Jacinda Ardern
Minister, Arts, Culture and Heritage
Minister, Child Poverty Reduction
Minister, National Security and Intelligence
Prime Minister
Good afternoon, everyone. We have held our second Cabinet meeting this afternoon, and this press conference gives me an opportunity to reflect one of the first substantial decisions that has been made by Cabinet. This Government places a high priority on homeownership and housing affordability. We stand strongly in favour of the view that housing is a right. That is why we have been committed, and remain committed, to banning foreign speculators from purchasing existing homes in New Zealand. It’s an ambition that is shared by New Zealand First and also the Green Party as our coalition and as our confidence and supply partners. Today I can confirm that Cabinet and Ministers have found and agreed a solution to make housing and homeownership more accessible for New Zealanders. The Government will introduce an amendment to the Overseas Investment Act to classify residential housing as sensitive and introduce a test for residency. The effect of this will mean that non-residents or non-citizens cannot purchase existing residential dwellings in New Zealand, with the exception of Australian citizens, because New Zealand citizens hold the same right to purchase in Australia and it is a right we will extend to them in New Zealand.
We expect legislation to be in place and introduced before Christmas and to take effect once passed in early 2018. This solution does not breach our Korea FTA. It will not impact on TPP if passed on the time line that I have proposed, nor will it impact on the China FTA. It poses challenges for one agreement, and that is our agreement with Singapore, but we have been advised that there is a way through for this agreement, and this is also an agreement that is due for renegotiation soon. This presents and represents a simple, clean solution to help us act in the best interests of homebuyers in New Zealand.
I want to speak briefly to the situation that we as a new incoming Government have found ourselves in. First, the former Minister for Trade in August said that there was nothing in the TPP to stop future Governments from introducing discriminatory tax settings. He, of course, was referring to the potential of a stamp duty. What he failed to recognise is that a stamp duty would breach the Korea FTA. It was not a plausible solution for us. In fact, it was a poor solution from a Government who chose to ignore New Zealand’s best interests when they were negotiating, particularly TPP.
I would also extend that assertion for negotiations more broadly for the TPP. Yes, TPP11 is in many respects a very different agreement than it once was, but it still holds very challenging clauses around investor-State disputes and settlements. We, at this late stage, are now focused on this issue. We have given a new mandate to negotiators around these clauses. We will do all we can at this late stage to negotiate in the best interests of New Zealand and New Zealanders when it comes to the use of ISDS clauses. In Cabinet today we have also issued instructions to negotiators that we would like them to ensure that no further free-trade agreements include ISDS clauses. In the meantime we will continue to work through and develop a forward-looking trade agenda, one that puts New Zealand and its exporters at its heart and one that ensures in future we do not find ourselves again in this compromised position. I am happy to take questions, as is our Minister for Trade and Export Growth.