State the "worst landlord in N.Z.”

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32970, 17 July 1972, Page 2

State the " worst landlord in N.Z.”

(New Zealand Press Association)

AUCKLAND, July 16. The Leader of the Opposition (Mr Kirk) has called the State the worst landlord in New Zealand. Speaking after a bus tour of Otara and Manukau yesterday, Mr Kirk accused the Government of stringing a series of “filing cabinets for industrial workers” across the land.

“The State is both an 1 intransigent landlord and ! a reluctant ratepayer,” J he said. “If a rule of ethics were j applied to landlords, the State would be the first to ' break it.” | Mr Kirk said poor maintenance of houses in Otara < showed a lack of prudence < on the part of the Govern- ( ment because it was not pro- i tecting its investments. ] Mr Kirk said a Labour 1 government would implement a policy of setting aside 1 a quarter of 1 per cent of < the gross national product ' for social and recreational I purposes. He said before any more 1 State houses were designed 1 a study should be made of 1 the type of people who i would live in the houses. 1 “Island people live out of i doors whereas Europeans tend to live more indoors and ] we should design houses with 1 this in mind,” he said. i “Another thing that’s got ' to be stopped is the income barrier for State rental and

home ownership. This should be based on need, and on achieving a balanced community.” In recent years, the State Advances Corporation had become a professional money-lending organisation rather than a social institution, said Mr Kirk. Communities such as Otara showed the worst effects of income groups congregating together and this in turn drove the leaders out of the community. Attacking the present housing shortage in the country Mr Kirk said there was a need for about 4000 rental houses a year. The building industry had been hit by a series of financial restrictions, problems with its labour force and organisation, and by the lack of developed sections on which to build houses. Mr Kirk said he was impressed with the amount of local body and community involvement in Otara. “There

is no question about the size of the problems, but attempts have been made to find social answers to social problems,” he said. Mr Kirk attended an official function at the Otara marae in the afternoon and a social function in the town in the evening. He was accompanied by the member of Parliament for Manukau (Mr R. O. Douglas) and the member of Parliament for Western Maori (Mr K. T. Wetere).