ACT leader and Regulation Minister David Seymour says Kāinga Ora should have its English name first, in line with Government policy.
It follows the New Zealand Transport Agency reprioritising its English name over Waka Kotahi, as well as Health NZ, from Te Whatu Ora.
The policy was agreed to under National's coalition agreement with New Zealand First.
Housing Minister Chris Bishop has announced an independent review into Kāinga Ora finances and asset management, saying he was "deeply concerned" about the organisation's operating deficit.
At a press conference yesterday, Bishop repeatedly referred to the agency as Kāinga Ora.
Duringt his post-Cabinet media briefing, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon also commented on the inquiry while exclusively using the Kāinga Ora name.
"There is a lot of complexity in housing, some of the most vulnerable New Zealanders depend on Kāinga Ora and it's important to understand what's going on there," Luxon said.
Today, Seymour said the "real issue" was ensuring the organisation stopped "wasting money" but said it would be in line with Government policy for the organisation ― which formed in 2019 as a merger between Housing New Zealand and Kiwibuild ― for it to have an English, rather than te reo Māori, name.
He said it was also important Kāinga Ora built enough homes so people had somewhere to live, and used "better judgement when it comes to their tenants and the abuse that they're foisting on their neighbours".
"Those would be my main priorities.
"I also think that, in line with Government policies, it should be called Housing and Communities, that immediately allows people to understand what it actually is and does."
The organisation is currently called Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities.
"It should have its English name first simply because that allows people to understand what it is that each department does in the language that most people understand.
"I know that people try and politicise this. It's purely practical and pragmatic."
Seymour said most people understood what Kāinga Ora meant but he believed people would find it "more intuitive to be communicated with in the language that they are used to speaking and fluent in".
"For the overwhelming majority of New Zealanders that is English.
"People deserve to be able to understand and navigate their government."
He said the number one priority was "making it operate" and the second deciding what it should be called.
"People, obviously, in a free society can call it whatever they like and, if people understand them, then I guess that's a win-win for everybody."
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