Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford at his wedding to Hannah in January.
Since McCallum’s comments, three more MPs have denied Paul’s claims, including National’s Tom Rutherford and Shane Reti, who retired from Parliament last week.
A National spokesperson said it was not true the pair had bought homes to rent out since laws changed.
Rutherford said in a Facebook post he had married since becoming an MP and his wife already owned a home before their relationship began, “which has now become ours”.
“I am sick of this kind of politics. I prefer to play the ball, not the person. It is disappointing to see the Greens make false claims in Parliament just to score political points. They should hold themselves to a higher standard.”
Paul also claimed Act MP Parmjeet Parmar had bought “five new houses since they changed rental laws”.
Act MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Parmar owns the largest number of properties of any MP this term.
An Act Party spokesperson said this morning: “Tamatha Paul’s claim is false”.
“Dr Parmar has not purchased a single new property since the coalition was elected, the register changes resulted from the development of five houses on existing sites.
“The Government’s policy changes were not a factor in her investment decision.”
Davidson, speaking to reporters this afternoon, said she stood by the principle of Paul’s speech.
“These property investor MPs, wealthy property-owning MPs, and their crocodile tears, while we have a homelessness problem.
“They have intentionally benefited from legislation in this house personally, that’s wrong.”
Davidson said the MPs could write to Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee if they wanted an apology.
The interest deduction rules were reinstated in 2024 after Labour phased them out over the previous two terms.
Landlords can claim 100% of interest incurred on residential property mortgages as a tax expense. The Opposition has often described the reintroduction of the deductions as “tax cuts for landlords”.
Paul posted clips of her speech to TikTok and Instagram, with the former attracting more than one million views.
National MP Grant McCallum.
McCallum corrected the record in the House, denying he had purchased a Wellington property and was paying it off with the accommodation allowance.
McCallum later took to Facebook to deny the allegations again.
“I did buy another home in Paihia. The reason is simple. It was so I had somewhere to stay when I was working in the mid and Far North of my electorate. I do not rent it out,” the post said.
He said his investment in the property saved taxpayers money as he didn’t need to stay in motels.
McCallum requested that Paul apologise, “preferably in Parliament”.
Newstalk ZB asked Paul whether she planned to apologise to McCallum.
A copy of his assets declared in pecuniary interests was included in the request, which did not list property in Wellington.
Green MP Tamatha Paul. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The statement Newstalk ZB received listed a number of donations from “the property industry” the coalition received during the 2023 election, which Paul said were “all on the public record”.
Paul also included that landlords received a “$2.9 billion tax cut” since interest deductibility was reinstated.
Davidson, speaking last week, said the record had been corrected and she was happy for the issue to be left at that.
“In the heat of the moment in the chamber, things are often said off the cuff by MPs across the House.”
This morning, Davidson was challenged over whether the Greens believed misinformation and disinformation was bad for political discourse.
“We do, and that has been corrected in the house,” she told Ryan Bridge TODAY.
“What about online? What about in the court of public opinion? What about the internet?” Bridge pressed.
Davidson responded that the party had “put up the correct information into the dialogue”, though she did not elaborate.
“The principle remains the same – it’s to show how disconnected privileged MPs are from the experiences of ordinary people,” she said.
“Even more so when you can buy a whole extra property and you don’t need any help to pay it off. You can just have an extra property in your back pocket, in your handbag.”
McCallum said he was disappointed the Green Party’s leadership was letting the matter go.
“I think it reflects poorly on them and their leadership.
“The people of New Zealand, they want to hold other politicians to a high standard and have them do it to themselves,” he said.
McCallum said he still believes an apology from Paul would be appropriate.