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New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says the sell-off of state housing shows the government's claim to be a good economic manager is false.
A bill paving the sale of houses to community housing providers or private developers was introduced into parliament last night.
Tauranga and Invercargill will serve as test cases for the privatisation, and Mr English says Taurangamoana iwi will get a chance to buy up to 10 percent of the 1140 houses being sold there.
Mr Peters says it's a resource put together by past generations of New Zealanders that is being thrown away for a short term boost to the government's books.
"Frankly this Government has made claims of being sound econiomic managers and they are not. They haven't got a surplus. They as selling anything and everything in small ways that they possibly can," he says.
Mr Peters says Prime Minister John Key promised in the 2011 election campaign the money from state assets sales would be for New Zealand hospitals, schools and roading, but now it turns out the money is instead going to pay New Zealand's contribution to the recently announced Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
He says the money could be better used to invest in infrastructure such as cell towers, roads and rail, and to set up provincial New Zealand for growth when the recovery kicks in.
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