Source: ACT Party
Headline: Phil ‘All Talk’ Twyford Should Get Off Twitter and Replace RMA
“Phil Twyford needs to end his petty Twitter spat with Judith Collins and team up with Environment Minister David Parker to replace the Resource Management Act”, says ACT Leader David Seymour.
“While Phil and Judith are trading insults online, Kiwis are hurting big time.
ACT can reveal from Written Parliamentary Questions that Cabinet hasn’t even decided whether to think about the RMA, after more than four months in the Beehive.
“Twyford and Parker should take a glance at the report produced recently by Superu, a government agency that was disestablished late last year.
“It showed that land use regulations – rules that determine what can be built and where – are choking the ability of the private sector to build new homes.
“In Auckland, land use regulation could be responsible for up to 56 per cent, or $530,000, of the cost of an average home.
“Even if Superu have doubly exaggerated the effect, and bad land use planning has only added a quarter million dollars to the average house price, it would be the most economically vandalous policy we have.
“Twyford and Parker should seek urgent advice from their officials about replacing the RMA as a first step towards making housing more affordable”, says Mr Seymour.