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Government’s Kāinga Ora rhetoric may be ‘trying to manufacture a crisis’ – Chris Hipkins

Published

3 years ago

December 19, 2023

Labour’s leader Chris Hipkins says Kāinga Ora is an efficient house builder and he suspects the government is trying to “manufacture a crisis” and stop the house building programme.

National’s Housing Minister Chris Bishop says the government’s review of the social housing agency is not about selling off state housing, and the government intends to increase the number of houses and housing places.

Bishop on Monday announced the government’s independent review of Kāinga Ora – promised in its coalition deals – would be led by former prime minister Sir Bill English and report back at the end of March.

He said he was concerned about the levels of debt – which were expected to rise – and the operating deficit, but he had also received new concerning advice from Treasury about the agency’s operations since coming to office.

The government would not release those details yet as it was commercially sensitive, but planned to release as much as it could when the review was being finalised.

There were also “worrying trends in the financial performance”, he said, and homes built by the agency cost more than the market average.

Speaking to media on Tuesday morning, Chris Hipkins said Kāinga Ora was an “efficient house builder” and he did not know what problems in it Bishop was referring to.

“I suspect he’s just trying to manufacture a crisis. Kāinga Ora have borrowed more money, because they have built record numbers of new homes,” he said.

“We wouldn’t have been in this position of needing to build that number of houses that quickly if the previous [National] government had actually maintained a steady housebuilding programme.”

Bishop had been trying to talk up a crisis in Kāinga Ora since he was in opposition, Hipkins said.

“So I know the National Party made a big thing about the headcount at Kāinga Ora for example. If you look at the number of people employed by Kāinga Ora relative to the number of new houses they’ve built, it’s about one person for every two new houses … when National was last in government it was two people for every one new house built.

“I think basically what they want to do is stop the house building programme, that’s just going to set us back to square one, it’s going to make sure the problem continues. We actually need to be building more public homes.

“The National Party, whenever they’re in government, reduces the number of public houses, they don’t increase them. We’ve built over 12,000 new public homes because we knew that that’s actually how you’re going to meet the need.”

Hipkins said there were good reasons a Kāinga Ora home might cost more than other new builds.

“It depends on the nature of the build. So in many cases these are brownfields developments not greenfields developments, so they’re basically removing existing homes, dealing with land contamination and so on before they can start building.

“They also build them to a different standard, so they have a resilience standard that is higher … the fixtures and fittings and everything that are used in a Kāinga Ora house.

“And they’re often also built to a disability accessibility standard, which a private home might not be built to.”

Bishop said he would stick to his commitment to the current track of house building set under the previous Labour government.

“We want to grow the number of social housing places, we also want to grow the number of social housing actual physical houses,” he said.

Chris BishopChris Bishop announced the review into Kāinga Ora at the post-Cabinet media briefing on Monday. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
“We are going to take the time to work systematically through all of the issues affecting housing in New Zealand – and Kāinga Ora’s performance is part and parcel of that.

“We have a social housing crisis in New Zealand in the same way as we have a housing crisis. So I’m hoping the review will give us a pathway forward as to how we fix the housing crisis more generally but also in terms of social housing.

“The public housing increase stops after 2025, that’s one of the fiscal cliffs left to us by the last government, so the public housing track stops after 2025 and that’s actually one of the things I want the review to look at – is how we get a more sustainable funding path for social housing.”

He said the review was not about selling off state housing.

“No, it’s not about that, I mean Kāinga Ora, by the way, sells houses right now, the last government sold or demolished over 4000 state houses in the last six years.

“One of the issues we’re dealing with is that the funding structures around social housing – both for Kāinga Ora but also the community social housing sector – are extremely opaque. And I’ve had advice to that effect – and so that is part of the reason we’re doing the review.”

Labour’s Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty defended the organisation.

“Got to remember that Kāinga Ora was pretty much set up from nothing, there was pretty much no agency there,” he said. “New Zealand Housing at the time basically spent their time selling off houses under the previous National government.

Kieran McAnultyKieran McAnulty Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
“We had to build it up from scratch, that’s why there’s 1500 more public servants, that’s why over that period of time it cost a lot of money to get things established – but houses have started to really crank out now and are being built efficiently. So I don’t actually accept the claim that they’re making.”

The party’s Finance and Infrastructure spokesperson Grant Robertson was also unaware of what Bishop was referring to.

“There were always issues with every agency but not the kind of unstated ‘alarm bells’ … I mean Chris Bishop said yesterday ‘there are things I can’t tell you’ – well that makes it pretty difficult to know what he’s talking about.

“Obviously we always monitor Crown entities and we keep a close eye on them. I’m not going to speculate on anything that they might be looking at now but we continue to work with Kāinga Ora to make sure they deliver the houses we were asking them to deliver.

He said there was a massive deficit but argued it had been “caused by the fact the previous government was selling state housing off. So yes, clearly money was borrowed to do that”.

Bishop said the new government was keen to eventually move the social housing system to a social investment approach, a method of using data and evidence to support investments in social services – including through third-party providers – and adjusting them according to what the data said.

“Over time, we’re not going to be able to do everything straightaway, but that’s a direction of travel for the government.”

The social investment approach was championed in the previous National government by Sir Bill English.

VIA RNZ

Latest News

Police say person who fired gun at officers still at large

Published

3 days ago

November 12, 2026

News Staff

Police say a person who fired a gun at officers in Napier is still at large.

Eastern District Commander Superintendent Joel Lamb said Police tried to stop a vehicle in the Pirimai Area at about 10pm on Tuesday.

He said someone in the back seat pointed what was presumed to be a firearm at officers pursuing the vehicle.

“Staff have then heard two distinct gunshots as the firearm was discharged.

“Fortunately, neither of our officers were injured, and the patrol vehicle did not sustain any damage.”

He said hours later, the vehicle was seen travelling north on the Waikato Expressway towards Auckland.

Police seized the vehicle at an address in Manurewa, but they had not found the alleged offender.

Lamb said people who lived at the Manurewa address were engaging with Police.

He said Eastern District and Counties Manukau Police were making enquiries.

“Presenting a firearm at a Police officer is a serious escalation that puts our staff and the wider community at risk. This behaviour is entirely unacceptable.

“We are taking this incident extremely seriously and will be pursuing all lines of enquiry to locate the offender and hold them accountable.”

Police asked anyone who witnessed the incident to contact Police on 105 or online using the reference number 261111/3764.

Information could also be provided anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

rnz

Latest News

New Zealand sides named for RLWC finals

Published

4 days ago

November 11, 2026

News Staff

The players tasked with ending Australia’s Rugby League World Cup dominance have been named.

The Kiwis and Kiwi Ferns have announced their squads for this Sunday’s World Cup finals in Brisbane.

Both sides are chasing their first titles since 2008, and both are looking to end their opponents run of three crowns in a row.

“Our Kiwi Ferns have been so dominant in years gone by, and we want to bring dominance back to this jersey, so I think it will be a case of who wants it more,” said co-captain Georgia Hale of the impending clash.

The Kiwis get a major boost for the final as they welcome back Ronaldo Mulitalo after he served a one-match ban for a high tackle against Fiji Bati.

Mulitalo replaces Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, who moves to the six-man bench, which again includes utility Te Maire Martin, middle forwards Naufahu Whyte, Erin Clark and Xavier Willison plus fullback Keano Kini.

Loose forward Joseph Tapine will make his 30th Test appearance in a familiar pack again, including second-rowers Isaiah Papali’i and Briton Nikora, and props James Fisher-Harris and Moses Leota.

Winger Jamayne Isaako is on the cusp of claiming the New Zealand record for most Test points.

His five goals against Tonga lifted his career points tally to 225 – level with Shaun Johnson – while centre Casey McLean goes into the final with 16 tries in just eight Tests.

Fisher-Harris will again captain the team.

Fullback Ponga said the goal of the group was clear.

“We have high expectations around what we want to achieve, and obviously winning a world Cup is one of them.”

Meanwhile, Ricky Henry has selected a settled side to take on the Jillaroos, led by their lethal centre combination of Stacey Waaka and Mele Hufanga.

Veteran Apii Nicholls takes the number one jersey, Leianne Tufuga and Mackenzie Wiki on the wings.

Henry has stuck with his halves pairing of Chantay Kiria-Ratu and Raecene McGregor with Alexis Tauaneai, Georgia Hale and Otesa Pule up front.

Rounding out the starting pack is Shaniece Monschau, Kaiyah Atai, and Angelina Teakaraanga-Katoa.

“We have been building well throughout the tournament; we understand the Jillaroos side, and will give it our all to make New Zealand proud this weekend,” said Henry.

RLWC Finals:

Kiwi Ferns vs Jillaroos- 6.10pm

Kiwis vs Kangaroos – 9.35pm

Sunday November 15

Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Live blog updates on RNZ

Kiwi Ferns:

1. Apii Nicholls 2. Leianne Tufuga 3. Mele Hufanga 4. Stacey Waaka 5. Mackenzie Wiki 6. Chantay Kiria-Ratu 7. Raecene McGregor 8. Alexis Tauaneai 9. Georgia Hale 10. Otesa Pule 11. Shaniece Monschau 12. Kaiyah Atai 13. Angelina Teakaraanga-Katoa.

Interchange: 14. Ashleigh Quinlan 15. Annessa Biddle 16. Shannon Mato 17. Ivana Lauitiiti.

Reserves: 18. Brooke Anderson 19. Zahara Temara 20. Brianna Clark 21. Abigail Roache 22. Tenika Willison.

Kiwis:

1. Kalyn Ponga, 2. Jamayne Isaako, 3. Dane Gagai, 4. Casey McLean, 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo, 6. Kodi Nikorima, 7. Jahrome Hughes, 8. James Fisher-Harris (c), 9. Jeremy Marshall-King, 10. Moses Leota, 11. Isaiah Papali’i, 12. Briton Nikora, 13. Joseph Tapine (v/c).

Interchange: 14. Te Maire Martin, 15. Naufahu Whyte, 16. Erin Clark, 17. Xavier Willison.

Reserves: 18. Keano Kini, 19. Phoenix Crossland, 20. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 21. Scott Sorensen, 22. Leo Thompson.

rnz

Latest News

Parliamentary Service working on extra chairs and offices for increased number of MPs

Published

4 days ago

November 11, 2026

News Staff

The chief executive of the Parliamentary Service is confident there will be enough room to accommodate the increased number of MPs and their staff coming into Parliament.

On current numbers, up to 131 MPs could be sitting in the Chamber following the election, brought on by a record overhang result.

Clerk of the House of Representatives Dr David Wilson told the Spinoff that currently the debating chamber had enough chairs to seat 124 MPs – including the Speaker of the House – and work was being done to accommodate more by altering the seating arrangement.

In a statement, Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said planning for a larger Parliament had been going for “some time”.

“Now that the election results have confirmed an increase to the number of members we are looking at several options.

“We are confident we will be able to accommodate all members within the Chamber.”

Chief Executive of the Parliamentary Service Rafael Gonzalez-Montero appears before select committee. — Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero.

VNP / Phil Smith

Gonzalez-Montero said office accommodation for members and their staff would be “stretched” for a short time, but the new Members’ Building was only a few months away from “practical completion”.

That building – located behind Parliament – was due to be ready to occupy in April next year and had capacity to accommodate around 30 backbench MPs.

“All members should be in fit-for-purpose accommodation from that point,” Gonzalez-Montero said.

Following the 2023 election, 123 MPs sat in the Chamber – a record number at the time. That decreased to 122 following the resignation of National MP Judith Collins.

Collins held the seat of Papakura and stepped down in May and Parliament voted against holding a by-election because it was too close to the election.

The election result also meant high-ranking National Party MPs like Chris Bishop, Paul Goldsmith, Nicola Willis and Gerry Brownlee – Speaker of the House and an MP for 30 years – would likely not make it back into Parliament.

Only resigning or retiring MPs were permitted to give a valedictory speech meaning none of them would get the chance to give a valedictory statement.

Asked if their would be special allowances for valedictories, Wilson said in a statement that normally only MPs were allowed to speak in the House but the House could suspend its own rules or temporarily alter them.

“It could do so to allow former members to address the House.”

Wilson said no such arrangements could be made until the next Parliament opened and members sworn in.

rnz