Daily review 21/05/2024

Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, May 21st, 2024 - 16 comments
Categories: Daily review - Tags:

Daily review is also your post.

This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Don’t forget to be kind to each other …

16 comments on “Daily review 21/05/2024 ”

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  1. aj 1
    21 May 2024 at 7:50 pm

    CEO of Mitre 10 & Ops Manager of Jennian saying that Kāinga Ora was leading the industry in efficiency & best practice & lifting the standard for everyone else

    September last year.

    https://x.com/bIockhousebay/status/1792807856275951685

    • Traveller 1.1
      21 May 2024 at 10:05 pm

      If only they knew what was actually happening.

      The report, led by former Prime Minister Sir Bill English, found Kāinga Ora exploited its easy access to Government credit, bingeing on borrowing without giving sufficient heed to the fiscal discipline taking on such immense debts would require.

      PM Christopher Luxon announces Kāinga Ora changes, new board refresh, KiwiBuild to be scrapped – NZ Herald

      Bishop also released years’ worth of documents from Treasury showing the former Government was aware of criticisms from officials of Kāinga Ora’s financial management and had undertaken its own review after concerns were raised in 2022. Bishop released Treasury’s damning assessment of Kāinga Ora’s performance when it briefed Finance Minister Nicola Willis on the situation in December. Treasury warned Kāinga Ora’s performance would contribute $4b towards the Government’s overall obegal [operating balance before gains and losses] deficits over the four-year forecast period and $13.2b to its debt position. Those documents show Treasury warning Willis that despite spending billions of dollars each year, it was “unclear that value-for-money [was] being achieved from Kāinga Ora’s operating activities”, and that Treasury considered Kāinga Ora’s forecasting of its own debt to be inadequate and intransparent. The documents found there had been “significant growth in the operating costs of providing public housing” including a 145 per cent growth in staff at Kāinga Ora, but “little assessment of the impact or value of the increased investment in tenancy services”.

      Government puts all public housing programmes under review after damning report into Kāinga Ora – NZ Herald

      It's undeniable KO was an organisation with serious governance shortfalls, and a culture of poor financial discipline.

      • SPC 1.1.1
        21 May 2024 at 10:24 pm

        It is undeniable that renovating/maintenance of stock costs money. So when there is building sector cost inflation at a rate of increase higher than income related rent there is a financial impact – for the same reason it is harder for people to own homes (if incomes are rising slower than building cost etc).

        More generally the former government wanted more provision of stock and this required access to debt funding. Assets rise in value (though not fully until the project is completed). So the books will improve from the completion of existing projects.

        That the current government has no intention of increasing state or social housing stock levels (National has not done so for over 40 years) is also a factor in the sort of financial governance arrangement being used.

        • Traveller 1.1.1.1
          21 May 2024 at 10:38 pm

          So when there is building sector cost inflation at a rate increase higher than income related rent there is a financial impact

          Building sector cost inflation is a factor over time that is built in to budgets. KO simply didn't have the fiscal discipline to stay within their budget allocations.

          More generally the former government wanted more provision of stock and this required access to debt funding.

          Of course. But debt increased, and was expected to grow from $12.3 billion to $23 billion by 2028. This debt arose not just from increaed stock but from deficits, which were forecast to grow from $520 million in 2022/23 to $700 million by 2028. Independent Review of Kainga Ora.pdf (beehive.govt.nz). These deficits were driven by interest on the debt-financed capital investment programme and a significant uplift in other expenses including staffing and maintenance.

          All organisations are facing increased costs, not all display the kind of poor governance displayed by KO.

  2. SPC 2
    21 May 2024 at 10:13 pm

    The government looks set to end first home grants they introduced in 2017.

    In the year to February 2024, nearly 25,000 households bought their first home, in that time 10,500 first-home grants were paid out – meaning 42 percent of first-home buyers accessed the grant.

    Jenna Lynch Analysis:

    The sell of this while giving $2.9 billion to landlords will be a tricky one – softened only slightly by the grants money being redirected to social housing.

    Most likely to social housing providers to take stock of Kainga Ora. Not to increase social housing stock.

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/05/budget-2024-newshub-reveals-government-set-to-scrap-first-home-grants.html

  3. mac1 3
    22 May 2024 at 11:46 am

    "one guess who will benefit from this …"

    The National Party from grateful landlord donors, to join the mine-owners, fishing industrialists, truck operators, corporate farmers, tobacco companies and others to whom National is beholden?

    This is starting to sound like a Woody Guthrie or Pete Seeger song.

    https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/resources-for-educators/classroom-resources/media-and-interactives/media/music/story-behind-the-song/the-story-behind-the-song/this-land-is-your-land/

    • gsays 3.1
      22 May 2024 at 12:34 pm

      Without wanting to detract from yr comment, I have recently become aware of what a top drawer socialist Pete Seeger was.

      500Songs.com is looking at the history of rock in 500 songs.

      Seeger appears to be a highly principled man who wasn't afraid to take a stand even when it cost him personally.

  4. Phillip ure 4
    22 May 2024 at 5:39 pm

    Test..

    [Take two weeks off, one for each link you refused to provide. I was thinking you could use this time learning to link, but you can actually do this already: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-05-02-2024/#comment-1988165!? So, you have no excuse, at all.

    Linking serves a number of purposes: 1) courtesy to other readers; 2) self-check on what you think you may have heard sometime, somewhere, from somebody, about something. Our memories are notoriously unreliable and yours is no exception.

    I hope I don’t have to moderate you again for this, but if you refuse again and again act like you did this time, your time off will be considerably longer. At the end of the day this is your choice – Incognito]