Taxpayers should not be stumping up $30 million to cover the Government’s bungling of the land dispute at Ihumātao, National’s Finance spokesperson Michael Woodhouse says.

“Taxpayers aren’t a bank to be called upon to clean up the Government’s poor decisions, particularly when it is meddling in private property rights.

“The Prime Minister should never have involved herself in the Ihumātao dispute and taxpayers shouldn’t bailing her out now.

“The ramifications of this Crown deal go much further than the lost opportunity of building houses immediately. It will call all full and final treaty settlements into question and set a dangerous precedent for other land occupations, like the one at Wellington’s Shelly Bay.

“More than 20,000 Kiwi families are on the waiting list for a home this Christmas. The Government should not be spending $30 million on stopping 480 much-needed houses from being built right now.

“Promises to build houses in the future are all well and good, but this Government has made plenty of housing promises that haven’t come to pass. Just look at KiwiBuild.

“Taxpayers buying the Government out of this mess isn’t a solution. National would protect the land owner’s property rights and ensure full and final treaty settlements are just that – full and final.”