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Willis asked Dr Woods in Parliament on Wednesday how she could justify using funds to purchase the land at IhumÄtao that were explicitly earmarked in Budget 2020 for KiwiBuild homes .
Budget 2020 states that the Land for Housing Programme is intended to facilitate the development of KiwiBuild affordable homes .Â
Dr Woods said Willis was confused and hadn t looked at the broader purpose of the Land for Housing Programme, which was to acquire land suitable for residential development that it can on-sell to developers .Â
In the case of the IhumÄtao deal, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by the KÄ«ngitanga, the Crown and Auckland Council which sets out how the parties will work together to decide the future of the land.
Ihumātao campaigners say they re relieved and looking forward to a rest after the Government bought the contested land in South Auckland.
Ihumātao – the site of Aotearoa’s oldest settlement, which was taken from Māori by the Crown in the 1800s – is now back in the hands of the Government, two months after a deal was struck with Fletcher Building. The purchase of the 33 hectares of freehold land at 545-561 Oruarangi Rd in Māngere, South Auckland, was finalised on February 17, a spokesperson from Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga – Ministry of Housing and Urban Development confirmed. The Government had agreed to the purchase in a historic deal on December 17 that brought an end to an almost five-year battle by land protectors to stop a housing development by Fletcher Building.