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James Macbeth Dann, an introduction, and a bit about Rebuilding Christchurch

Written By: James Dann - Date published: 4:21 pm, June 17th, 2014 - 86 comments

We allow new candidates for left parties to post here, usually just as guest posts because they aren’t bloggers (and unused to the medium). However James Dann from the blog Rebuilding Christchurch has been writing some excellent posts about that city and its travails during the rebuild. So we’ve decided to give him a author login because for years we have been longing for a author who is in and who writes about Christchurch.

Polity: News from National Comms!

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 2:50 pm, June 13th, 2014 - 40 comments

Rob Salmond at Polity on what has landed in his mail box paid for by your GST and also close to the wrong side the permissible limits of Parliamentary Services funds. Or perhaps this is something for “NZ Taxpayers Union” to moan about wasting taxpayers money with. They won’t of course because they seem to be good little front organisation for Act and Jordan Williams appears to have about as much independence as their beloved slaves. But if you received one, then a complaint seems in order.

Kiwipolitico: The housing problem isn’t a housing problem; it’s a regional development problem

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 3:07 pm, May 28th, 2014 - 41 comments

The national median house price is $415,000, a figure skewed substantially upwards by the extraordinary cost of housing in Auckland. But you can buy a three bedroom house a for a lot less outside the urban areas. There just aren’t jobs to go with them. The chart shows income and employment growth by region. The growth is just not there. Correct that, and it might correct the supply in the urban centres.

David Farrar is (still) the hypocrite

Written By: lprent - Date published: 1:31 pm, May 27th, 2014 - 23 comments

It appears that David Farrar, paid rubber mouthpiece for the National party, is exercising his right to be a hypocrite again. Surely he remembers his attitudes back in 2012 when he was acting as their mouthpiece to discourage other economic migrants seeking a better life in NZ? And it looks like Key is parroting the message tested at Kiwiblog… How predictable.

Snapshot of a nation: inequality

Written By: karol - Date published: 8:00 am, May 24th, 2014 - 30 comments

Al Jazeera reports on damaging inequalities in Spain under “austerity”. High unemployment; 30% of children in poverty, political corruption, tax evasion & a focus on football. Suggested ways to decrease income & wealth inequalities in NZ. Update: TV3’s The Nation: inequality & Wilson & Pickett interview.

Occasionally Erudite: Please, Labour, stop trying to link everything to the housing crisis

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 11:20 am, May 21st, 2014 - 99 comments

Jono at Occasionally Erudite has this advice to offer the strategy team at Labour. Make sure pushing of theme(s) this election doesn’t get snagged into the irrelevant that doesn’t have much to do with it. For instance “…are people currently earning minimum wage really likely to be even close to getting into the Auckland, Christchurch or Wellington housing markets?”

Polity: The young ones

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 7:27 am, May 21st, 2014 - 7 comments

Rob Salmond at Polity looks at what our young have to look forward to in 2019 with National’s hands-off housing screwup. How an average family would fare under National’s do-nothing approach to the housing crisis then?

Polity: Madness: Our house

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 1:18 pm, May 20th, 2014 - 24 comments

How an average family would fare under National’s do-nothing approach to the housing crisis? Not very well. Even at the Treasury forecasts in the budget (which seem highly optimistic), this median New Zealand family, is projected by Treasury to have their disposable income go backwards over the next five “rock star” years. That is a disgrace

National don’t know and don’t want to know about foreign ownership of housing

Written By: geoff - Date published: 1:09 pm, May 20th, 2014 - 43 comments

National’s pandering to foreign money is disturbing their supporters

Marama Davidson: candidate for Tāmaki Makaurau

Written By: karol - Date published: 10:11 am, May 17th, 2014 - 40 comments

Marama Davidson, is on the Green Party list & is a candidate for the Tāmaki Makaurau seat. Davidson is a really promising up-coming politician. She is committed to working for people, communities, the environment, democratic process, & strongly supports wahine, Māori & young people.

Polity: House of Cards

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 11:20 am, May 16th, 2014 - 20 comments

Rob Salmond from Polity on how Budget 2014 figures show that the housing crisis will get much, much worse under National’s do-nothing approach.

Polity: Budget 2014: Over-promise. Under-deliver.

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 3:18 pm, May 15th, 2014 - 40 comments

Earlier this week I predicted the Budget would be Labour-lite. I was right, but only in part. By far the biggest disappointment is in housing. The government signalled help for home buyers would be a highlight in the Budget. A few pathetic morsels isn’t a highlight. This will make next to no difference to the housing affordability crisis. First home buyers aren’t $3,500 short of a house. They are hundreds of thousands short, because there aren’t nearly enough homes.

The selective empathy of Key’s callous government

Written By: karol - Date published: 9:54 am, May 12th, 2014 - 21 comments

John Key’s government is cutting back on state housing, uprooting families from their homes. Large numbers of state houses are empty, while many are left to move from caravan park to sleeping in cars or outdoors. Weasel words from Paula Bennett and Nick Smith.

The neoliberal power game: cities for sale

Written By: karol - Date published: 7:24 am, May 4th, 2014 - 27 comments

An NZ Herald article about Mai Chen’s book on Auckland Council, supports big power, big money, big competition, and economic activities focused on anything but the production of material needs and wants. It ignores the struggling precariat living with housing, income, transport and energy poverty.

Key Govt asset stripping state housing

Written By: karol - Date published: 7:56 am, April 25th, 2014 - 54 comments

Phil Twyford has exposed the government’s asset-stripping approach to running down state housing, while favouring of private & overseas entities. The Greens & Mana have strong policies for increasing the amount of state housing. Still waiting for a commitment from Labour.

Stepping up: new energy from Kelvin Davis

Written By: karol - Date published: 10:20 am, April 23rd, 2014 - 115 comments

Labour has swung positively behind the change from Jones to Kelvin Davis. In his interview on TV3’s First Line this morning, Davis was confident, down-to-earth, & energetic. Hone Harawira & Davis are strong candidates for Te Tai Tokerau and those struggling on low incomes. Both would be assets for a Labour-led government.

The housing bubble

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:38 am, April 20th, 2014 - 176 comments

Another week and another report suggesting that New Zealand’s housing market is heading towards a potential crisis. The Government’s primary response is to blame Labour. The Greens and Labour have a collection of policies which would improve matters significantly. But the politics are difficult because who would want to threaten the value of the family home?

Chicken

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 3:42 pm, April 15th, 2014 - 133 comments

Yesterday John Key challenged David Cunliffe to a debate about housing which Cunliffe gratefully accepted. Today it is a different matter …

And now for the real news…

Written By: karol - Date published: 10:00 am, March 21st, 2014 - 15 comments

“Rockstar economy”? Let’s hear it for another chorus of,”There is no depression in New Zealand”! Demographia reports on absolute food and housing poverty for too many Kiwis. Simon Collins reports on the ethnic inequality gaps & high rates of Maori imprisonment.

Warm, dry homes – let’s just do it

Written By: Guest post - Date published: 4:50 pm, March 20th, 2014 - 100 comments

Making sure every rental property is a warm, dry home should be a no-brainer in the 21st century. Parliament will shortly get the chance to vote on my Healthy Homes Guarantee Bill. The vote will sort the parties for whom this is a genuine belief from those who just pay it lip service.

Glen Innes ‘war zone’

Written By: karol - Date published: 9:08 am, March 6th, 2014 - 52 comments

A photo/video documentary project in March Metro Magazine shows Glen Innes as a war zone. The National Government’s war on the poor continues with the sales and removal of state housing. Protest this evening at Glen Innes.

Poverty on the agenda

Written By: karol - Date published: 10:26 am, February 19th, 2014 - 81 comments

The documentary ‘Mind the Gap’ and an interview with a UNICEF advocacy manager focus on poverty and inequality. Zombie “neoliberal” policies have increased poverty & inequality, damaging the futures of too many children. We will all benefit from good government policies underpinned by a commitment to collective approaches and responsibility.

LB: Greens’ Solar Sense and National’s Nonsense

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 4:00 pm, February 18th, 2014 - 28 comments

Local Bodies looks at some (very cool) solar installations and the Greens solar policy. We are now seeing a stark contrast between a Government desperate to support the status quo of increasing charges and large company profits, while the future focussed Greens are truly progressive in their thinking.

Smirks & inversions

Written By: karol - Date published: 10:54 am, February 13th, 2014 - 42 comments

The Salvation Army’s latest State of the Nation Report is damning on child poverty & unaffordable housing. The government is misrepresenting the conclusions, reversing the main focus on failings, and focusing on the positives: the spin is repeated in an NZ Herald editorial.

Opposing the PM’s statement

Written By: karol - Date published: 8:49 pm, January 28th, 2014 - 18 comments

The PMs’ statement todaywas a bit of a fizzer: lacking ideas, a lot of waffle. Some opposition speeches were more inspiring, & laid out some real alternatives: like the speeches from Cunliffe (on fire), Norman (inspiring), Ardern (animated) & Harawira (real people; real struggles).

‘Reclaiming Our Children’s Birthright’- Metiria’s speech

Written By: karol - Date published: 9:55 am, January 27th, 2014 - 53 comments

Metiria Turei delivered a very strong, inspiring, and well-targeted speech yesterday. She reclaimed fractured values of inclusive, collaborative communities. She framed inequality as the issue for the coming election; the Greens’ education hub policy central. Labour, NZEI responded favourably.

State housing: bursting the “market” bubble

Written By: karol - Date published: 11:00 am, January 20th, 2014 - 102 comments

The inhumane (un)affordability of housing in NZ, especially in the cities of Christchurch & Auckland, is beyond crisis point. The answer is not letting the “market” (aka the wealthy and powerful) decide. As Utah shows the solution is more state housing.

Poverty denial

Written By: karol - Date published: 9:58 am, December 30th, 2013 - 230 comments

Here & in the UK: food poverty, increases in queues to foodbanks, in diseases of poverty, a crisis in affordable housing, & struggles & insecurites of the working poor. But poverty denialists blame the poor, smear beneficiaries, & talk of (always-around-the-corner) “brighter futures”.

Thank you ….

Written By: karol - Date published: 8:57 am, December 25th, 2013 - 34 comments

To all those making a difference and working for a more inclusive, equal, fair and sustainable society. Special thanks to Lynn for all his work for The Standard.

Not the brighter future….

Written By: karol - Date published: 8:46 am, December 22nd, 2013 - 32 comments

Articles in the Sunday papers online, showing John Key’s “brighter future” is only for the well off, while more people than ever are struggling to get by.

Rent freezes in disaster zones

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 7:25 am, December 10th, 2013 - 80 comments

You need little more evidence of how Gerry Brownlee’s lazy-faire approach to the Christchurch rebuild has failed than the story of the (working) single mother forced to live in a tent with her 3 kids because there’s no affordable rentals. One of the automatic moves in a large scale disaster should be to freeze rents in the disaster zone. The Human Rights Commission agrees.