Kerre Woodham: Hardworking Kiwis deserve a reward too

I know we have no money.  I know the government is in dire straits and making really tough decisions when it comes to spending and where that spending is targeted, but I will be so sad if First Home Grants is one of the schemes that gets cut in the review of housing projects that is under way. The review is necessary because the previous government and its agents mismanaged Kainga Ora to the extent that New Zealanders not even born yet will be paying off its debts. If it hadn’t gotten into so much trouble, there would be more money to go around and go around everywhere. 

And I know —we were having the conversation yesterday— that there is a desperate need for social housing. But surely there is also a moral imperative to acknowledge people who are doing the right thing, who are working hard, who are saving , who are young, who are the future of this country. They don't have addictions, they don't appear before the courts, they’re not ‘victims’. They simply want to live a good life, look after themselves, look after their families, enjoy their mates, and enjoy all this country has to offer. All those good kids who make up the majority of New Zealanders. And you might say that living well is its own reward, but at a time when housing is so prohibitively expensive every little bit helps, and would it really hurt the country if we diverted $60 million of the housing budget to first home buyers to reward them for their discipline and hard work? 

When you are getting together the deposit for your first home, you’re scratching, you haven’t been working that long, you’ve paid off your student loan —if you had one— or if you’ve been in the trades you’ve been living at home and saving the money you get and putting it in a pot. You’re not going out and you’re making the right choices, and you’re getting that money together. Having a grant of $5000 for an existing home or $10,000 for a new build to first home buyers who meet the income threshold is a really powerful incentive to have a stake in this country. To not take off and chase the money overseas. 

Those young people are saying we believe in this country, and we believe in sticking here, and we believe in putting down roots, and having a home, and having a family, and staying here and contributing. And I would love to see that those grants stay because there’s precious little for people who are doing the right thing.  

The coalition is reviewing all housing support initiatives, and it was Shane Jones’ loose lips who dropped the fact that first-home grants might be under it. Labour's housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said scrapping the grants would be a cynical move.  McAnulty said the scheme, which was originally started by the previous National government, was a good idea, and Labour had expanded on it. I really do think there needs to be room within the government, not just to focus on the minority who cost us so much money, so much of our taxes goes towards people who are doing the wrong thing, who make mistakes, who deliberately set about, you know, imploding, destructing, destroying their lives, so much of the money goes there. 

What about the quiet, hardworking, good young men and women who don’t want government help per se, but an acknowledgement that they are able to be disciplined, and thrifty, and hardworking, and we say as fellow taxpayers, hey, thank you very much. Here’s a tiny bit towards your first home. Thank you for staying here, thank you for putting down roots in this community and contributing to a future New Zealand.  

We’ve had far too many fatted calves slaughtered for the prodigal sons, sometimes the hardworking son who stays on the farm and fulfils his obligations deserves a reward too.   

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