Source: Taxpayers Union
16 MARCH 2021FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEResponding to Newshub’s report that the Government used KiwiBuild funds to purchase the disputed land at Ihumātao, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says:“It beggars belief that the Government used taxpayer money meant for building houses to block houses instead.”“It appears that the Government has spent KiwiBuild funding outside of the scope for which Parliament approved it. Aside from being undemocratic, this spending opens the Government to the risk of a costly legal challenge.”“The result of the Government’s land deal is fewer houses at Ihumātao, built more slowly. The land purchase has also incentivised protestors across New Zealand to use occupation as a tactic to block new housing – we’re already seeing this at Shelly Bay and Opua.”“It’s little wonder house prices keep leaping up when politicians are actively intervening with taxpayer money to make things worse.”
