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The Māori Party’s Ikaroa-Rāwhiti by-election candidate, Na Raihania, is calling for surplus state houses to be sold to low income whānau.
Mana has advocated government loans to allow up to 10,000 low income families a year to buy or build homes.
Mr Raihania says it’s clear from the number of Housing New Zealand properties sitting empty across the electorate that the Government has a policy of running down its state housing stock.
He says rather than selling them to developers, they should go to families.
"They want to get rid of them and they are changing the criteria for families so they can get rid of the homes. That's what our constituents are telling us. So we can battle the big battle or we can shift to those people who care, who are dying to look after those homes. That is our attitude towards it," Mr Raihania says.
He doesn’t want to see more state rental homes built, because they encourage dependency.
Ko ngā kaupapa whare ā te Rōpū Tōrangapū Māori
Kua puta he kaupapa whare i te māngai ō te Rōpū Tōrangapū Māori ki te Ikaroa-Rāwhiti, hei urupare mā rātou ki te kaupapa whare ā Mana.
Hei tā Naa Raihaania, ko ngā whare kāwanatanga kāore i te whakamahia, me hoko ki ngā whānau rawa kore mō te utu maamaa.
Ko tā Mana kaupapa whare, kia whakaritea ee te kāwanatanga he rautaki pūtea taurewa e taaea ai e ngā whānau rawa kore ngā whare tekau mano te hoko ia tau.
Copyright © 2013, UMA Broadcasting Ltd
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