How easy was that?
Overseas buyers will no longer be allowed to purchase existing homes in New Zealand, Prime Minister-elect Jacinda Ardern has announced, as she unveiled a raft of policy deals made with her coalition partners.
The move to tackle soaring property prices was agreed during lengthy negotiations between the Labour Party leader and populist powerbroker Winston Peters to form a new government that also includes the Green Party.
Ms Ardern has also announced plans to slash immigration and focus on regional development and job creation.
“We have agreed on banning the purchase of existing homes by foreign buyers,” she said, specifying that the new rules only applied to non-residents.
“(We) also have plans around farmland and other critical infrastructure,” she added.
Anti-immigration campaigner Winston Peters, whose support was crucial for Ms Ardern to form a ruling coalition in the 120-seat parliament, said a message has been sent that New Zealand was “no longer for sale”.
The New Zealand First (NZF) leader ended weeks of negotiations when he confirmed last week he would use his party’s nine seats to ensure a Labour, NZF and Green coalition with a three-seat majority.
“There is going to be a change and a clear signal sent internationally that New Zealand is no longer for sale in the way it has been. We’re happy with that,” he said.
Foreign ownership and a housing shortage in New Zealand’s larger cities were prominent issues in the lead-up to the September 23 election, which brought an end to nine years of rule by the conservative National Party.
Ms Ardern, who campaigned on social issues including housing affordability and improved healthcare, has described capitalism as a “blatant failure” when it came to putting a roof over the heads of the poor.
The 37-year-old said priorities for her new government would include raising the minimum wage, environmental issues and tackling homelessness and child poverty.
“You’ll see a reduction in inequalities,” she said.
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Labour’s housing policy focused on building more affordable houses for first-home buyers, banning foreign speculators from buying existing homes and increasing the number of state houses built for families in need.
Its KiwiBuild initiative promised to build 100,000 affordable houses for first-home buyers within a decade.
In Auckland, standalone houses built under KiwiBuild would cost between $500,000 to $600,000, while apartments and terraced homes would be under $500,000.
NZ First‘s housing policy wanted to reduce pressure on housing by cutting back foreign migrants entering the country and also ensure that only Kiwi citizens and permanent residents could buy freehold land.
The Greens’ key housing points pushed housing as a basic right, that everyone should have secure tenure of appropriate housing and that no one should be prevented from establishing a decent home because of a low income.
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Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister elect of New Zealand, has announced she will take on the newly created role of minister for child poverty reduction.
Combating child poverty has been a lifelong cause for Ardern and is the reason she entered politics aged 17.
One-third of New Zealand children, or 300,000, now live below the poverty line – 45,000 more than a year ago.
“As prime minister I want to see urgent progress in this area. That is why we will be introducing measures and targets to ensure our policies across government are making a difference to the lives of children.”
Labour has said it will invest NZ$2bn over four years to tackle child poverty, including introducing a payment to assist families raising young children, increasing the accommodation supplement and introducing 26 weeks’ paid parental leave. Currently paid parental leave is capped at 18 weeks.
Bloody racist legend.
