Critics slam KiwiBuild attack ad
A National Party attack ad about KiwiBuild has been slammed as sexist and incorrect.
But the party says the ad would have worked just as well with the genders switched and has an explanation for a number in the ad some have criticised.
The ad, released on Twitter, shows a young man and woman discussing Labour’s troubled KiwiBuild policy to build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 years.
The woman begins by being excited by the policy, nodding her head while the man notes that to get to that target Labour would need to build 33 homes a day.
She loses her enthusiasm as he explains the Government has actually built only 33 homes.
(A footnote says this was the figure when Labour were 450 days into office. The tally is now 62 KiwiBuild homes.)
The ad came under heavy fire for being sexist and incorrect – several people noted online that 33 homes built a day over 10 full years would result in over 120,000 homes, far more than 100,000.
A spokeswoman for National Party leader Simon Bridges said 33 homes a day had been used to account for public holidays and Sundays.
Women’s Minister Julie Anne Genter said: ‘‘I can’t believe that National’s leadership didn’t realise how sexist that ad looks.’’
Former TVNZ political editor Linda Clark sarcastically wrote on Twitter: ‘‘Policy is complicated. I needed a man to help me understand it.’’
The National Party’s deputy leader and former women’s minister, Paula Bennett, said the ad ‘‘uses a bit of humour’’.
‘‘It could have been a man, it could have been a woman. I don’t think it’s about gender’’.
The Government’s KiwiBuild policy is now being ‘‘recalibrated’’ by Housing Minister Phil Twyford.