Phil Heatley
National Party Housing Spokesman

18 November 2005

Answers needed from Housing NZ

National’s Housing spokesman, Phil Heatley, says Housing New Zealand needs to explain how a large-scale immigration scam was being run from one of its state houses in Hastings without it knowing.

He is commenting after police raided the house where they found 50 Pacific Islanders and seized their passports and other documentation.

“I would like to know how the man at the centre of the alleged scam was able to run this apparently booming business from a state house without the landlord knowing.

“This operation was so big that all the neighbours seemed to know what was going on, and even reported a constant stream of people going to and from the house.

“Doesn’t Housing New Zealand check on its properties? One report says the backyard is littered with old cars so it must have pretty obvious the place was in a bit of a mess.

“Is this another case of the Government not protecting a taxpayer asset?

“The Housing Minister should explain how Housing NZ allowed this to go on under their noses. Did they know this was going on, if not why didn’t they?

“Are they just not bothering to keep an eye on these valuable taxpayer assets?”

ENDS

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