MPs then began the second reading of the Taxation (KiwiSaver HomeStart and Remedial Matters) Bill.
Housing Minister Nick Smith said the main part of the bill implemented the Government’s policy to assist new homebuyers by allowing them to use their KiwiSaver tax credits to pull together a deposit.
It would help people to buy their first home and incentivise developers to provide entry level homes, he said.
Dr Smith said he would be introducing amendments in the committee stage to ensure the incentives created were around new homes.
Labour’s Grant Robertson said it was appropriate Nick Smith spoke on the bill as all he did was talk about the housing crisis and do nothing to achieve it. The bill would be “tentatively positive” and no more – it was the “very definition of tinkering.”
Mr Robertson said Labour would support the bill as it would help a little, but it was not a solution to the housing crisis.
The bill completed its second reading on a voice vote, MPs then began the second reading of the Harmful Digital Communications Bill.
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