Labour and the Greens have accused the Government of political capitulation over its decision to dial back intensified housing plans in Auckland.
Meanwhile coalition partner ACT signalled it may continue to be a thorn in the side for National over whether it opposes intensification under reduced capacity thresholds.
The Government announced today that it would lower the minimum housing capacity requirement for Plan Change 120 from around two million homes to 1.6 million, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop framing the move as a response to community concern.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, who said he had only learned of the change an hour before the announcement, was blunt about what he thought the politics at play were.
On the two million number itself, Brown was unbothered across all options – suggesting the public debate had been a distraction from the beginning.
"Like, how many clouds are going past? It never really mattered much. People focus on the wrong thing here," he said.
"If it calms down some worried elderly residents in Epsom, then that's done its job."
He was also direct that he did not want a mechanism introduced that forced Plan Change 120 (PC120) to be have final sign-off from central government.
"I'm not going to be doing all this work on the off chance that we get approval from a Cabinet who mostly live somewhere else," Brown said.
"Mr Bishop and I both want to do intensification in the sensible areas around rail stations and bus routes and where all the infrastructure there - we haven't shifted from that.
"He's having a bit of trouble with some of his colleagues, and they seem to think that we're going to do a whole lot of work and go and be checked by them.
"That's not going to happen."
Brown added that if there were requirements of that nature, that the council would simply "carry on" with the existing legislated two million capacity mandate instead.
"We will do what we're going to do, and it'll be an Auckland decision," Brown said. "They'll just have to live with it."
The much-bandied-about "two million homes" has become a lightning rod of political opposition in recent months – although it has effectively been around since 2021 as a total number of dwellings zoned for in Auckland.
Brown also took a pointed swipe at the Epsom MP and ACT leader, whom he has previously quarrelled with on the subject of intensnfication in his electorate.
"I'm not sitting up here to have David Seymour tell me what to do," Brown said.
He also spoke indirectly of Auckland Minister Simeon Brown's electorate Pakūranga.
"Howick possibly needn't have worried about it. They're intensifying out there by building elderly care villages. That's how they're intensifying."
Who makes the decisions on Plan Change 120?
Bishop explained the process in his speech today, saying "once we legislate the lower housing capacity number, the rest is in Auckland Council's hands".
"Cabinet has asked for a summary of the provisional zoning changes the council would make once we legislate. And once we legislate the lower housing capacity number, the rest is in Auckland Council’s hands," he said.
"The council will determine which parts of Auckland they wish to downzone in PC120.
"They can then formally withdraw parts of PC120 from the Plan Change, except for those parts needed to implement the National Policy Statement on Urban Development or to upzone around key City Rail Link stations."
In a Q&A session following his speech, Bishop said he was "really confident we're going to get to a position where the council will withdraw parts of" the plan change.
"Auckland can work out where exactly the housing is," he said.
Bishop suggested the council may take a "last in, first out" approach — "the stuff that got added to get up to the target can be removed". Asked if Cabinet had spoken about removing specific suburbs, the minister said there were "no discussions around that".
A process diagram released alongside the announcement outlined three stages: A pre-hearing led by Auckland Council, a hearing led by an independent panel, and a post-hearing stage in which "Government does not have a decision-making role".
The Housing Minister expected legislation in late March or early April and that it would be put it "through all stages" without being sent to select committee.
Seymour trades barbs with Auckland mayor
Of all major political parties, ACT had been the most vocally sceptical of PC120.
Seymour supported the backdown on minimum capacities when asked today, but said that while "this is good progress, we're not there yet".
"I would suggest Wayne Brown should be a bit of a democrat and actually help inform the public of what 1.6 million looks like," he said.
The exchange over Seymour's political intentions drew a sharp response from the ACT leader, who claimed Brown had recently been referred to as "Wayne Biden".
"I wouldn't have thought that someone I've recently heard and referred to as Wayne Biden, he might not be the right person to make fun of the elderly."
More broadly, the ACT leader expressed scepticism over whether land zoning played the most important role when it came to building more housing.
"I talk regularly to people who are involved in developing homes. Zoned capacity is rarely their main concern. They are being held back by slow consents, expensive development cost charges, and slow and expensive connection to pipes and infrastructure."
Labour and Greens critical of changes
Meanwhile, Labour deputy leader Carmel Sepuloni said the announcement reflected poorly on Bishop, who she claimed was outmanoeuvred within his own government.
"I don't even think that Chris Bishop necessarily thinks that it's a good move," she said, describing it as a U-turn driven by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and pressure from coalition partners with seats in leafy Auckland suburbs.
Labour's housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty was more direct: "Chris Bishop was genuinely trying to address this. He's been completely undermined by the Prime Minister."
McAnulty also flagged it was the second time National had pulled back from intensification plans, having u-turned on the 2021 bipartisan housing accords.
"How on earth are we going to get addressing the housing needs... if the Government doesn't have the backbone to stick to the original plan?" he said.
Green co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said the move was "embarrassing, if it wasn't harmful".
She cited the Infrastructure Commission's recently released national infrastructure plan, which recommended more upzoning around key transport corridors in cities.
"We've been having this debate for longer than I have been involved in politics. Aucklanders and New Zealanders deserve far better," she said.
"We now have a government that's starting to once again capitulate to those who own at the expense of everybody else."
The Greens had long supported density done well, Swarbrick said, but argued National had repeatedly failed to hold the line - pointing to its earlier backtrack on the bipartisan 2021 medium density residential standards.
"This is the same minister who is currently asking us for cross-partisan agreement on the pipeline for infrastructure in this country, yet simultaneously is doing his darndest to politicise absolutely everything when it comes to housing and infrastructure."
Swarbrick called for an urgent debate in Parliament on Bishop's announcement, which was not agreed to by Speaker Gerry Brownlee.
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