Perhaps decrypter. He went to a lot of trouble to re-instigate the Royal perogative soon after 2008, but surely now is too soon? I hope you’re wrong though.
“If you are from overseas and want to own a house, you must build a new one…”
It seems Labour don’t plan to fix the flaw in that policy.
The policy will shift offshore demand from housing to land. Resulting in driving up the cost of land, thus adding to the overall cost of housing.
Moreover, it will also add more demand on our already stretched construction sector, driving up the cost of building and building supply costs. Further adding to the cost of housing.
When land prices increase it adds to the overall value of the homes that sit upon it. Therefore, as long as demand remains stronger than supply, the answer to your question is no.
Speculators factor in, thus pass on the cost of their developments.
The point being that they’re new developments that the speculator would otherwise not have built. If they didn’t build then they’d be increasing demand on homes without increasing supply.
And they can’t just pass on costs because people will just go elsewhere – price is set by buyer and seller, not just seller. So if they won’t get enough return after development costs, they can just fuck off without increasing demand on existing houses.
Basically, what the Labour policy does is lower the impact overseas buyers have on the existing housing supply. How is this a problem?
Yes, new offshore owned developments adding to local demand pressures.
The problem is, it’s effectively forcing a shift in foreign demand, while a number of voters wanted an end to it. Which could be achieved by a hefty tax deterrent on offshore buyers, thus making it infeasible to buy land or houses.
As for speculators passing on costs, not only do they pass costs on, they also profit from the resale. They wouldn’t last long in the business if they didn’t. Vendors set the reserve price at auctions and vendors tend to seek more in a sellers market.
Okay, let’s make it simple: 100 houses, 100 buyers, 100 vacant lots that would cost a bit more to develop and therefore lower profit
2 buyers are overseas buyers.
Now: 100% occupancy, prices rise
Labour policy: 102 houses and 100 buyers, 98% occupancy, prices rise less than without Labour’s policy. Alternatively, 98 buyers for 100 houses. Same result.
It’s not defeating the purpose if it lowers the competition for current housing stock.
It increases the number of people seeking to build new houses. Yes, land prices increase, but the added value is the new house. So the housing stock expands, and resident NZers have less competition for houses that currently exist.
“It’s not defeating the purpose if it lowers the competition for current housing stock.”
It is when at the same time it’s merely shifting demand (not ceasing it) thus resulting in increasing house prices (as explained above) . Labour’s objective is to slowdown the rate of house price increases.
While Labour’s policy reduces offshore housing demand and adds to the housing stock, it also adds to local land demand. Therefore, the higher demand for land counters the benefit of expanding the housing stock And as land prices are further driven up, so to will house prices. At the current rate of demand, it would take years before the impact of increasing the housing stock had an effect.
Moreover, every dollar of profit an offshore owner makes on a resale or from rent is an extra dollar potentially heading out of our economy and offshore. We have enough local speculators, hence we don’t currently need to encourage more from offshore.
We need to correct this ASAP. Therefore, a hefty tax deterrent on offshore investors would have an instant result, thus is more fit for purpose.
An offshore tax might be something to consider, but it’s a separate issue.
Increasing demand for land for housing is offset by more land being freed up because housing is now more attractive in some instances than say grazing.
But even then, resident NZers face less competition for existing housing stock. Any increase is shifted onto overseas buyers to shoulder.
As for the impact on housing stock, it is one policy that hits the problem from one angle. Patience is a virtue.
A tax on offshore investors making it infeasible to buy land or houses meets the objective. And does so far more efficiently.
Not only will resident NZers face less competition for existing housing stock, they’ll also face less competition for land to build upon.
Land supply is somewhat limited. Moreover, with high immigration there’s enough local demand driving prices up to a premium to make freeing up land look more attractive. Hence, adding to local demand pressures that are already overheated is not the solution for slowing down price increases.
Additionally, freeing up more land for offshore investors robs locals of the opportunity and the local economy of funding as returns potentially head offshore. As it stands, high immigration coupled with offshore and local speculation have already resulted in pricing a number of locals out of the market. Hence we need fast acting policy such as a hefty tax on offshore investors that will correct this ASAP.
Ok, this is a market-based policy. By increasing demand for land to be freed up, that motivates people who own land to move it into housing development.
It doesn’t “robs locals of the opportunity and the local economy of funding”. The land wouldn’t have been freed up without the increased demand.
The tax policy is fine for discussion. But that would work alongside the current policy, it’s not an either/or.
But let’s just forget the whys and what fors for the moment. Forget context. Forget about reasoning and process. Lose yourself in the moment: lean back, mentally check out, and enjoy the bizarre beauty of a New Zealand court—judge, lawyers, witnesses—having to listen to “Lose Yourself” by Eminem in full, in silence, with absolute earnestness.
Joe.,lol.– No work in that lot, pretty hopeless. Not one of them would pass a drug test. Sitting around listening to music all day while the tax payer foots the Bill.
joe too much. Right that’s sorted ,now the fate as you see it of double dipper English ,Something to give me pleasant dreams as I journey to the land of nod.
I hope Little and Labour take note and accept that NZ/Aussie relations have changed. If Oz is going to treat us the same as other nations then we need to do the same to Oz.
It’s shocking really, the way the Australians treat New Zealanders like criminals when the founder of an Australian political party so big on “user-pays” is sending sexual communications to little girls and taking smack on holidays to SEA.
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The Regulatory Standards Bill, as I understand it, seeks to bind parliament to a specific range of law-making.For example, it seems to ensure primacy of individual rights over that of community, environment, te Tiriti ...
Happy New Year!I had a lovely break, thanks very much for asking: friends, family, sunshine, books, podcasts, refreshing swims, barbecues, bike rides. So good to step away from the firehose for a while, to have less Trump and Seymour in your day. Who needs the Luxons in their risible PJs ...
Patrick Reynolds is deputy chair of the Auckland City Centre Advisory Panel and a director of Greater Auckland In 2003, after much argument, including the election of a Mayor in 2001 who ran on stopping it, Britomart train station in downtown Auckland opened. A mere 1km twin track terminating branch ...
For the first time in a decade, a New Zealand Prime Minister is heading to the Middle East. The trip is more than just a courtesy call. New Zealand PMs frequently change planes in Dubai en route to destinations elsewhere. But Christopher Luxon’s visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 5, 2025 thru Sat, January 11, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The decade between 1952 and the early 1960s was the peak period for the style of music we now call doo wop, after which it got dissolved into soul music, girl groups, and within pop music in general. Basically, doo wop was a form of small group harmonising with a ...
The future teaches you to be aloneThe present to be afraid and coldSo if I can shoot rabbits, then I can shoot fascists…And if you tolerate thisThen your children will be nextSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Do you remember at school, studying the rise ...
When National won the New Zealand election in 2023, one of the first to congratulate Luxon was tech-billionaire and entrepreneur extraordinaire Elon Musk.And last year, after Luxon posted a video about a trip to Malaysia, Musk came forward again to heap praise on Christopher:So it was perhaps par for the ...
Hi,Today’s Webworm features a new short film from documentary maker Giorgio Angelini. It’s about Luigi Mangione — but it’s also, really, about everything in America right now.Bear with me.Shortly after I sent out my last missive from the fires on Wednesday, one broke out a little too close to home ...
So soon just after you've goneMy senses sharpenBut it always takes so damn longBefore I feel how much my eyes have darkenedFear hangs in a plane of gun smokeDrifting in our roomSo easy to disturb, with a thought, with a whisperWith a careless memorySongwriters: Andy Taylor / John Taylor / ...
Can we trust the Trump cabinet to act in the public interest?Nine of Trump’s closest advisers are billionaires. Their total net worth is in excess of $US375b (providing there is not a share-market crash). In contrast, the total net worth of Trump’s first Cabinet was about $6b. (Joe Biden’s Cabinet ...
Welcome back to our weekly roundup. We hope you had a good break (if you had one). Here’s a few of the stories that caught our attention over the last few weeks. This holiday period on Greater Auckland Since our last roundup we’ve: Taken a look back at ...
Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partnerSometimes I feel like my only friendIs the city I live in, The City of AngelsLonely as I am together we crySong: Anthony Kiedis, Chad Smith, Flea, John Frusciante.A home is engulfed in flames during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area. ...
Open access notablesLarge emissions of CO2 and CH4 due to active-layer warming in Arctic tundra, Torn et al., Nature Communications:Climate warming may accelerate decomposition of Arctic soil carbon, but few controlled experiments have manipulated the entire active layer. To determine surface-atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide and ...
It's election year for Wellington City Council and for the Regional Council. What have the progressive councillors achieved over the last couple of years. What were the blocks and failures? What's with the targeting of the mayor and city council by the Post and by central government? Why does the ...
Over the holidays, there was a rising tide of calls for people to submit on National's repulsive, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, along with a wave of advice and examples of what to say. And it looks like people rose to the occasion, with over 300,000 ...
The lie is my expenseThe scope of my desireThe Party blessed me with its futureAnd I protect it with fireI am the Nina The Pinta The Santa MariaThe noose and the rapistAnd the fields overseerThe agents of orangeThe priests of HiroshimaThe cost of my desire…Sleep now in the fireSongwriters: Brad ...
This is a re-post from the Climate BrinkGlobal surface temperatures have risen around 1.3C since the preindustrial (1850-1900) period as a result of human activity.1 However, this aggregate number masks a lot of underlying factors that contribute to global surface temperature changes over time.These include CO2, which is the primary ...
There are times when movement around us seems to slow down. And the faster things get, the slower it all appears.And so it is with the whirlwind of early year political activity.They are harbingers for what is to come:Video: Wayne Wright Jnr, funder of Sean Plunket, talk growing power and ...
Hi,Right now the power is out, so I’m just relying on the laptop battery and tethering to my phone’s 5G which is dropping in and out. We’ll see how we go.First up — I’m fine. I can’t see any flames out the window. I live in the greater Hollywood area ...
2024 was a tough year for working Kiwis. But together we’ve been able to fight back for a just and fair New Zealand and in 2025 we need to keep standing up for what’s right and having our voices heard. That starts with our Mood of the Workforce Survey. It’s your ...
Time is never time at allYou can never ever leaveWithout leaving a piece of youthAnd our lives are forever changedWe will never be the sameThe more you change, the less you feelSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan.Babinden - Baba’s DayToday, January 8th, 2025, is Babinden, “The Day of the baba” or “The ...
..I/We wish to make the following comments:I oppose the Treaty Principles Bill."5. Act binds the CrownThis Act binds the Crown."How does this Act "bind the Crown" when Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which the Act refers to, has been violated by the Crown on numerous occassions, resulting in massive loss of ...
Everything is good and brownI'm here againWith a sunshine smile upon my faceMy friends are close at handAnd all my inhibitions have disappeared without a traceI'm glad, oh, that I found oohSomebody who I can rely onSongwriter: Jay KayGood morning, all you lovely people. Today, I’ve got nothing except a ...
Welcome to 2025. After wrapping up 2024, here’s a look at some of the things we can expect to see this year along with a few predictions. Council and Elections Elections One of the biggest things this year will be local body elections in October. Will Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Canadians can take a while to get angry – but when they finally do, watch out. Canada has been falling out of love with Justin Trudeau for years, and his exit has to be the least surprising news event of the New Year. On recent polling, Trudeau’s Liberal party has ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Much like 2023, many climate and energy records were broken in 2024. It was Earth’s hottest year on record by a wide margin, breaking the previous record that was set just last year by an even larger margin. Human-caused climate-warming pollution and ...
Submissions on National's racist, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill are due tomorrow! So today, after a good long holiday from all that bullshit, I finally got my shit together to submit on it. As I noted here, people should write their own submissions in their own ...
Ooh, baby (ooh, baby)It's making me crazy (it's making me crazy)Every time I look around (look around)Every time I look around (every time I look around)Every time I look aroundIt's in my faceSongwriters: Alan Leo Jansson / Paul Lawrence L. Fuemana.Today, I’ll be talking about rich, middle-aged men who’ve made ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 29, 2024 thru Sat, January 4, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Hi,The thing that stood out at me while shopping for Christmas presents in New Zealand was how hard it was to avoid Zuru products. Toy manufacturer Zuru is a bit like Netflix, in that it has so much data on what people want they can flood the market with so ...
And when a child is born into this worldIt has no conceptOf the tone of skin it's living inAnd there's a million voicesAnd there's a million voicesTo tell you what you should be thinkingSong by Neneh Cherry and Youssou N'Dour.The moment you see that face, you can hear her voice; ...
While we may not always have quality political leadership, a couple of recently published autobiographies indicate sometimes we strike it lucky. When ranking our prime ministers, retired professor of history Erik Olssen commented that ‘neither Holland nor Nash was especially effective as prime minister – even his private secretary thought ...
Baby, be the class clownI'll be the beauty queen in tearsIt's a new art form, showin' people how little we care (yeah)We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fearLet's go down to the tennis court and talk it up like, yeah (yeah)Songwriters: Joel Little / Ella Yelich O ...
Open access notables Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored, Ecker et al., American Psychologist:Recent academic debate has seen the emergence of the claim that misinformation is not a significant societal problem. We argue that the arguments used to support this minimizing position are flawed, particularly if interpreted (e.g., by policymakers or the public) as suggesting ...
What I’ve Been Doing: I buried a close family member.What I’ve Been Watching: Andor, Jack Reacher, Xmas movies.What I’ve Been Reflecting On: The Usefulness of Writing and the Worthiness of Doing So — especially as things become more transparent on their own.I also hate competing on any day, and if ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by John Wihbey. A version of this article first appeared on Yale Climate Connections on Nov. 11, 2008. (Image credits: The White House, Jonathan Cutrer / CC BY 2.0; President Jimmy Carter, Trikosko/Library of Congress; Solar dedication, Bill Fitz-Patrick / Jimmy Carter Library; Solar ...
Morena folks,We’re having a good break, recharging the batteries. Hope you’re enjoying the holiday period. I’m not feeling terribly inspired by much at the moment, I’m afraid—not from a writing point of view, anyway.So, today, we’re travelling back in time. You’ll have to imagine the wavy lines and sci-fi sound ...
Completed reads for 2024: Oration on the Dignity of Man, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola A Platonic Discourse Upon Love, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Of Being and Unity, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola The Life of Pico della Mirandola, by Giovanni Francesco Pico Three Letters Written by Pico ...
Welcome to 2025, Aotearoa. Well… what can one really say? 2024 was a story of a bad beginning, an infernal middle and an indescribably farcical end. But to chart a course for a real future, it does pay to know where we’ve been… so we know where we need ...
Welcome to the official half-way point of the 2020s. Anyway, as per my New Years tradition, here’s where A Phuulish Fellow’s blog traffic came from in 2024: United States United Kingdom New Zealand Canada Sweden Australia Germany Spain Brazil Finland The top four are the same as 2023, ...
Completed reads for December: Be A Wolf!, by Brian Strickland The Magic Flute [libretto], by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emanuel Schikaneder The Invisible Eye, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Owl’s Ear, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Waters of Death, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Spider, by Hanns Heinz Ewers Who Knows?, by Guy de Maupassant ...
Well, it’s the last day of the year, so it’s time for a quick wrap-up of the most important things that happened in 2024 for urbanism and transport in our city. A huge thank you to everyone who has visited the blog and supported us in our mission to make ...
Leave your office, run past your funeralLeave your home, car, leave your pulpitJoin us in the streets where weJoin us in the streets where weDon't belong, don't belongHere under the starsThrowing light…Song: Jeffery BuckleyToday, I’ll discuss the standout politicians of the last 12 months. Each party will receive three awards, ...
Hi,A lot’s happened this year in the world of Webworm, and as 2024 comes to an end I thought I’d look back at a few of the things that popped. Maybe you missed them, or you might want to revisit some of these essay and podcast episodes over your break ...
Hi,I wanted to share this piece by film editor Dan Kircher about what cinema has been up to in 2024.Dan edited my documentary Mister Organ, as well as this year’s excellent crowd-pleasing Bookworm.Dan adores movies. He gets the language of cinema, he knows what he loves, and writes accordingly. And ...
Without delving into personal details but in order to give readers a sense of the year that was, I thought I would offer the study in contrasts that are Xmas 2023 and Xmas 2024: Xmas 2023 in Starship Children’s Hospital (after third of four surgeries). Even opening presents was an ...
Heavy disclaimer: Alpha/beta/omega dynamics is a popular trope that’s used in a wide range of stories and my thoughts on it do not apply to all cases. I’m most familiar with it through the lens of male-focused fanfic, typically m/m but sometimes also featuring m/f and that’s the situation I’m ...
Hi,Webworm has been pretty heavy this year — mainly because the world is pretty heavy. But as we sprint (or limp, you choose) through the final days of 2024, I wanted to keep Webworm a little lighter.So today I wanted to look at one of the biggest and weirdest elements ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 22, 2024 thru Sat, December 28, 2024. This week's roundup is the second one published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, ...
We’ll have a climate change ChristmasFrom now until foreverWarming our hearts and mindsAnd planet all togetherSpirits high and oceans higherChestnuts roast on wildfiresIf coal is on your wishlistMerry Climate Change ChristmasSong by Ian McConnellReindeer emissions are not something I’d thought about in terms of climate change. I guess some significant ...
KP continues to putt-putt along as a tiny niche blog that offers a NZ perspective on international affairs with a few observations about NZ domestic politics thrown in. In 2024 there was also some personal posts given that my son was in the last four months of a nine month ...
I can see very wellThere's a boat on the reef with a broken backAnd I can see it very wellThere's a joke and I know it very wellIt's one of those that I told you long agoTake my word I'm a madman, don't you knowSongwriters: Bernie Taupin / Elton JohnIt ...
.Acknowledgement: Tim PrebbleThanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work..With each passing day of bad headlines, squandering tax revenue to enrich the rich, deep cuts to our social services and a government struggling to keep the lipstick on its neo-liberal pig ...
This is from the 36th Parallel social media account (as brief food for thought). We know that Trump is ahistorical at best but he seems to think that he is Teddy Roosevelt and can use the threat of invoking the Monroe Doctrine and “Big Stick” gunboat diplomacy against Panama and ...
Don't you cry tonightI still love you, babyAnd don't you cry tonightDon't you cry tonightThere's a heaven above you, babyAnd don't you cry tonightSong: Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin“Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so”, said possibly the greatest philosopher ever to walk this earth, Douglas Adams.We have entered the ...
Because you're magicYou're magic people to meSong: Dave Para/Molly Para.Morena all, I hope you had a good day yesterday, however you spent it. Today, a few words about our celebration and a look at the various messages from our politicians.A Rockel XmasChristmas morning was spent with the five of us ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). 2024 has been a series of bad news for climate change. From scorching global temperatures leading to devastating ...
Ríu Ríu ChíuRíu Ríu Chíu is a Spanish Christmas song from the 16th Century. The traditional carol would likely have passed unnoticed by the English-speaking world had the made-for-television American band The Monkees not performed the song as part of their special Christmas show back in 1967. The show's ...
The Green Party welcomes the extension of the deadline for Treaty Principles Bill submissions but continues to call on the Government to abandon the Bill. ...
Complaints about disruptive behaviour now handled in around 13 days (down from around 60 days a year ago) 553 Section 55A notices issued by Kāinga Ora since July 2024, up from 41 issued during the same period in the previous year. Of that 553, first notices made up around 83 ...
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the annual list of New Zealand’s most popular baby names for 2024. “For the second consecutive year, Noah has claimed the top spot for boys with 250 babies sharing the name, while Isla has returned to the most popular ...
Work is set to get underway on a new bus station at Westgate this week. A contract has been awarded to HEB Construction to start a package of enabling works to get the site ready in advance of main construction beginning in mid-2025, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“A new Westgate ...
Minister for Children and for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour is encouraging people to use the resources available to them to get help, and to report instances of family and sexual violence amongst their friends, families, and loved ones who are in need. “The death of a ...
Uia te pō, rangahaua te pō, whakamāramatia mai he aha tō tango, he aha tō kāwhaki? Whitirere ki te ao, tirotiro kau au, kei hea taku rātā whakamarumaru i te au o te pakanga mo te mana motuhake? Au te pō, ngū te pō, ue hā! E te kahurangi māreikura, ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says people with diabetes and other painful conditions will benefit from a significant new qualification to boost training in foot care. “It sounds simple, but quality and regular foot and nail care is vital in preventing potentially serious complications from diabetes, like blisters or sores, which can take a long time to heal ...
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Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is wishing all New Zealanders a great holiday season as Kiwis prepare for gatherings with friends and families to see in the New Year. It is a great time of year to remind everyone to stay fire safe over the summer. “I know ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steve Turton, Adjunct Professor of Environmental Geography, CQUniversity Australia The world has watched in horror as fires continue to raze parts of Los Angeles, California. For those of us living in Australia, one of the world’s most fire-prone continents, the LA experience ...
Every story about the Ministry of Regulation seems to be about staffing cost blow-outs. The red tape slashing Ministry needs teeth, sure, but all we seem to hear about are teething problems, says axpayers’ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager James ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carmen Lim, NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow, National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research, The University of Queensland Visualistka/Shutterstock A multi-million dollar business has developed in Australia to meet the demand for medicinal cannabis. Australians spent more than A$400 million on it ...
Summer reissue: The tide is turning on Insta-therapy. Good riddance, but actual therapy is still good and worth doing. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darius von Guttner Sporzynski, Historian, Australian Catholic University Stained glass with a depiction of the martyred nuns, Saint Honoré d’Eylau Church, Paris.Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA The Martyrs of Compiègne, a group of 16 Discalced Carmelite nuns executed during the Reign of ...
Tara Ward wades bravely into one of the thorniest January questions: how late is too late to greet someone with a cheery ‘Happy New Year’? Every January, New Zealand faces a big problem. I’m not referring to penguins strolling into petrol stations or cranky seagulls eating your chips, but something ...
The proposed Bill cuts across existing and soon-to-be-implemented frameworks, including Part 4 of the Legislation Act 2019, which is slated to come into force next year, and will make sensible improvements to regulation-making. ...
Summer reissue: For all the spectacle of WoW, Alex Casey couldn’t tear her eyes off Christopher Luxon in the front row. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pavlina Jasovska, Senior Lecturer in International Business & Strategy, University of Technology Sydney Multiculturalism is central to Australia’s identity, with more than half the population coming from overseas or having parents who did. Most Australians view multiculturalism positively. However, many experience ...
Treaty issues will dominate the first six months, but that’s not all, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in the first Bulletin of 2025. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Summer reissue: The Kim Dotcom challenge to John Key culminated in an extravaganza joining dots from the US, the UK, Russia – even North Korea. And it got very messy. Toby Manhire casts his eye back a decade.The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have ...
In our latest in-depth podcast investigation, Fractured, Melanie Reid and her team delve deep into a complex case involving a controversial medical diagnosis and its fallout on a young family. While Fractured is a forensic examination of this case here in New Zealand, the diagnosis that started it all is ...
Close to 2000 New Zealanders died carrying student loans in 2024, with the Inland Revenue Department having to wipe $28.8 million in unpaid debt.Both the number and value of loans being written off due to the holder dying has tripled over the past decade, government figures show. In 2014, $9 ...
Opinion: In late December we learned that, after a four-year battle with the Charities Services, Te Whānau O Waipareira Trust looks set to be deregistered as a charity. Most of what we know about the activities of Waipareira Trust, and the resulting Charities Services’ investigations, is due to tenacious reporting ...
Summer reissue: As homelessness hits an all-time high, New Zealand’s frontline organisations are embracing unconventional and innovative strategies. Joel MacManus takes a closer look at the crisis and meets the people who claim to have the cure.The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s Sunday “soft launch” of his campaign for election year was carefully calibrated to pitch to the party faithful while seeking to project enough nuance to avoid alienating centrist voters. It ...
Paula Southgate says she is not standing for re-election as she wants to make way for emerging leaders and spend more time with her friends and family. ...
The bipartisan support in parliament for the Foreign Interference Bill is a warning that there is no constituency in the New Zealand ruling class for the maintenance of basic democratic rights. There has been no critical reporting on the bill in the ...
Democracy Now!AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! As we continue our discussion of President Jimmy Carter’s legacy, we look at his policies in the Middle East and North Africa, in particular, Israel and Palestine.On Thursday during the state funeral in Washington, President Carter’s former adviser Stuart Eizenstat praised ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk France’s naval flagship, the 261m aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, is to be deployed to the Pacific later this year, as part of an exercise codenamed “Clémenceau 25”. French Naval Command Etat-Major’s Commodore Jacques Mallard told a French media briefing that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Vaughan, PhD Researcher Sport Integrity, University of Canberra As the Australian Open gets under way in Melbourne, the sport is facing a crisis over positive doping tests involving two of the biggest stars in tennis. Last March, the top-ranked men’s player, ...
Summer reissue: New Zealand used to be a country of vibrant synthetic striped polyprop. Then we got boring – and discovered merino. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to ...
It was a mild, cloudy morning in May 1974 when Oliver Sutherland and his wife, Ulla Sköld, were confronted, on their doorstep, by one of the country’s top cops.The couple were key members of the group Auckland Committee on Racism and Discrimination (Acord), which had been pushing the government to ...
Summer reissue: With funding ending for Archives New Zealand’s digitisation programme, Hera Lindsay Bird shares a taste of what’s being lost – because history isn’t just about the big-ticket items. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please ...
Since the dramatic scenes at Kabul Airport in 2021 of thousands of Afghans desperately seeking to escape, fearful of what a new Taliban regime would mean for their lives and livelihoods, the focus on Afghanistan in New Zealand has predictably waned. New crises have emerged, with the conflicts in Ukraine ...
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Summer reissue: Rachel Hunter sold out a Christchurch school hall for a mysterious sounding ‘Community Event’. Alex Casey went along to find out what it was all about. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our ...
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Asia Pacific Report A Palestine solidarity advocate today appealed to New Zealanders to shed their feelings of powerlessness over the Gaza genocide and “take action” in support of an effective global strategy of boycott, divestment and sanctions. “Many of us have become addicted to ‘doom scrolling’ — reading or watching ...
https://twitter.com/JulianAssange/status/859872754493001729
heh heh very cool 🙂
So anyone up for a sweepstake on which date prior to the 8th of June we’ll be being told of a chemical attack by “the Syrian regime” against “rebels”?
I’m picking somewhere in the last week of May.
What is up in the UK? Is Lizzie going to declare a republic?
You beat me by 3 minutes. Is the Queen going to abdicate in favour of Charlie boy.
I’m betting with her and her husband getting ill a lot lately that she is going to abdicate so they can take time for themselves.
No. It seems that the Palace Chef tried to serve fish and chips to the Queen. Caused a real reaction. A National incident in the making.
Worse…..
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C-9vAj6XUAAt_Wp.jpg
John Key to be Knighted ?
Perhaps decrypter. He went to a lot of trouble to re-instigate the Royal perogative soon after 2008, but surely now is too soon? I hope you’re wrong though.
Gosh Joe! Doesn’t he/she look regal.
Well the news is out that the Duke is retiring from his regular public charity engagements as of August.
Good sized, enthusiastic crowd, listening to Andrew Little speak in palmy this evening.
If you are from overseas and want to own a house, you must build a new one, coming after the property speculators, too.
Education, mental health, health, and under-engaged youth were also talked about.
“If you are from overseas and want to own a house, you must build a new one…”
It seems Labour don’t plan to fix the flaw in that policy.
The policy will shift offshore demand from housing to land. Resulting in driving up the cost of land, thus adding to the overall cost of housing.
Moreover, it will also add more demand on our already stretched construction sector, driving up the cost of building and building supply costs. Further adding to the cost of housing.
It’ll also lower the cost of already-built housing as well as forcing speculators to shoulder the costs of freeing up that land for development, no?
When land prices increase it adds to the overall value of the homes that sit upon it. Therefore, as long as demand remains stronger than supply, the answer to your question is no.
Speculators factor in, thus pass on the cost of their developments.
The point being that they’re new developments that the speculator would otherwise not have built. If they didn’t build then they’d be increasing demand on homes without increasing supply.
And they can’t just pass on costs because people will just go elsewhere – price is set by buyer and seller, not just seller. So if they won’t get enough return after development costs, they can just fuck off without increasing demand on existing houses.
Basically, what the Labour policy does is lower the impact overseas buyers have on the existing housing supply. How is this a problem?
Yes, new offshore owned developments adding to local demand pressures.
The problem is, it’s effectively forcing a shift in foreign demand, while a number of voters wanted an end to it. Which could be achieved by a hefty tax deterrent on offshore buyers, thus making it infeasible to buy land or houses.
As for speculators passing on costs, not only do they pass costs on, they also profit from the resale. They wouldn’t last long in the business if they didn’t. Vendors set the reserve price at auctions and vendors tend to seek more in a sellers market.
Okay, let’s make it simple: 100 houses, 100 buyers, 100 vacant lots that would cost a bit more to develop and therefore lower profit
2 buyers are overseas buyers.
Now: 100% occupancy, prices rise
Labour policy: 102 houses and 100 buyers, 98% occupancy, prices rise less than without Labour’s policy. Alternatively, 98 buyers for 100 houses. Same result.
How is this a problem?
The first problem is your equations overlook it’s largely a sellers market, thus demand is exceeding supply.
And instead of reducing that demand, Labour’s policy is merely shifting it. Defeating the objective (as highlighted above, 4.1).
It’s not defeating the purpose if it lowers the competition for current housing stock.
It increases the number of people seeking to build new houses. Yes, land prices increase, but the added value is the new house. So the housing stock expands, and resident NZers have less competition for houses that currently exist.
“It’s not defeating the purpose if it lowers the competition for current housing stock.”
It is when at the same time it’s merely shifting demand (not ceasing it) thus resulting in increasing house prices (as explained above) . Labour’s objective is to slowdown the rate of house price increases.
While Labour’s policy reduces offshore housing demand and adds to the housing stock, it also adds to local land demand. Therefore, the higher demand for land counters the benefit of expanding the housing stock And as land prices are further driven up, so to will house prices. At the current rate of demand, it would take years before the impact of increasing the housing stock had an effect.
Moreover, every dollar of profit an offshore owner makes on a resale or from rent is an extra dollar potentially heading out of our economy and offshore. We have enough local speculators, hence we don’t currently need to encourage more from offshore.
We need to correct this ASAP. Therefore, a hefty tax deterrent on offshore investors would have an instant result, thus is more fit for purpose.
An offshore tax might be something to consider, but it’s a separate issue.
Increasing demand for land for housing is offset by more land being freed up because housing is now more attractive in some instances than say grazing.
But even then, resident NZers face less competition for existing housing stock. Any increase is shifted onto overseas buyers to shoulder.
As for the impact on housing stock, it is one policy that hits the problem from one angle. Patience is a virtue.
A tax on offshore investors making it infeasible to buy land or houses meets the objective. And does so far more efficiently.
Not only will resident NZers face less competition for existing housing stock, they’ll also face less competition for land to build upon.
Land supply is somewhat limited. Moreover, with high immigration there’s enough local demand driving prices up to a premium to make freeing up land look more attractive. Hence, adding to local demand pressures that are already overheated is not the solution for slowing down price increases.
Additionally, freeing up more land for offshore investors robs locals of the opportunity and the local economy of funding as returns potentially head offshore. As it stands, high immigration coupled with offshore and local speculation have already resulted in pricing a number of locals out of the market. Hence we need fast acting policy such as a hefty tax on offshore investors that will correct this ASAP.
Ok, this is a market-based policy. By increasing demand for land to be freed up, that motivates people who own land to move it into housing development.
It doesn’t “robs locals of the opportunity and the local economy of funding”. The land wouldn’t have been freed up without the increased demand.
The tax policy is fine for discussion. But that would work alongside the current policy, it’s not an either/or.
Did anybody in that good sized, enthusiastic crowd pull Little up on the flaw (see my post at 4.1) in that policy?
to be fair, it was a speech being delivered, not a debate.
Was it not opened up to questions from the floor afterwards?
Perhaps, chairman. I left before the end of the affair.
I’m liking their pain.
But let’s just forget the whys and what fors for the moment. Forget context. Forget about reasoning and process. Lose yourself in the moment: lean back, mentally check out, and enjoy the bizarre beauty of a New Zealand court—judge, lawyers, witnesses—having to listen to “Lose Yourself” by Eminem in full, in silence, with absolute earnestness.
It’s a masterpiece. Put it in the Tate Modern.
https://noisey.vice.com/en_au/article/ah-the-beauty-of-a-new-zealand-court-listening-to-lose-yourself-in-silence
Joe.,lol.– No work in that lot, pretty hopeless. Not one of them would pass a drug test. Sitting around listening to music all day while the tax payer foots the Bill.
Wow this is really not helpful
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/03/politics/air-force-test-icbm/
So what that, four missile tests in under a month, and two in a week?
How that going to work out for us?
Playing chicken with a nutter, can not see that working out real well.
Phil the Greek’s pulling the pin.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C–JtUkXoAAvQS1.jpg
Suppose at 96 he might well give it rest and maybe his mental health is at risk.
I guess the good news is he’ll no longer embarrass himself in public, and the rest of us will be spared his boorish insults.
joe Now I know why key resigned -word for word,-thanks.
I wish.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTnc-lxgrrA/?hl=en
joe too much. Right that’s sorted ,now the fate as you see it of double dipper English ,Something to give me pleasant dreams as I journey to the land of nod.
A heck of a lot of support for NZ reciprocating around Australia’s decimation of the so-called special relationship:
http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/92242934/gerry-brownlees-aussie-trip-nothing-but-a-fizzer
I hope Little and Labour take note and accept that NZ/Aussie relations have changed. If Oz is going to treat us the same as other nations then we need to do the same to Oz.
But we won’t be doing the same to oz.
We’ll be doing to our neighbours across the road what the Aussie govt is doing to our (often distant) relatives.
It’s shocking really, the way the Australians treat New Zealanders like criminals when the founder of an Australian political party so big on “user-pays” is sending sexual communications to little girls and taking smack on holidays to SEA.