 2023 we have also committed both operating and capital funding to deliver an additional 3000 public homes by June 2025. This commitment provides certainty for Kāinga Ora and CHPs to maintain the momentum that they have built up. As I have previously said each political party will need to show New Zealand what their delivery plans are ahead of the election and how it fits within their prioritised manifesto commitments. But public housing alone will not solve New Zealand's housing crisis and that's why we've invested a massive $3.8 billion in the Housing Acceleration Fund to fund essential infrastructure like roads and pipes as well as investing $350 million into the Affordable Housing Fund to deliver more affordable rentals which will also help to reduce the wait-list.Ricardo Menéndez March: Does she think it is fair to not commit to adequately funding the Kāinga Ora build programme so that everyone on the housing waiting list has a warm dry affordable home to live in so she can turn it into an election year political football?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: The member's characterisation is simply not correct. Our Government at each Budget has put additional funding into the operational funding that is required to build State houses. When we came into Government there was only income-related rent subsidy funding or operational funding for around a thousand additional places. In the time that we have been in Government we have increased the Budget each and every year to fund increased commitments. I am proud to stand here as a Labour Minister of Housing and say that one in seven of every public houses in this country was built by our Government in the last six years.Ricardo Menéndez March: Does she agree that it is essential to have a long-term build programme for Kāinga Ora to clear the public housing waiting list and if so why was that not present in the Budget?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: Yes I do agree and that is why our Government at each and every Budget has put funding in to ensure that momentum can be maintained. When I spend time with both our community housing providers and with Kāinga Ora in order for them to do the contracting that is required to maintain momentum of the largest State house build in a generation they need the ability to contract out to 2025. That is exactly what our Government has delivered. Our Government has delivered operational funding for an additional 21000 public and transitional houses over the last six years in Government. A decade before that across both our community housing providers and our State house provider we ended up with 1500 fewer houses over that decade. What we have done is something I am proud of.Ricardo Menéndez March: Will the Minister commit to changing the ratio of public versus private homes that are being built as part of redevelopments so that we can clear the public housing wait sooner and ensure that everyone has a warm dry home to live in?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: One of the things that I spoke about when I spoke at the Community Housing Aotearoa Conference last week was actually about the fact that what I want to see us do in the year that we've just funded of the public housing plan is build in those very difficult places those places where we haven't built for decades because we do not own the land. It is about rebuilding our public housing infrastructure outside of our main centres. So no I won't commit to that because I want to see Gisborne have State housing again. I want to see Rotorua have State housing again. I want to see Timaru have State housing again. I want to see Ashburton have State housing again. Making a simple commitment like the member is asking me to do would be short-changing the people in regional New Zealand.