Immigration call fires up contest
Phil Goff advocates ‘urgent and bold action’ to restore affordability and availability of Auckland housing
Immigration has been thrust into the Super City mayoral contest after Labour MP Phil Goff yesterday called for a reduction in the number of migrants. Goff did not put a figure on reducing immigration, but said the flow to Auckland should be eased until the housing crisis and transport congestion could cope with rising numbers.
“Urgent and bold action is needed to . . . restore the affordability and availability of housing,” he said at his campaign launch in West Auckland. He said Auckland was growing by a record 825 people a week, two-thirds of whom were new migrants.
“Immigration is good . . . it brings skills and energy — but it needs to be at a rate transport and housing infrastructure can cope with.”
Goff’s housing policy calls for an easing of record migration numbers to allow infrastructure to catch up with population growth.
“This can be achieved by slowing the issuing of temporary work visas currently running at over 209,000 a year or by lifting the threshold for permanent residency,” Goff said.
A Spinoff/SSI poll last week found that housing was people’s main priority for the new Auckland Council, at 50.7 per cent. This was well above the 33 per cent for transport.
“The Kiwi dream of owning our home is slipping out of the reach of more and more Aucklanders and rents are becoming less affordable.” Speaking after his speech at Corban Estate, Goff said Auckland could not provide the infrastructure for more than half of the country’s growth on its own.
The Government had to give the council the means to turn zoned land into housing-ready land.
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“Without that the crisis will continue to get worse.”
He said Auckland needed 17,000 new houses a year and last year the council consented 9500 houses. The situation would get worse if the demand kept going up and the infrastructure was not there.
Goff told about 120 supporters he wanted to work with the Government and other parties to tackle chronic homelessness based on the principle of first finding a house for people and then wrapping services around them — “a proven successful model internationally and in New Zealand”.
As mayor, he would institute an immediate review of council’s consenting process to make it faster and cheaper, and put more support behind affordable housing schemes.
He supports infrastructure bonds for new development, but says the Government’s $1 billion infrastructure fund is too limited. and needs to be significantly expanded.
Centre-right mayoral candidate Vic Crone accused Goff of taking her housing policy and repeating it.
“From the outset, I’ve been clear that council’s consenting process is not good enough.
“Advocating to the Government is definitely an important part of the mayoral role but it seems Phil’s heart is in Wellington,” Crone said.
“We need a mayor focused primarily on what we can do better here, than on how the Government can help us.”