Is Labour's housing policy racist, or simply xenophobic?

David Shearer has confirmed that Labour will, if elected, ban certain non-resident ethnicities from buying houses in New Zealand; the Herald reports:

Labour leader David Shearer says he "makes no apologies" for his party's proposal to exclude all offshore buyers from the New Zealand housing market after claims it was unnecessary and anti-Chinese.
Prime Minister John Key said foreign ownership was not a big problem and fears about it were based on assumption, not facts.
If elected, Labour would block all purchases of existing property by people who did not live here, or did not plan to live here. Exemptions would be given to Australians, because of reciprocal arrangements with New Zealand, and foreigners who planned to build houses and increase the national supply.

Mr Shearer is trading on very dangerous ground here. He is already facing accusations that this is a racist policy, although we reckon that describing it as xenophobic would probably be more accurate. He is certainly mimicing the policies of New Zealand First and the Green Party.

The problem for Labour is that the party is using a very big stick on what may not actually be a very big problem; read on:

Real estate experts had some reservations about the policy.
Property commentator Olly Newland said it was "a bit of a nonsense" because Australians bought more properties than other foreigners, and because offshore buyers could get residents to buy houses in their name and hold it in a trust for them.
Real Estate Institute of New Zealand head Helen O'Sullivan said she was interested to know how the policy would be enforced. "Would you be needing to ask for passports at open homes?"

The exclusion of Australians from the policy is interesting, given that they make up the largest number of overseas buyers. Will Labour further refine the policy to ban Chinese who are residents of Australia?

And meanwhile David Shearer is about to embark on the Monday morning media round. With sectors of the media already questioning whether this is a racist policy, Mr Shearer will face robust questioning. Here's hoping for his sake that it does not produce the Labour equivalent of a "Hey Clint" moment.