“Labour’s economic mismanagement and attacks on landlords are hurting renters, the very people Labour claims to care about,” says ACT’s Deputy Leader and Housing spokesperson Brooke van Velden. “It’s a classic case of unintended consequences and it’s caused by Labour’s woeful economic ignorance.”

“This week TradeMe reported that median weekly rental prices rose to a record high of $610 for May, just three months after reaching $600 for the first time.”

“A day earlier, the Crockers/Tony Alexander Investor Insight survey found that fewer investors were thinking about buying and more were thinking about selling, resulting in a record net 11% of rental property investors who say they will sell in the coming year.

“These are two records the Labour government should be ashamed of. Both are driven by Labour’s failures: high interest rates caused economic mismanagement and changes to mortgage interest deductibility rules.

“This is what you get when you have an ‘eat the rich’ mentality. Labour hates property investors and their attacks on them are pure politics of envy. This has blinded them to the immutable laws of economics: if you tax the heck out of something, you get less of it. If you massively increase government spending, you get inflation.

“The real tragedy though is that Labour’s policies have most hurt the people who can least afford it. The same people Labour says they care about.

“ACT’s policies which will help struggling New Zealanders the most, because they are not targeted at any one group, they are designed to lift overall prosperity.

“ACT will cut wasteful government spending to fund tax cuts which will put more money in the pockets of all New Zealanders.

“ACT’s policies on housing and regulation reduction policies will make it easier and cheaper to build quality housing, which will mean healthier, more affordable homes for all.

“Sound economic management and a simple, fair tax system are what New Zealand needs, and what ACT will deliver,” she said.

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