Winston 'Regions' Peters tells Marlborough to vote in a 'decent' Housing Minister
Sunday, 13 September 2020
Marlborough’s housing shortage was a hot topic for Marlburians with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters on Friday.
The deputy prime minister told the 40-odd people who had turned out to see him they could expect to see his party’s manifesto commitments to housing this week.
Peters said planning laws needed to be changed so more houses could be built more quickly, and mortgages, rates and insurance should be cheaper.
As a young lawyer he was telling clients it should be about 25 per cent of their income, but these days it was more like 65 per cent, he said. “They’re broke, it’s terrible.”
**READ MORE:
* Winston Peters says David Seymour wouldn't 'last 10 seconds in the ring with me'
* Winston Peters in uncomfortable position over Government's immigration policy
**
Peters, flanked by NZ First Kaikōura candidate Jamie Arbuckle, fielded questions outside The Forum building, at Market Pl, as part of his party’s ‘Back your Future’ bus tour. He visited Picton later in the day.
“There’s no shortcut, you need a decent housing minister, and a decent housing policy. In about five days’ time you’ll see our manifesto commitments on those matters.”
Peters promised to look after the regions as far as housing went, he said.
“Regions is our middle name, mate, the rest have forgotten about you … this country is going to be saved by the provinces, not the big cities,” he said.
“You’ve got a vote coming up, you better decide whether you want a decent housing minister or not,” Peters said.
The friendly meet-and-greet got heated when a business owner called for a more streamlined process for hiring foreign labour, while others admonished him for not making more effort to hire Kiwis.
Resort manager Graeme Smith told Peters he could not find any Kiwis to employ saying he had offered positions to applicants who were out of work due to coronavirus, but they all refused jobs saying they were “better off on a subsidy”.
The resort was too remote to retain Kiwi staff long-term, he said.
“I wish I could [hire Kiwis], I desperately want to, you can’t get them,” Smith said.
“I brought three Kiwi boys down to the resort, remote in the Sounds, to look at taking on the role and each of them made the comment that they are better off on the subsidy, and they didn’t take the offered job,” he said.
Smith told Peters the visa process should be sped up for immigrants who were already in the country.
He had been supporting a young Jordanian chef living at the resort, waiting for an essential skills visa to be approved in order to start working in the kitchen. The application was sent four months ago, Smith said.
“He can’t leave the country, he can’t work … we are physically paying for him because he has got no money, but he’s got the skills we need,” Smith said.
“They’ve got everything they need, they are just delaying the decision for reasons unknown to anybody.”
Peters said immigration rules were inflexible for a reason – they were prone to attempts of misuse in the hospitality industry.
He referred to the restaurant chain Masala and other “crooks” where workers had worked long hours for little pay.
Former Masala boss Joti Jain was sentenced to home detention in 2017 for immigration fraud after promising visas in exchange for work and then paying less than minimum wage.
Despite the need for stringent immigration controls, Peters said he would support extending current essential worker visas a third time, beyond their current expiry in March, as Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi hinted in Blenheim on Thursday in response to questions about next year’s grape harvest.
“If you have a right to make an application you won’t lose it because you can’t get on a plane,” Peters said.