Housing has not been a simple issue for the Government. Initial expectations were sky high and progress of Kiwibuild has been slow.
On the up side the five year bright line capital gain policy and the policy setting restrictions on overseas ownership have been working as intended and prices, at least in Auckland, have stabilised if not retreated.
And Housing Corp has been steadily adding to its stock after a period during the last Government when numbers were deliberately reduced.
The detail is in this post I wrote during the last election campaign:
This is the graph showing additions and disposals. Disposals have outpaced additions for some time and the net change is negative. I don’t know where [National Spokesperson Amy Adams] gets her figure of 2,000 more state houses a year [from].
And the basic problem with this debate? Since 2008 the population has grown 12.4%. To keep up with need as it was then there should be 77,600 state houses. We are going backwards at a rate of knots. And this is before the crisis of affordability has hit Auckland and other areas. No wonder why homelessness is now so visible in a land that should be made of milk and honey.
Since the election of this Government things have turned around.
Housing NZ is now building 2,700 new homes, with 900 homes in the regions. 🏘️🏘️
National’s response? As transparent a case of bene bashing as Topham Guerin could conceive. From Isaac Davison at the Herald:
The National Party will put an end to a “state house for life” if it gets into power next year.
It partly blames the Coalition Government’s halt to most tenancy reviews for the huge increase in the waiting list for public housing – now at more than 13,000 households.
Official reports, however, paint a differentpicture. They say expensive housing and ageing tenants are the main reasons that people are staying in state houses for longer.
The tenancy reviews, introduced five years ago, check whether an individual or family is earning too much to qualify for state support. They can lead to tenants being moved into the private rental market.
National social housing spokesman Simon O’Connor said the Government’s new exemptions for tenancy reviews were so broad that they were a “joke”.
“National will reinstate tenancy reviews and we won’t be accepting the exemptions either,” he said.
The dog whistle is strong on this one. Bludging housing corp tenants living it up in cheap housing for long periods at the expense of the rest of us.
But of course the reality is different.
Calls by National to end a "state house for life" by upping tenancy reviews – and saying they're the driver of the current waitlist – are so disingenuous. It is fundamentally not true. The driver of more people needing state housing is the cost of housing https://t.co/VAR20OPV42pic.twitter.com/tuMucXlZER
And the Herald reported the reality in this passage:
In a report for Twyford last year, the Ministry of Social Development confirmed state houses tenants were staying in their houses for longer – but not because they were avoiding tenancy reviews.
“This is due to a mix of flat incomes for public housing tenants, an ageing tenant population, differing incentives between accommodation support products, and rising unaffordability of housing in the private market,” the report said.
Tenancy reviews were not the main driver of exits from public housing, the report also said. Between January 2015 and 31 March 2018, just 5.5 per cent of exits came a result of a review. Furthermore, reviewing the tenancies of the households exempted by the Government was likely to find that they still needed their state house.
Of course National know they have nothing to lose. Their landlord supporters expect nothing less, get they want the state to get out of the residential market so that rents can increase. And the poor know that National is not their friend.
But as said by Mahatma Ghandi a nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members. Clearly National does not aspire to greatness for our nation. Just the attacking of the weak and dispossessed for political gain.
"But as said by Mahatma Ghandi a nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members. Clearly National does not aspire to greatness for our nation. Just the attacking of the weak and dispossessed for political gain."
As observers are we allowed to determine who is the weakest number? Is it the single grandmother who has lived in a 4 bedroom state house for 50-60 years, but does not want to moved to a single bedroom apartment. Or is its the family of four that cannot be allocated a 4 bedroom home as there is an abundance of single bedroom state homes/apartments?
[lprent: Perhaps you should prove that there is :-
“…there is an abundance of single bedroom state homes/apartments?”
The National government didn’t build any as far as I can see, and was actively looking at selling off those that they had. Certainly around where I live that was the case.
As I happen to intensely dislike false assertions (especially ones that are framed as truisms) you are banned for 3 weeks to discourage a repeat (of course you can provide evidence to justify your assertion with some actual numbers).
National had 9 years to put up some single bedroom homes/flats/apartments. As far as I am aware the number of those reduced. There is a massive shortage of one or two bedroom housing corp places. Typically those that are available are are vast distances from where someone has lived most of their life. Which is one of the main reasons that tenants will hang on to what they have rather than being kicked out.
I think that you are a lazy dog-whistling lying troll, so I’ll do as National does – I will assume you are until you you prove that you are not. ]
Well that is a question that has been asked by government that has narrowed assistance with housing. When National started screwing down the welfare state they were making people shift from their town to another far away if it was a single woman; to go from a two bedroom house to a one bedroom unit in the distant town, just uplifted from friends and known neighbourhood and services. The authorities would not be likely to have even considered her renting a room to someone to ensure that the spare room was being utilised.
In fact one of the National harpies was incensed to find that state house tenants in South Auckland were renting a room to someone. It would never occur to such an unpretty pollie, that this was offering someone a place to live – perhaps a relative – and it was a useful thing to do for the boarder/tenant and the state. No they looked at it on a narrow monetary basis and because there was an edict against being helpful, the same as private landlords who don't have a duty to assist citizens with housing as the state does. Whatever the poor do to advance or help each other and themselves they will be condemned on some pretext.
Similarly Metiria Turei was villified for taking in an extra renter to help her make ends meet while she studied hard to get the skills for a secure job suitable for a parent.
There is probably a case for the government to buy one bedroom apartments/flats in areas where there are homeless low income families. Then move some tenants from family size state housing into these newly acquired smaller spaces.
Re. MAHATMA GHANDI.. I travelled in India by train. In Benares I lived in a houseboat next to pyres burning human remains night and day and dogs scavenging the bones.
I did not expect NZ Nationalists wouldd try to recreate the Raj in Auckland.
…. ' The National Party will put an end to a “state house for life” if it gets into power next year ' ….
The answer is simple.
Keep them out of power.
When we look at Germany, and Scandinavia, and we see that most of the populace are long term if not life tenants,… we see how archaic the ChiNational party really is.
Quite appalling, really.
So dreadfully out of touch with the developed world.
So 19th century in their approach.
So ,… Oliver Twist and Ebenezer Scrooge… you can almost smell the smog from their belching factory’s, in fact…
What they really would prefer is endless lines queuing up for soup kitchens and even greater lines queuing up for a days exploitative and poorly paid work.
A return to the 19th century ,- the glory days of subservience, hierarchy and the working class knowing their place and not trying to rise above their stations. Oh ,… and exorbitant profits to be made by industrialists and landlords.
I find it a curious mix of bedfellows tolerated by the ChiNational party … at the one time exuding the far right wing neo con / hawkishness of the extremes of the American Republican party,… yet on the other hand being so far embedded up communist China's arse regards crony business deals ( complete with an ex Chinese spy trainer as one of their MP's ) and free trade deals with the same that all you can really see of them is their toenails hanging out China's rear orifice…
I definitely think that state housed folk should not be permitted to occupy multi bedroom houses at the expense of multi children families.
However also in state house areas the state should build an range of properties so that single people left by their families are housed in maximum two bedroom properties so they can have family visit them.
The case of the woman in a four bedroom house was a disgraceful example of inept housing policy by the department.
Remember that state house tenants are being subsidised by all of us living in the private sector. Of course those who either are depriving themselve to pay a huge rent privately or like me in earlier times are/were able to buy/build for themselves might not agree. 🙂
No problems with a single or couple being relocated to a two bedroomed dwelling,… however, one must juxtapose the costs on a society of family's living on the street and the inherent anger and bitterness among the young that can lead to social disorder ie : theft, vandalism, violence etc. Do we really want to end up like other country's whereby poverty is the breeding grounds for violent social unrest?
Is the price of providing basic housing not worth it?
And heres another thing, – for the last 9 years we have seen this problem of state housing getting worse and worse. Driven mainly by a rapacious National govt hell bent on selling off those remaining state houses to private interests while at the same time allowing offshore interests to ramp up housing prices to the point where there was and still is a housing crisis.
All in the name of neo liberal private enterprise.
Meanwhile, children died in preventable third world type diseases in moldy, cold , dilapidated state houses according to our own medical reports.
And lets not forget that those state houses were originally built to house the family's of those workers who served the interests of the state in large work projects, – now they serve the interests of the business elites more often than not.
So.
It seems if you or I want service, we need to house those workers and their familys somewhere.
Or else take your own trash to the dump,- and pay the fees and like or lump the inconvenience when doing so.
Housing still has a long way to go – and while the government maintains a policy of net migration in the order of 50k pa, achievements of the order of 2.7 k homes are readily overlooked.
Evidently that 50k inward migration target is such a massive sacred cow that New Zealanders are to end up on the streets in service of it.
Don't worry , Stuart,- all their trying to do is replace the over 650,000 New Zealanders who moved permanently to Australia just after Ruth Richardson's Employment Contracts Act 1991 was passed…
With cheap, foreign ,non unionized labour.
And if that means New Zealanders and immigrants get to sleep on a park bench? – somehow they figure its all been worth it for their own little comfort zones and cozy retirements,- not to mention the glorious opportunity’s for future investments with great returns for them and their offspring…
I never really understood the problem since long term State House tenants either qualify for income related rent, in which case they qualify for the house, or they don't, in which case they pay market rent and HNZ can use that income to build another house. It's a self-correcting situation.
A trading dividend would incentivise keeping stable tenants at market rents, but I agree that the correct use of the money made is maintenance of existing stock and building new houses.
'It was American writer and novelist Pearl Buck (1892-1973), best known for her novel, The Good Earth (winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1932), and recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature that wrote: “Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members.”'
National sold 2 thousand state houses they sold land as well they sold SHA areas to the chinese airline company and they sold to developers and they also sold to some so – called community housing providers. National did this so they don't have to provide this much needed service. Then for 9 years we herd them say we don't have a housing crisis. Now they are at it again after selling many of our assets paid for with our taxes they are selling us down the tiolet.
I see part of the problem as with our good nature we are accepting refugees and housing them ahead of kiwi citizens. We should look after our own ahead of inviting people from overseas.
Well, John, since you appear to be strong with facts, why don’t you give us some numbers to go on? For example, how many refugees does NZ let into the country annually?
At least you differentiate between immigration and refugee intake.
Do you really believe it is a proposal to increase refugee intake that would put greater pressure on infrastructure, housing provision and other services?
I was being facetious about you being strong with facts given your comment @ 5 on OM today. To me, that comment and the one @ 12 under this post came across as dog whistling.
Think of mixed, hidden, or veiled messages that elicit different responses in recipients depending on whether they are the target or targeted audience as intended by the messenger.
ACT up the game on division politicsEmmerson’s take on David Seymour’s claim Jesus would have supported ACTACT’s announcement it is moving into local politics is a logical next step for a party that is waging its battle on picking up the aggrieved.It’s a numbers game, and as long as the ...
1. What will be the slogan of the next butter ad campaign?a. You’re worth itb.Once it hits $20, we can do something about the riversc. I can’t believe it’s the price of butter d. None of the above Read more ...
It is said that economists know the price of everything and the value of nothing. That may be an exaggeration but an even better response is to point out economists do know the difference. They did not at first. Classical economics thought that the price of something reflected the objective ...
Political fighting in Taiwan is delaying some of an increase in defence spending and creating an appearance of lack of national resolve that can only damage the island’s relationship with the Trump administration. The main ...
The unclassified version of the 2024 Independent Intelligence Review (IIR) was released today. It’s a welcome and worthy sequel to its 2017 predecessor, with an ambitious set of recommendations for enhancements to Australia’s national intelligence ...
Yesterday outgoing Ombudsman Peter Boshier published a report, Reflections on the Official Information Act, on his way out the door. The report repeated his favoured mantra that the Act was "fundamentally sound", all problems were issues of culture, and that no legislative change was needed (and especially no changes to ...
The United States government is considering replacing USAID with a new agency, the US Agency for International Humanitarian Assistance (USIHA), according to documents published by POLITICO. Under the proposed design, the agency will fail its ...
Hi,Journalism was never the original plan. Back in the 90s, there was no career advisor in Bethlehem, New Zealand — just a computer that would ask you 50 questions before spitting out career options. Yes, I am in this photo. No, I was not good at basketball.The top three careers ...
Mōrena. Long stories shortest: Professional investors who are paid a lot of money to be careful about lending to the New Zealand Government think it is wonderful place to put their money. Yet the Government itself is so afraid of borrowing more that it is happy to kill its own ...
As space becomes more contested, Australia should play a key role with its partners in the Combined Space Operations (CSpO) initiative to safeguard the space domain. Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States signed the ...
Ooh you're a cool catComing on strong with all the chit chatOoh you're alrightHanging out and stealing all the limelightOoh messing with the beat of my heart yeah!Songwriters: Freddie Mercury / John Deacon.It would be a tad ironic; I can see it now. “Yeah, I didn’t unsubscribe when he said ...
The PSA are calling the Prime Minister a hypocrite for committing to increase defence spending while hundreds of more civilian New Zealand Defence Force jobs are set to be cut as part of a major restructure. The number of companies being investigated for people trafficking in New Zealand has skyrocketed ...
Another Friday, hope everyone’s enjoyed their week as we head toward the autumn equinox. Here’s another roundup of stories that caught our eye on the subject of cities and what makes them even better. This week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Connor took a look at how Auckland ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking with special guest author Michael Wolff, who has just published his fourth book about Donald Trump: ‘All or Nothing’.Here’s Peter’s writeup of the interview.The Kākā by Bernard Hickey Hoon: Trumpism ...
Wolff, who describes Trump as truly a ‘one of a kind’, at a book launch in Spain. Photo: GettyImagesIt may be a bumpy ride for the world but the era of Donald J. Trump will die with him if we can wait him out says the author of four best-sellers ...
Australia needs to radically reorganise its reserves system to create a latent military force that is much larger, better trained and equipped and deployable within days—not decades. Our current reserve system is not fit for ...
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, Washington Post/$, Wired/$, ...
I have argued before that one ought to be careful in retrospectively allocating texts into genres. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) only looks like science-fiction because a science-fiction genre subsequently developed. Without H.G. Wells, would Frankenstein be considered science-fiction? No, it probably wouldn’t. Viewed in the context of its time, Frankenstein ...
Elbridge Colby’s senate confirmation hearing in early March holds more important implications for US partners than most observers in Canberra, Wellington or Suva realise. As President Donald Trump’s nominee for under secretary of defence for ...
China’s defence budget is rising heftily yet again. The 2025 rise will be 7.2 percent, the same as in 2024, the government said on 5 March. But the allocation, officially US$245 billion, is just the ...
Concern is growing about wide-ranging local repercussions of the new Setting of Speed Limits rule, rewritten in 2024 by former transport minister Simeon Brown. In particular, there’s growing fears about what this means for children in particular. A key paradox of the new rule is that NZTA-controlled roads have the ...
Speilmeister:Christopher Luxon’s prime-ministerial pitches notwithstanding, are institutions with billions of dollars at their disposal really going to invest them in a country so obviously in a deep funk?HAVING WOOED THE WORLD’s investors, what, if anything, has New Zealand won? Did Christopher Luxon’s guests board their private jets fizzing with enthusiasm for ...
Christchurch City Council is one of 18 councils and three council-controlled organisations (CCOs) downgraded by ratings agency S&P. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories shortest:Standard & Poor’s has cut the credit ratings of 18 councils, blaming the new Government’s abrupt reversal of 3 Waters, cuts to capital ...
Figures released by Statistics New Zealand today showed that the economy grew by 0.7% ending the very deep recession seen over the past year, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “Even though GDP grew in the three months to December, our economy is still 1.1% smaller than it ...
What is going on with the price of butter?, RNZ, 19 march 2025: If you have bought butter recently you might have noticed something - it is a lot more expensive. Stats NZ said last week that the price of butter was up 60 percent in February compared to ...
I agree with Will Leben, who wrote in The Strategist about his mistakes, that an important element of being a commentator is being accountable and taking responsibility for things you got wrong. In that spirit, ...
You’d beDrunk by noon, no one would knowJust like the pandemicWithout the sourdoughIf I were there, I’d find a wayTo get treated for hysteriaEvery dayLyrics Riki Lindhome.A varied selection today in Nick’s Kōrero:Thou shalt have no other gods - with Christopher Luxon.Doctors should be seen and not heard - with ...
Two recent foreign challenges suggest that Australia needs urgently to increase its level of defence self-reliance and to ensure that the increased funding that this would require is available. First, the circumnavigation of our continent ...
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, The Atlantic-$, The ...
According to RNZ’s embedded reporter, the importance of Winston Peters’ talks in Washington this week “cannot be overstated.” Right. “Exceptionally important.” said the maestro himself. This epic importance doesn’t seem to have culminated in anything more than us expressing our “concern” to the Americans about a series of issues that ...
Up until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of "Climate Fresk" and at a guess, this will also be the case for many of you. I stumbled upon it in the self-service training catalog for employees at the company I work at in Germany where it was announced ...
Japan and Australia talk of ‘collective deterrence,’ but they don’t seem to have specific objectives. The relationship needs a clearer direction. The two countries should identify how they complement each other. Each country has two ...
The NZCTU strongly supports the OPC’s decision to issue a code of practice for biometric processing. Our view is that the draft code currently being consulted on is stronger and will be more effective than the exposure code released in early 2024. We are pleased that some of the revisions ...
Australia’s export-oriented industries, particularly agriculture, need to diversify their markets, with a focus on Southeast Asia. This could strengthen economic security and resilience while deepening regional relationships. The Trump administration’s decision to impose tariffs on ...
Minister Shane Jones is introducing fastrack ‘reforms’ to the our fishing industry that will ensure the big players squeeze out the small fishers and entrench an already bankrupt quota system.Our fisheries are under severe stress: the recent decision by theHigh Court ruling that the ...
In what has become regular news, the quarterly ETS auction has failed, with nobody even bothering to bid. The immediate reason is that the carbon price has fallen to around $60, below the auction minimum of $68. And the cause of that is a government which has basically given up ...
US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats have dominated headlines in India in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Trump announced that his reciprocal tariffs—matching other countries’ tariffs on American goods—will go into effect on 2 April, ...
Hi,Back in June of 2021, James Gardner-Hopkins — a former partner at law firm Russell McVeagh — was found guilty of misconduct over sexually inappropriate behaviour with interns.The events all related to law students working as summer interns at Russell McVeagh:As well as intimate touching with a student at his ...
Climate sceptic MP Mark Cameron has slammed National for being ‘out of touch’ by sticking to our climate commitments. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories shortest:ACT’s renowned climate sceptic MP Mark Cameron has accused National of being 'out of touch' with farmers by sticking with New Zealand’s Paris accord pledges ...
Now I've heard there was a secret chordThat David played, and it pleased the LordBut you don't really care for music, do you?It goes like this, the fourth, the fifthThe minor falls, the major liftsThe baffled king composing HallelujahSongwriter: Leonard CohenI always thought the lyrics of that great song by ...
People are getting carried away with the virtues of small warship crews. We need to remember the great vice of having few people to run a ship: they’ll quickly tire. Yes, the navy is struggling ...
Mōrena. Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, The Atlantic-$, ...
US President Donald Trump’s hostile regime has finally forced Europe to wake up. With US officials calling into question the transatlantic alliance, Germany’s incoming chancellor, Friedrich Merz, recently persuaded lawmakers to revise the country’s debt ...
We need to establish clearer political boundaries around national security to avoid politicising ongoing security issues and to better manage secondary effects. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) revealed on 10 March that the Dural caravan ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have reiterated their call for Government to protect workers by banning engineered stone in a submission on MBIE’s silica dust consultation. “If Brooke van Velden is genuine when she calls for an evidence-based approach to this issue, then she must support a full ban on ...
The Labour Inspectorate could soon be knocking on the door of hundreds of businesses nation-wide, as it launches a major crackdown on those not abiding by the law. NorthTec staff are on edge as Northland’s leading polytechnic proposes to stop 11 programmes across primary industries, forestry, and construction. Union coverage ...
It’s one thing for military personnel to hone skills with first-person view (FPV) drones in racing competitions. It’s quite another for them to transition to the complexities of the battlefield. Drone racing has become a ...
Seymour says there will be no other exemptions granted to schools wanting to opt out of the Compass contract. Photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories shortest:David Seymour has denied a request from a Christchurch school and any other schools to be exempted from the Compass school lunch programme, saying the contract ...
Russian President Boris Yeltsin, U.S. President Bill Clinton, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, and British Prime Minister John Major signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in ...
Edit: The original story said “Palette Cleanser” in both the story, and the headline. I am never, ever going to live this down. Chain me up, throw me into the pit.Hi,With the world burning — literally and figuratively — I felt like Webworm needed a little palate cleanser at the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah Wesseler(Image credit: Antonio Huerta) Growing up in suburban Ohio, I was used to seeing farmland and woods disappear to make room for new subdivisions, strip malls, and big box stores. I didn’t usually welcome the changes, but I assumed others ...
Myanmar was a key global site for criminal activity well before the 2021 military coup. Today, illicit industry, especially heroin and methamphetamine production, still defines much of the economy. Nowhere, not even the leafiest districts ...
What've I gotta do to make you love me?What've I gotta do to make you care?What do I do when lightning strikes me?And I wake up and find that you're not thereWhat've I gotta do to make you want me?Mmm hmm, what've I gotta do to be heard?What do I ...
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom3, NZ Herald, Stuff, BusinessDesk-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT-$, WSJ-$, Bloomberg-$, New York Times-$, The Atlantic-$, The Economist-$ ...
Whenever Christopher Luxon drops a classically fatuous clanger or whenever the government has a bad poll – i.e. every week – the talk resumes that he is about to be rolled. This is unlikely for several reasons. For starters, there is no successor. Nicola Willis? Chris Bishop? Simeon Brown? Mark ...
Australia, Britain and European countries should loosen budget rules to allow borrowing to fund higher defence spending, a new study by the Kiel Institute suggests. Currently, budget debt rules are forcing governments to finance increases ...
The NZCTU remains strongly committed to banning engineered stone in New Zealand and implementing better occupational health protections for all workers working with silica-containing materials. In this submission to MBIE, the NZCTU outlines that we have an opportunity to learn from Australia’s experience by implementing a full ban of engineered ...
The Prime Minister has announced a big win in trade negotiations with India.It’s huge, he told reporters. We didn't get everything we came for but we were able to agree on free trade in clothing, fabrics, car components, software, IT consulting, spices, tea, rice, and leather goods.He said that for ...
I have been trying to figure out the logic of Trump’s tariff policies and apparent desire for a global trade war. Although he does not appear to comprehend that tariffs are a tax on consumers in the country doing the tariffing, I can (sort of) understand that he may think ...
As Syria and international partners negotiate the country’s future, France has sought to be a convening power. While France has a history of influence in the Middle East, it will have to balance competing Syrian ...
One of the eternal truths about Aotearoa's economy is that we are "capital poor": there's not enough money sloshing around here to fund the expansion of local businesses, or to build the things we want to. Which gets used as an excuse for all sorts of things, like setting up ...
National held its ground until late 2023 Verion, Talbot Mills & Curia Polls (Red = Labour, Blue = National)If we remove outlier results from Curia (National Party November 2023) National started trending down in October 2024.Verion Polls (Red = Labour, Blue = National)Verian alone shows a clearer deterioration in early ...
In a recent presentation, I recommended, quite unoriginally, that governments should have a greater focus on higher-impact, lower-probability climate risks. My reasoning was that current climate model projections have blind spots, meaning we are betting ...
Daddy, are you out there?Daddy, won't you come and play?Daddy, do you not care?Is there nothing that you want to say?Songwriters: Mark Batson / Beyonce Giselle Knowles.This morning, a look at the much-maligned NZ Herald. Despised by many on the left as little more than a mouthpiece for the National ...
Employers, unions and health and safety advocates are calling for engineered stone to be banned, a day before consultation on regulations closes. On Friday the PSA lodged a pay equity claim for library assistants with the Employment Relations Authority, after the stalling of a claim lodged with six councils in ...
Long stories shortest in Aotearoa’s political economy:Christopher Luxon surprises by announcing trade deal talks with India will start next month, and include beef and dairy. Napier is set to join Whakatane, Dunedin and Westport in staging a protest march against health spending restraints hitting their hospital services. Winston Peters ...
At a time of rising geopolitical tensions and deepening global fragmentation, the Ukraine war has proved particularly divisive. From the start, the battle lines were clearly drawn: Russia on one side, Ukraine and the West ...
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom3, NZ Herald, Stuff, BusinessDesk-$, Newsroom-$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT-$, WSJ-$, Bloomberg-$, New York Times-$, The Atlantic-$, ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 9, 2025 thru Sat, March 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. We are still interested ...
Max Harris and Max Rashbrooke discuss how we turn around the right wing slogans like nanny state, woke identity politics, and the inefficiency of the public sector – and how we build a progressive agenda. From Donald Trump to David Seymour, from Peter Dutton to Christopher Luxon, we are subject to a ...
The Government dominated the political agenda this week with its two-day conference pitching all manner of public infrastructure projects for Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories shortest in our political economy this week: The Government ploughed ahead with offers of PPPs to pension fund managers ...
You know that it's a snake eat snake worldWe slither and serpentine throughWe all took a bite, and six thousand years laterThese apples getting harder to chewSongwriters: Shawn Mavrides.“Please be Jack Tame”, I thought when I saw it was Seymour appearing on Q&A. I’d had a guts full of the ...
Hundreds more Palestinians have died in recent days as Israel’s assault on Gaza continues and humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, is blocked. ...
National is looking to cut hundreds of jobs at New Zealand’s Defence Force, while at the same time it talks up plans to increase focus and spending in Defence. ...
It’s been revealed that the Government is secretly trying to bring back a ‘one-size fits all’ standardised test – a decision that has shocked school principals. ...
The Green Party is calling for the compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe, a 77-year-old kaumātua on hunger strike at the Spring Hill Corrections Facility, after visiting him at the prison. ...
The Green Party is calling on Government MPs to support Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence and illegal actions in Palestine, following another day of appalling violence against civilians in Gaza. ...
The Green Party stands in support of volunteer firefighters petitioning the Government to step up and change legislation to provide volunteers the same ACC coverage and benefits as their paid counterparts. ...
At 2.30am local time, Israel launched a treacherous attack on Gaza killing more than 300 defenceless civilians while they slept. Many of them were children. This followed a more than 2 week-long blockade by Israel on the entry of all goods and aid into Gaza. Israel deliberately targeted densely populated ...
Living Strong, Aging Well There is much discussion around the health of our older New Zealanders and how we can age well. In reality, the delivery of health services accounts for only a relatively small percentage of health outcomes as we age. Significantly, dry warm housing, nutrition, exercise, social connection, ...
Shane Jones’ display on Q&A showed how out of touch he and this Government are with our communities and how in sync they are with companies with little concern for people and planet. ...
Labour does not support the private ownership of core infrastructure like schools, hospitals and prisons, which will only see worse outcomes for Kiwis. ...
The Green Party is disappointed the Government voted down Hūhana Lyndon’s member’s Bill, which would have prevented further alienation of Māori land through the Public Works Act. ...
The Labour Party will support Chloe Swarbrick’s member’s bill which would allow sanctions against Israel for its illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories. ...
The Government’s new procurement rules are a blatant attack on workers and the environment, showing once again that National’s priorities are completely out of touch with everyday Kiwis. ...
With Labour and Te Pāti Māori’s official support, Opposition parties are officially aligned to progress Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in Palestine. ...
Te Pāti Māori extends our deepest aroha to the 500 plus Whānau Ora workers who have been advised today that the govt will be dismantling their contracts. For twenty years , Whānau Ora has been helping families, delivering life-changing support through a kaupapa Māori approach. It has built trust where ...
Labour welcomes Simeon Brown’s move to reinstate a board at Health New Zealand, bringing the destructive and secretive tenure of commissioner Lester Levy to an end. ...
This morning’s announcement by the Health Minister regarding a major overhaul of the public health sector levels yet another blow to the country’s essential services. ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill that will ensure employment decisions in the public service are based on merit and not on forced woke ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ targets. “This Bill would put an end to the woke left-wing social engineering and diversity targets in the public sector. ...
Police have referred 20 offenders to Destiny Church-affiliated programmes Man Up and Legacy as ‘wellness providers’ in the last year, raising concerns that those seeking help are being recruited into a harmful organisation. ...
Te Pāti Māori welcomes the resignation of Richard Prebble from the Waitangi Tribunal. His appointment in October 2024 was a disgrace- another example of this government undermining Te Tiriti o Waitangi by appointing a former ACT leader who has spent his career attacking Māori rights. “Regardless of the reason for ...
Police Minister Mark Mitchell is avoiding accountability by refusing to answer key questions in the House as his Government faces criticism over their dangerous citizen’s arrest policy, firearm reform, and broken promises to recruit more police. ...
The number of building consents issued under this Government continues to spiral, taking a toll on the infrastructure sector, tradies, and future generations of Kiwi homeowners. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Prime Minister to rule out joining the AUKUS military pact in any capacity following the scenes in the White House over the weekend. ...
Asia Pacific Report A joint operation between the Fiji Police Force, Republic of Fiji Military Force (RFMF), Territorial Force Brigade, Fiji Navy and National Fire Authority was staged this week to “modernise” responses to emergencies. Called “Exercise Genesis”, the joint operation is believed to be the first of its kind ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Nicholls, Senior Research Associate in Media and Communications, University of Sydney As the United States recalibrates its trade policies to combat what the Trump administration sees as “unfair” treatment by other countries, two significant industries have complained to US regulators about ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Renwick, Professor of Agricultural Economics, Lincoln University, New Zealand Since the return to power of US President Donald Trump, tariffs have barely left the front pages. While the on-off-on tariff sagas have dominated the headlines, a paper released this week ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Baka, Honorary Professor, School of Kinesiology, Western University, London, Canada; Adjunct Fellow, Olympic Scholar and Co-Director of the Olympic and Paralympic Research Centre, Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University In a surprisingly emphatic result, 41-year-old Kirsty Coventry, Zimbabwe’s Sport Minister, ...
More than 12,000 cubic metres of treated wastewater a day could be discharged directly into the Shotover River in the country’s premiere tourist resort, according to a whistle-blowing councillor. That’s almost enough liquid to fill five Olympic-sized swimming pools.The plan, prompted by Queenstown’s failing sewage treatment plant, would use emergency ...
Winston Peters has repeatedly failed to express any concern for the Palestinians killed by Israel since Israel ended the ceasefire and condemn Israel for this industrial-scale carnage, which the International Court of Justice found more than a year ago to be ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gary Mortimer, Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour, Queensland University of Technology Daria Nipot/Shutterstock Australia’s supermarket sector has endured a long, uncomfortable moment in the spotlight. There have been six comprehensive inquiries into its conduct, pricing practices, and specifically claims of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gail Wilson, Adjunct Associate Professor, Office of the PVC (Academic Innovation), Southern Cross University Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock In 2023, an academic journal, the Annals of Operations Research, retracted an entire special isssue because the peer review process for it was compromised. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lauren Breen, Professor of Psychology, Curtin University Photo by Daria Kruchkova/Pexels Grief can hit us in powerful and unanticipated ways. You might expect to grieve a person, a pet or even a former version of yourself – but many people are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stefan B. Williams, Professor of Marine Robotics, Australian Centre for Robotics, University of Sydney Armada 7805, similar to the 7806 vessel that will support the new MH370 search.Ocean Infinity More than 11 years after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, $30) A Hunger Games prequel starring young Haymitch, ...
Two poems from the new collection Clay Eaters by Gregory Kan, launched this week at Unity Books Wellington.(Editors note: The poems are untitled but can be found on pages 3 and 19 of Clay Eaters, published by Auckland University Press.)From Clay Eaters Satellite view of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Egger, Senior Biostatistician at the Daffodil Centre, Cancer Council NSW, University of Sydney Getty Images E-cigarette companies, including giants such as British American Tobacco, have actively lobbied governments in New Zealand and Australia to weaken existing vape regulations while preventing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Coleman, Post-doctoral Researcher in Plant Ecology, Macquarie University Jakub Maculewicz/Shutterstock More than 8,000 continental islands sit just off the coast of Australia, many of them uninhabited and unspoiled. For thousands of species, these patches of habitat offer refuge from the ...
By Alex Willemyns for Radio Free Asia The Trump administration might let hundreds of millions of dollars in aid pledged to Pacific island nations during former President Joe Biden’s time in office stand, says New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters. The Biden administration pledged about $1 billion in aid to the Pacific ...
Delhi Diary Day 1Christopher Luxon walks down the stairs of the Airforce Boeing 757 at Palam Airbase towards the tarmac and greets the waiting Professor Singh Baghel, minister of state of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying. Luxon squints against the heat. Baghel keeps his aviators on; he’s done this before. The ...
Netflix’s new British crime drama asks the hard questions about growing up in a digital world. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here.Even before a single episode of Adolescence went up on Netflix, the five star reviews started rolling in. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Sergi, Professor in Criminology, University of Essex In June 1988, the Reagan administration launched the most important United States labour case of the past half century. The government alleged the Italian-American mafia – La Cosa Nostra – had effectively taken ...
The Pacific profiles series shines a light on Pacific people in Aotearoa doing interesting and important work in their communities, as nominated by members of the public. Today, Danielle Puiri-Tuia who founded a South Auckland-based running and walking club.All photos by Geoffery Matautia.Runners High 09 is a free ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nathan Kilah, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, University of Tasmania Karynf/Shutterstock There is something special about sharing baked goods with family, friends and colleagues. But I’ll never forget the disappointment of serving my colleagues rhubarb muffins that had failed to rise. They ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Kaiser, PhD Candidate, School of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania The South African National Antarctic Expedition research base, SANAE IV, at Vesleskarvet, Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. Dr Ross Hofmeyr/Wikimedia, CC BY-SA Earlier this week, reports emerged that a scientist at ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Intifar Chowdhury, Lecturer in Government, Flinders University Every generation thinks they had it tough, but evidence suggests young Australians today might have a case for saying they’ve drawn the short straw. Compared with young adults two or three decades ago, today’s 18–35-year-olds ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Visitor, School of History, Australian National University Fifty years ago, Liberal MPs chose Malcolm Fraser as their leader. Eight months later, he led them into power in extraordinary – some might say reprehensible – circumstances. He governed for seven and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andy G Howe, Research Fellow (Entomology), University of the Sunshine Coast Andy Howe, CC BY Playgrounds can host a variety of natural wonders – and, of course, kids! Now some students are not just learning about insects and spiders at school ...
From mockery and snobbery to mainstream appeal – the University of Auckland Anime and Manga Club has seen it all. As one of Japan’s biggest exports, anime has taken over almost every corner of planet Earth. If you have ever watched an episode of Beyblade or Yu-Gi-Oh after school, you ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Willis, PhD Candidate, Classics and Ancient History, University of Newcastle djkett/Shutterstock You wake up at night sensing a weight on your legs that you thought was your pet dog – only to remember they died years ago. Or perhaps you ...
New Zealand is officially out of recession, but the chaos of Trump’s tariff policy remains a threat to medium-term growth, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.We’re officially out of recession You might not have known it ...
The ship is thought to be carrying "furnace oil", described as dark thick, and when spilled, pernicious - but the government has rejected advice to carry out a survey. ...
Dog whistling Housing Corp tenants 
ACT up the game on division politicsEmmerson’s take on David Seymour’s claim Jesus would have supported ACTACT’s announcement it is moving into local politics is a logical next step for a party that is waging its battle on picking up the aggrieved.It’s a numbers game, and as long as the ...5 hours ago
1. What will be the slogan of the next butter ad campaign?a. You’re worth itb. Once it hits $20, we can do something about the riversc. I can’t believe it’s the price of butter d. None of the above Read more ...6 hours ago
It is said that economists know the price of everything and the value of nothing. That may be an exaggeration but an even better response is to point out economists do know the difference. They did not at first. Classical economics thought that the price of something reflected the objective ...7 hours ago
Political fighting in Taiwan is delaying some of an increase in defence spending and creating an appearance of lack of national resolve that can only damage the island’s relationship with the Trump administration. The main ...7 hours ago
Yesterday outgoing Ombudsman Peter Boshier published a report, Reflections on the Official Information Act, on his way out the door. The report repeated his favoured mantra that the Act was "fundamentally sound", all problems were issues of culture, and that no legislative change was needed (and especially no changes to ...8 hours ago
10 hours ago
Mōrena. Long stories shortest: Professional investors who are paid a lot of money to be careful about lending to the New Zealand Government think it is wonderful place to put their money. Yet the Government itself is so afraid of borrowing more that it is happy to kill its own ...12 hours ago
Ooh you're a cool catComing on strong with all the chit chatOoh you're alrightHanging out and stealing all the limelightOoh messing with the beat of my heart yeah!Songwriters: Freddie Mercury / John Deacon.It would be a tad ironic; I can see it now. “Yeah, I didn’t unsubscribe when he said ...14 hours ago
The PSA are calling the Prime Minister a hypocrite for committing to increase defence spending while hundreds of more civilian New Zealand Defence Force jobs are set to be cut as part of a major restructure. The number of companies being investigated for people trafficking in New Zealand has skyrocketed ...14 hours ago
Another Friday, hope everyone’s enjoyed their week as we head toward the autumn equinox. Here’s another roundup of stories that caught our eye on the subject of cities and what makes them even better. This week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Connor took a look at how Auckland ...14 hours ago
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking with special guest author Michael Wolff, who has just published his fourth book about Donald Trump: ‘All or Nothing’.Here’s Peter’s writeup of the interview. Hoon: Trumpism ...15 hours ago
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, Washington Post/$, Wired/$, ...18 hours ago
I have argued before that one ought to be careful in retrospectively allocating texts into genres. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) only looks like science-fiction because a science-fiction genre subsequently developed. Without H.G. Wells, would Frankenstein be considered science-fiction? No, it probably wouldn’t. Viewed in the context of its time, Frankenstein ...1 day ago
Open access notables The severe 2020 coral bleaching event in the tropical Atlantic linked to marine heatwaves, Rodrigues et al., Communications Earth & Environment: Marine heatwaves can amplify the vulnerabilities of regional marine ecosystems and jeopardise local economies and food resources. Here, we show that marine heatwaves in the tropical ...1 day ago
Speilmeister: Christopher Luxon’s prime-ministerial pitches notwithstanding, are institutions with billions of dollars at their disposal really going to invest them in a country so obviously in a deep funk?HAVING WOOED THE WORLD’s investors, what, if anything, has New Zealand won? Did Christopher Luxon’s guests board their private jets fizzing with enthusiasm for ...1 day ago
Christchurch City Council is one of 18 councils and three council-controlled organisations (CCOs) downgraded by ratings agency S&P. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories shortest: Standard & Poor’s has cut the credit ratings of 18 councils, blaming the new Government’s abrupt reversal of 3 Waters, cuts to capital ...1 day ago
You’d beDrunk by noon, no one would knowJust like the pandemicWithout the sourdoughIf I were there, I’d find a wayTo get treated for hysteriaEvery dayLyrics Riki Lindhome.A varied selection today in Nick’s Kōrero:Thou shalt have no other gods - with Christopher Luxon.Doctors should be seen and not heard - with ...2 days ago
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, The Atlantic-$, The ...2 days ago
According to RNZ’s embedded reporter, the importance of Winston Peters’ talks in Washington this week “cannot be overstated.” Right. “Exceptionally important.” said the maestro himself. This epic importance doesn’t seem to have culminated in anything more than us expressing our “concern” to the Americans about a series of issues that ...2 days ago
Minister Shane Jones is introducing fastrack ‘reforms’ to the our fishing industry that will ensure the big players squeeze out the small fishers and entrench an already bankrupt quota system. Our fisheries are under severe stress: the recent decision by the High Court ruling that the ...2 days ago
Hi,Back in June of 2021, James Gardner-Hopkins — a former partner at law firm Russell McVeagh — was found guilty of misconduct over sexually inappropriate behaviour with interns.The events all related to law students working as summer interns at Russell McVeagh:As well as intimate touching with a student at his ...3 days ago
Climate sceptic MP Mark Cameron has slammed National for being ‘out of touch’ by sticking to our climate commitments. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories shortest: ACT’s renowned climate sceptic MP Mark Cameron has accused National of being 'out of touch' with farmers by sticking with New Zealand’s Paris accord pledges ...3 days ago
Now I've heard there was a secret chordThat David played, and it pleased the LordBut you don't really care for music, do you?It goes like this, the fourth, the fifthThe minor falls, the major liftsThe baffled king composing HallelujahSongwriter: Leonard CohenI always thought the lyrics of that great song by ...3 days ago
Mōrena. Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, The Atlantic-$, ...3 days ago
Seymour says there will be no other exemptions granted to schools wanting to opt out of the Compass contract. Photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories shortest: David Seymour has denied a request from a Christchurch school and any other schools to be exempted from the Compass school lunch programme, saying the contract ...4 days ago
Russian President Boris Yeltsin, U.S. President Bill Clinton, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, and British Prime Minister John Major signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in ... 4 days ago
What've I gotta do to make you love me?What've I gotta do to make you care?What do I do when lightning strikes me?And I wake up and find that you're not thereWhat've I gotta do to make you want me?Mmm hmm, what've I gotta do to be heard?What do I ...4 days ago
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom3, NZ Herald, Stuff, BusinessDesk-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT-$, WSJ-$, Bloomberg-$, New York Times-$, The Atlantic-$, The Economist-$ ...4 days ago
The Prime Minister has announced a big win in trade negotiations with India.It’s huge, he told reporters. We didn't get everything we came for but we were able to agree on free trade in clothing, fabrics, car components, software, IT consulting, spices, tea, rice, and leather goods.He said that for ...4 days ago
I have been trying to figure out the logic of Trump’s tariff policies and apparent desire for a global trade war. Although he does not appear to comprehend that tariffs are a tax on consumers in the country doing the tariffing, I can (sort of) understand that he may think ...4 days ago
National held its ground until late 2023 Verion, Talbot Mills & Curia Polls (Red = Labour, Blue = National)If we remove outlier results from Curia (National Party November 2023) National started trending down in October 2024.Verion Polls (Red = Labour, Blue = National)Verian alone shows a clearer deterioration in early ...4 days ago
Daddy, are you out there?Daddy, won't you come and play?Daddy, do you not care?Is there nothing that you want to say?Songwriters: Mark Batson / Beyonce Giselle Knowles.This morning, a look at the much-maligned NZ Herald. Despised by many on the left as little more than a mouthpiece for the National ...5 days ago
Long stories shortest in Aotearoa’s political economy: Christopher Luxon surprises by announcing trade deal talks with India will start next month, and include beef and dairy. Napier is set to join Whakatane, Dunedin and Westport in staging a protest march against health spending restraints hitting their hospital services. Winston Peters ...5 days ago
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom3, NZ Herald, Stuff, BusinessDesk-$, Newsroom-$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT-$, WSJ-$, Bloomberg-$, New York Times-$, The Atlantic-$, ...5 days ago
The Government dominated the political agenda this week with its two-day conference pitching all manner of public infrastructure projects for Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories shortest in our political economy this week: The Government ploughed ahead with offers of PPPs to pension fund managers ...5 days ago
You know that it's a snake eat snake worldWe slither and serpentine throughWe all took a bite, and six thousand years laterThese apples getting harder to chewSongwriters: Shawn Mavrides.“Please be Jack Tame”, I thought when I saw it was Seymour appearing on Q&A. I’d had a guts full of the ...6 days ago
Hundreds more Palestinians have died in recent days as Israel’s assault on Gaza continues and humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, is blocked. ...9 hours ago
The Green Party is calling for the compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe, a 77-year-old kaumātua on hunger strike at the Spring Hill Corrections Facility, after visiting him at the prison. ...2 days ago
Living Strong, Aging Well There is much discussion around the health of our older New Zealanders and how we can age well. In reality, the delivery of health services accounts for only a relatively small percentage of health outcomes as we age. Significantly, dry warm housing, nutrition, exercise, social connection, ...4 days ago
Asia Pacific Report A joint operation between the Fiji Police Force, Republic of Fiji Military Force (RFMF), Territorial Force Brigade, Fiji Navy and National Fire Authority was staged this week to “modernise” responses to emergencies. Called “Exercise Genesis”, the joint operation is believed to be the first of its kind ...2 hours ago
More than 12,000 cubic metres of treated wastewater a day could be discharged directly into the Shotover River in the country’s premiere tourist resort, according to a whistle-blowing councillor. That’s almost enough liquid to fill five Olympic-sized swimming pools.The plan, prompted by Queenstown’s failing sewage treatment plant, would use emergency ...8 hours ago
Winston Peters has repeatedly failed to express any concern for the Palestinians killed by Israel since Israel ended the ceasefire and condemn Israel for this industrial-scale carnage, which the International Court of Justice found more than a year ago to be ...8 hours ago
Analysis - A record-low rating of government performance will be unwelcome news for Christopher Luxon in a political week focused offshore. ...10 hours ago
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, $30) A Hunger Games prequel starring young Haymitch, ...10 hours ago
"But as said by Mahatma Ghandi a nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members. Clearly National does not aspire to greatness for our nation. Just the attacking of the weak and dispossessed for political gain."
As observers are we allowed to determine who is the weakest number? Is it the single grandmother who has lived in a 4 bedroom state house for 50-60 years, but does not want to moved to a single bedroom apartment. Or is its the family of four that cannot be allocated a 4 bedroom home as there is an abundance of single bedroom state homes/apartments?
[lprent: Perhaps you should prove that there is :-
“…there is an abundance of single bedroom state homes/apartments?”
The National government didn’t build any as far as I can see, and was actively looking at selling off those that they had. Certainly around where I live that was the case.
As I happen to intensely dislike false assertions (especially ones that are framed as truisms) you are banned for 3 weeks to discourage a repeat (of course you can provide evidence to justify your assertion with some actual numbers).
National had 9 years to put up some single bedroom homes/flats/apartments. As far as I am aware the number of those reduced. There is a massive shortage of one or two bedroom housing corp places. Typically those that are available are are vast distances from where someone has lived most of their life. Which is one of the main reasons that tenants will hang on to what they have rather than being kicked out.
I think that you are a lazy dog-whistling lying troll, so I’ll do as National does – I will assume you are until you you prove that you are not. ]
As a commenter here, you are allowed to lay out your arguments and start a discussion thread. Or you could spray and walk away.
Well that is a question that has been asked by government that has narrowed assistance with housing. When National started screwing down the welfare state they were making people shift from their town to another far away if it was a single woman; to go from a two bedroom house to a one bedroom unit in the distant town, just uplifted from friends and known neighbourhood and services. The authorities would not be likely to have even considered her renting a room to someone to ensure that the spare room was being utilised.
In fact one of the National harpies was incensed to find that state house tenants in South Auckland were renting a room to someone. It would never occur to such an unpretty pollie, that this was offering someone a place to live – perhaps a relative – and it was a useful thing to do for the boarder/tenant and the state. No they looked at it on a narrow monetary basis and because there was an edict against being helpful, the same as private landlords who don't have a duty to assist citizens with housing as the state does. Whatever the poor do to advance or help each other and themselves they will be condemned on some pretext.
Similarly Metiria Turei was villified for taking in an extra renter to help her make ends meet while she studied hard to get the skills for a secure job suitable for a parent.
There is probably a case for the government to buy one bedroom apartments/flats in areas where there are homeless low income families. Then move some tenants from family size state housing into these newly acquired smaller spaces.
Re. MAHATMA GHANDI.. I travelled in India by train. In Benares I lived in a houseboat next to pyres burning human remains night and day and dogs scavenging the bones.
I did not expect NZ Nationalists wouldd try to recreate the Raj in Auckland.
so essentially National still has no mates and is still having a hard time moving on from John Key?
National, no mates, no ideas, vote for us!
What it all really means? That the truth is irrelevant.
It means the intellectually limited will be heartened and spread the message that the National Government is going to be tough and deal to losers.
A couple of observations, the landlord class isn't limited to National voters or MPs.
The picture accompanying this post makes me think of two Harry Enfield characters: Loadsamoney and Waynetta Slob.
…. ' The National Party will put an end to a “state house for life” if it gets into power next year ' ….
The answer is simple.
Keep them out of power.
When we look at Germany, and Scandinavia, and we see that most of the populace are long term if not life tenants,… we see how archaic the ChiNational party really is.
Quite appalling, really.
So dreadfully out of touch with the developed world.
So 19th century in their approach.
So ,… Oliver Twist and Ebenezer Scrooge… you can almost smell the smog from their belching factory’s, in fact…
What they really would prefer is endless lines queuing up for soup kitchens and even greater lines queuing up for a days exploitative and poorly paid work.
A return to the 19th century ,- the glory days of subservience, hierarchy and the working class knowing their place and not trying to rise above their stations. Oh ,… and exorbitant profits to be made by industrialists and landlords.
I find it a curious mix of bedfellows tolerated by the ChiNational party … at the one time exuding the far right wing neo con / hawkishness of the extremes of the American Republican party,… yet on the other hand being so far embedded up communist China's arse regards crony business deals ( complete with an ex Chinese spy trainer as one of their MP's ) and free trade deals with the same that all you can really see of them is their toenails hanging out China's rear orifice…
I definitely think that state housed folk should not be permitted to occupy multi bedroom houses at the expense of multi children families.
However also in state house areas the state should build an range of properties so that single people left by their families are housed in maximum two bedroom properties so they can have family visit them.
The case of the woman in a four bedroom house was a disgraceful example of inept housing policy by the department.
Remember that state house tenants are being subsidised by all of us living in the private sector. Of course those who either are depriving themselve to pay a huge rent privately or like me in earlier times are/were able to buy/build for themselves might not agree. 🙂
No problems with a single or couple being relocated to a two bedroomed dwelling,… however, one must juxtapose the costs on a society of family's living on the street and the inherent anger and bitterness among the young that can lead to social disorder ie : theft, vandalism, violence etc. Do we really want to end up like other country's whereby poverty is the breeding grounds for violent social unrest?
Is the price of providing basic housing not worth it?
And heres another thing, – for the last 9 years we have seen this problem of state housing getting worse and worse. Driven mainly by a rapacious National govt hell bent on selling off those remaining state houses to private interests while at the same time allowing offshore interests to ramp up housing prices to the point where there was and still is a housing crisis.
All in the name of neo liberal private enterprise.
Meanwhile, children died in preventable third world type diseases in moldy, cold , dilapidated state houses according to our own medical reports.
And lets not forget that those state houses were originally built to house the family's of those workers who served the interests of the state in large work projects, – now they serve the interests of the business elites more often than not.
So.
It seems if you or I want service, we need to house those workers and their familys somewhere.
Or else take your own trash to the dump,- and pay the fees and like or lump the inconvenience when doing so.
The National party …home of evil bastards
Housing still has a long way to go – and while the government maintains a policy of net migration in the order of 50k pa, achievements of the order of 2.7 k homes are readily overlooked.
Evidently that 50k inward migration target is such a massive sacred cow that New Zealanders are to end up on the streets in service of it.
Don't worry , Stuart,- all their trying to do is replace the over 650,000 New Zealanders who moved permanently to Australia just after Ruth Richardson's Employment Contracts Act 1991 was passed…
With cheap, foreign ,non unionized labour.
And if that means New Zealanders and immigrants get to sleep on a park bench? – somehow they figure its all been worth it for their own little comfort zones and cozy retirements,- not to mention the glorious opportunity’s for future investments with great returns for them and their offspring…
As for the rest of us in struggle street…
Have they even heard it exists???
I never really understood the problem since long term State House tenants either qualify for income related rent, in which case they qualify for the house, or they don't, in which case they pay market rent and HNZ can use that income to build another house. It's a self-correcting situation.
It should be Craig but the trouble is the inflexibility of state department's thinking. But I doubt if a private "department" would work any better.
Isn't the problem of the polies/voters wanting a dividend from a trading dept? So housing department's loose any profits..
A trading dividend would incentivise keeping stable tenants at market rents, but I agree that the correct use of the money made is maintenance of existing stock and building new houses.
I agree with the sentiment…but not the quote…
'It was American writer and novelist Pearl Buck (1892-1973), best known for her novel, The Good Earth (winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1932), and recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature that wrote: “Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members.”'
"I can personally guarantee that every New Zealand family will have a section of pavement to sleep on when I'm Prime Minister."
Simon Bridges
National – 'Delivering for our donors'
National sold 2 thousand state houses they sold land as well they sold SHA areas to the chinese airline company and they sold to developers and they also sold to some so – called community housing providers. National did this so they don't have to provide this much needed service. Then for 9 years we herd them say we don't have a housing crisis. Now they are at it again after selling many of our assets paid for with our taxes they are selling us down the tiolet.
I see part of the problem as with our good nature we are accepting refugees and housing them ahead of kiwi citizens. We should look after our own ahead of inviting people from overseas.
Well, John, since you appear to be strong with facts, why don’t you give us some numbers to go on? For example, how many refugees does NZ let into the country annually?
I do not think I am strong on facts but I believe the total in past years has been 750 pa and that is going up to 1500 pa
At least you differentiate between immigration and refugee intake.
Do you really believe it is a proposal to increase refugee intake that would put greater pressure on infrastructure, housing provision and other services?
Thank you for responding and you were very close: https://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2018-09/Refugees%20and%20asylum%20seekers%20factsheet.pdf
I was being facetious about you being strong with facts given your comment @ 5 on OM today. To me, that comment and the one @ 12 under this post came across as dog whistling.
Incognito
Plese explain to somebody not as worldly as you what 'dog whisling' means 🙂
It’s in the title of the OP so rather odd that you have to ask. Have you tried using a search engine to edify yourself?
Yes I did and I am not sure I understand it any better.
Think of mixed, hidden, or veiled messages that elicit different responses in recipients depending on whether they are the target or targeted audience as intended by the messenger.
https://thestandard.org.nz/dog-whistling/