Key accuses Kiwis of 'crying wolf' about housing affordability

John Key’s claim that Kiwis scrimping and saving for their first home are just ‘crying wolf’ about the housing affordability crisis shows he’s completely out of touch, says Labour Leader David Shearer.

“Kiwi home-buyers aren’t crying wolf. They’re crying out for help because house prices and the lack of affordable houses on the market are putting the dream of home ownership further out of their reach.

“John Key is refusing to help ease the pressure on first-home buyers. He’d rather leave it to the market, deny there is a problem and blame the council.  So in other words, it is more hands-off, do nothing from National.  This Government has no idea how to tackle housing affordability.

“That’s not good enough. Labour will stand up for first-home buyers. We’ll oversee the biggest building programme in 50 years, putting 100,000 Kiwi families into their first homes. These homes will be a mix of stand-alone houses, apartments and terraced housing.

“This will make a real difference to people’s lives.

“Not only is John Key claiming people concerned about affordable housing are crying wolf, he’s also crying off his own speech he delivered yesterday.

“In his Statement to Parliament, he repeated his previously announced top 10 targets. He said there would be improvement in some measures but ‘not in others’.

When tackled in Parliament today on what areas would not be improved, John Key couldn’t remember what his speech said, saying he’d need to look at the ‘context’.

“Clearly another convenient case of brain fade from John Key when it comes to issues that he wants to forget, including his own Government’s poor performance,” said David Shearer.