Plasterboard supply crisis: Government's substitute GIB announcement not 'significant', ACT's David Seymour says

ACT leader David Seymour has slammed the Government's latest announcement to quell the GIB board shortage saying it was "disappointing".  

Minister for Building and Construction Megan Woods said on Wednesday 100 containers of GIB are on the way to New Zealand - enough for about 440 houses. 

Woods also said four alternative plasterboard products can now be used to substitute GIB including Elephant Board, USG Boral, ProRoc and SaveBOARD, which she said: "will help address the industry shortfall".  

It comes four weeks after a ministerial task force was established to investigate the shortage. 

But ACT leader David Seymour told AM Early, it's too early to celebrate.

"They put out this press release last night because it's been a month of this ministerial task force and they needed to show something," he told AM Early host Bernadine Oliver-Kerby.  

"What did the press release say? Well, there's enough jib coming to New Zealand for 440 houses. Last year there were 50,000 building consents, so it's about enough for three days worth of supply."

Seymour said the announcement from the Government about the substitute GIB was "disappointing".

"So look, it's a month of the ministerial task force and so far they've said that there's three days' worth of supply of plasterboard on ships, on the water. I don't think that's actually significant," he said.

"They've got four types of GIB that you in theory can use for bracing requirements, but we don't know if councils will actually say yes. It's very disappointing."

Seymour said the Government should've forced the councils around the country to accept the new substitute GIB, instead of allowing them to decline it. 

"Even if the Government has freed them up, have they actually allowed or forced councils to accept them because it's those 78 councils issuing building consents that matter," he told AM Early. 

"What they needed to say is we have told the councils, no ifs, no buts, no maybes. These products are a substitute for GIB in the following use cases.

"Actually, it was about a five-paragraph press release. I think they thought, 'Oh, it's been a month, we better announce something'."

Seymour said the GIB plasterboard problem is exactly the reason why New Zealand has a cost of living crisis. 

"We just shoot ourselves in the foot and make it hard to do basic things in New Zealand and plasterboard is just a combination of a sandwich of cardboard and plaster," he said 

"It's the simplest thing in the world except for a piece of wood and we've made it too hard to get access to in New Zealand." 

Watch the full interview with David Seymour above.