The Government continues to bury its head in the sand over families and kids living in cars, National’s Housing Spokesperson Chris Bishop says.

“Housing Minister Megan Woods said in June 2021 that ‘what we don’t have is people living on the streets and in cars’. Just a couple of months before she said this, there were 435 people living in cars including 198 children.

“The latest figure is now 480 people but the Minister won’t provide the number of kids, even though the Ministry of Social Development collects this data.

“The number of Kiwis living in cars has quadrupled in the last five years that Labour has been in Government and there is little doubt that kids are included in that number.

“It’s no surprise the number has massively increased, given Labour has also overseen record increases in rents and the number of people living in motels.

“The Government should face up to the facts, rather than bury them. Kiwi kids don’t need nice words from the Government, they need a house to live in.

“It is heartbreaking that any Kiwi, let alone a child, is forced to go to sleep in a car every night. But this Government refuses to take any responsibility. Instead, they continue to bury their heads in the sand.

“As Jacinda Ardern tweeted in 2017, kids living in cars and motels is not a sign of care. But it’s one thing to say you care and another thing to act on the problem.

“Despite what Labour seems to think, no difficult social problem is solved by nice words or by one single action. Sadly, Labour’s inability to deliver and refusal to admit fault suggests this problem won’t be solved any time soon.”

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