Government admits it has “no idea” on homeless

Written By: - Date published: 9:54 am, July 21st, 2017 - 61 comments
Categories: class war, housing, national, useless - Tags: , , ,

Today in news that makes you want to scream:

Govt admits it had ‘no idea’ of emergency housing costs

Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett has admitted “in hindsight” the Government’s response to the housing crisis has been too slow.

At current spending rates, $50 million of taxpayer money will go to motel owners and other emergency housing providers in just a year.

“We had no idea how much it was going to cost,” Ms Bennett told The AM Show on Friday morning.

“We had no idea it would ever be this big. No Government had ever picked up the bill for this. No Government has ever funded emergency housing.” …

NO GOVERNMENT HAS EVER NEEDED TO BEFORE!

This is an entirely predictable, and long predicted, consequence of your policy settings you fools.

Any number social support organisations have issued any number of warnings about increasing poverty, inequality and homelessness for years. Even your own bloody ex PM was warning about the impact of rising house prices back in 2007 FFS.

Just what the hell do you heartless Nats thinks happens to all the people dumped off the benefit, and priced out of the insane property and rental markets? Do you think they just conveniently disappear?

https://twitter.com/DavidSlack/status/888150736768389120

https://twitter.com/PhilTwyford/status/866815396229206016

61 comments on “Government admits it has “no idea” on homeless ”

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  1. WILD KATIPO 1
    21 July 2017 at 10:00 am

    AHAHAHAHA !!!!

    So this is the new party line for the neo liberals , then , eh ?

    So both Mr Flavell says ” I really don’t know how homelessness got so bad”…

    And a day or so later we have the Deputy Prime Minister saying : ” we have no idea on homelessness ”

    WHAT . A . PACK . OF . USELESS . LYING . TOERAGS.

    VOTE EM OUT THIS SEPTEMBER !!!!

  2. WILD KATIPO 2
    21 July 2017 at 10:05 am

    Y’all remember THIS , you National party scumbags?

    The political con job your wonderboy John Key pulled ?

    And yet all he did was try to sell off MORE state houses ?!!?

    AND THE PROBLEMS NOW FAR WORSE !!!!

    Aroha of McGehan Close flees NZ | Stuff.co.nz
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10468960/Aroha-of-McGehan-Close-flees-NZ

    VOTE EM OUT THIS COMING SEPTEMBER !!!

    • RedLogix 2.1
      21 July 2017 at 11:29 am

      So Aroha landed up in Aus. Why am I not surprised and happy for her at the same time?

      She recently returned home to visit her mother. She couldn’t believe how expensive the price of living in New Zealand was compared to Australia.

      “Petrol has shot up – $2 for petrol, really? I also brought about seven or eight items from one of the supermarkets and it came to a total of $78. No wonder people can’t fill their fridges. I’m glad I got out of New Zealand when I did.”

      Over the past four years she has seen her mother’s financial situation worsen. “My mum works full time and she is still struggling really bad,” she says. “It is like she is worse off.”

      “I have everything that I would never ever have in New Zealand. I would probably still be on the benefit if I lived in NZ right now.”

      Our experience of Australia? Well my only regret is we didn’t make the move 10 years earlier.

      A happy combination of a good income (although nothing startling by industry standards) and a low cost of living in regional Victoria has meant … that for each of the four years we have been here we have saved, from our after tax income, MORE than my gross income in my last job in NZ. And I had more fun doing it.

      Ponder that.

  3. Hooch 3
    21 July 2017 at 10:06 am

    The party of fiscal responsibility lol

  4. dukeofurl 4
    21 July 2017 at 10:07 am

    Even last election they didnt dare announce their state house sell off policy- till the day after the election

    This time they seem to have the message- ” Who knew housing policy is so hard?’

  5. Stuart Munro 5
    21 July 2017 at 10:15 am

    Babes in the woods. Not a credible PTA much less a government.

  6. Keepcalmcarryon 6
    21 July 2017 at 10:24 am

    It is disgusting. To avoid the reality of the worst homelessness per capita In The OECD the nats unsustainably book them in to hotels and claim they aren’t homeless, the taxpayer covers the crime as per usual. There is no housing ” crisis” etc etc Check out Wayne’s comment on the “tax cuts or..” thread.

  7. The decrypter 7
    21 July 2017 at 10:40 am

    In reflection Double dipper was ahead of his time in having a backup house -two houses instead of just one,you see.–no crisis for billy boy. Probably cheaper than a motel unit for eight.

  8. Gabby 8
    21 July 2017 at 11:13 am

    Puller’s really upset about this. All that money. If they’d known they could’ve just done nothing.

  9. Venezia 9
    21 July 2017 at 11:23 am

    Wayne…so we are quibbling about definitions of homelessness? Families living in cars, garages, and doubling up in overcrowded conditions are all part of the homeless problem. So it doesn’t get this do-nothing government off the hook. Selling off state housing stock after intentionally avoiding to maintain that stock, encouraging mass migration to keep wages low, policies to advantage speculative property dealing, allowing foreign ownership and houses left empty all make this government culpable for a lot of human misery. If you ask the questions in whose interests does it work? and who benefits? you get close to the nub of the issue.

    • marty mars 9.1
      21 July 2017 at 11:34 am

      exactly – it shows the moral vacuum around gnats past and present. What a shallow wayne he is to try and argue the numbers – he is starting to make bennett look bright and THAT is hard to do.

      Bennett you knew and did nothing, pretended. I’d argue this is the way you work a lot in your work. But the chickens are coming home to roost sweety oh yes they are.

  10. Kevin 10
    21 July 2017 at 11:38 am

    How many houses would $50 Million have built?

    But then, that would be counter to the ideology. Happily giver hoteliers $50 million of taxpayers money, but do nothing about the symptoms. And as the hoteliers are in the pend seats, they can name their price.

  11. AB 11
    21 July 2017 at 11:45 am

    This is Sir John’s beloved “assprayshun” in action. Make a killing by speculating in houses, opening the doors to dirty foreign money and importing lots of people to exacerbate a shortage of accommodation? Just do it! Beggar your fellow citizens in the process? Who cares!

  12. Bill 12
    21 July 2017 at 11:51 am

    So for ““We had no idea it would ever be this big.” read –

    “We didn’t really intend this to pop up on the radar as it were. We thought we could push the boat out without too many people noticing or caring”

    • One Anonymous Bloke 12.1
      21 July 2017 at 11:56 am

      It’s a bit difficult to pretend poor people don’t exist and simultaneously encourage your supporters to hate them, but National manages it.

  13. Incognito 13
    21 July 2017 at 11:56 am

    Yup, governing a country is hard and difficult and National has no ideas, never had any, on how. Sir John was admired and praised for his “pragmatism” but it was simply a lack of effective ideas.

    I say it’s time to give somebody else a go who may have some ideas that are worth pursuing. Quite likely some ideas will have unforeseen and unintended consequences but we’ll cross that bridge if/when we get there.

    • WILD KATIPO 13.1
      21 July 2017 at 12:06 pm

      The only ideas senior National MP’s ever had was how fix things so them and their rich donators benefited.

      The fact that sooner or later the symptoms of poverty and homelessness were going to become undeniable was something that they hoped bluster and a compliant media wouldn’t make too much fuss about near election time.

      How many Nat MP’s are landlords with multi asset portfolios again ?

      • Incognito 13.1.1
        21 July 2017 at 12:12 pm

        National likes to feather their own nest, stay in power at all cost, and preserve status quo.

        None of these are compelling reasons to give them another term, rather the opposite.

  14. gsays 14
    21 July 2017 at 12:09 pm

    Surely this is an opening for a fired up opposition to tear into the party that are good stewards of the economy.
    C’mon, someone… Little, Twyford, Peters, Shaw… anyone?

    • WILD KATIPO 14.1
      21 July 2017 at 12:58 pm

      Indeed , – in fact its time a political volcano started to build under them and they experienced something like this !!!!

      Eddie Van Halen – Eruption – YouTube

    • Anthony Rimell 14.2
      21 July 2017 at 12:59 pm

      There are many reasons to consign this appalling group of neo-liberal incompetents to the dust-bin.

      Affordable/ free Healthcare: fail
      Universally Available Education: fail
      Stopping Poverty: fail
      Restoring our rivers: fail

      But the fact that we NOW LEAD THE WORLD on homelessness shrieks volumes.

      Seriously: they have to go. Now

      http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/cities-grow-worldwide-so-do-numbers-homeless#sthash.L9C11NRd.gbpl

      • gsays 14.2.1
        21 July 2017 at 2:34 pm

        hi anthony,
        clearly you are misinformed coz, coz umm.. wayne reckons different.

        i agree with your list and would add a total lack of leadership, vision and ability amongst the personnel.
        english, bennett, smith, brownlie, joyce in it for themselves to a tee.
        add to it dunne, the man don’t forget, that legalised synthetic cannabis, and now he senses the winds of change is getting his troughing backside onto the decrimanilise/legalise bandwagon.

        roll on september.

      • Red 14.2.2
        22 July 2017 at 12:12 am

        Anthony Rimell services to extreme hyperbole Pass with excellence

  15. Keepcalmcarryon 15
    21 July 2017 at 12:30 pm

    Sure looks like we really were on the cusp of something big. Homelessness.

  16. ianmac 16
    21 July 2017 at 1:30 pm

    And weren’t there Three Ministers of Housing?

    • WILD KATIPO 16.1
      21 July 2017 at 3:21 pm

      How many National party Ministers of Housing does it take to change a light bulb ?

      One to hold the light bulb and a thousand to move the house…

      • Keepcalmcarryon 16.1.1
        21 July 2017 at 5:45 pm

        One to change the light bulb and a thousand to board up the house and sell it back and forth to each other for increased capital gain.

      • lloyd 16.1.2
        21 July 2017 at 9:36 pm

        a thousand to sell the house, not move it.
        sell the light bulb separately
        get skilled migrants to replace the bulb
        Then kick them out

    • Cinny 16.2
      21 July 2017 at 4:26 pm

      And then there was none

    • Stuart Munro 16.3
      21 July 2017 at 4:45 pm

      National rotates ministers regularly, hoping to avoid or dilute the responsibility for their unremitting failures.

  17. Siobhan 17
    21 July 2017 at 2:37 pm

    So $12.6 mil on motels and $16.2 mil on accommodation hardship assistance in 3 months, plus how much on your normal run of the mill Accommodation Supplement, plus subsidies to make houses livable…..not to mention the amount of Working for Families that no doubt tops up people’s rent payments….I wonder what that adds up to?
    Should we really have so many people at the mercy of Ma and Pa landlords and their clearly unsustainable and uneconomic property investment retirement schemes?.
    Into the future..can taxpayers really afford the constant blow outs of cost?

    Maybe if the true Total cost was revealed there would be more demand for some level of Nationalised housing.

    Lets step away from the ‘Kiwi Dream’, which is simply not sustainable under our current neo liberal economic model.

  18. Draco T Bastard 18
    21 July 2017 at 3:28 pm

    National: The Party of enriching the already rich at everyone else’s expense.

    This homelessness and increasing poverty is the direct and inevitable result of their policies.

    Labour aren’t really that much better because they’ll keep to the same base ideology.

  19. McFlock 19
    21 July 2017 at 4:44 pm

    totally.

  20. Stuart Munro 20
    21 July 2017 at 5:08 pm

    “we need government leadership that is prepared to focus on the fundamental issues driving the crisis. National is ready to provide that leadership. Earlier this month I announced our four-point plan for improving home affordability:
    1. Ensuring people are in a better financial position to afford a house.
    2. Freeing up the supply of land.
    3. Dealing with the compliance issues that drive up building costs.
    4. Allowing state house tenants to buy the houses they live in”

    John lying bastard Key 2008

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0708/S00336.htm

    • Red 20.1
      21 July 2017 at 5:30 pm

      Jeez you guys are working each other’s up into a lather, settle down, nz is not as bad as you think nor as good as some portray but overall it’s pretty good. Nz stats social survey highlighting that 83pc of kiwis are highly satisfied with their lives, hardly and indicator that nz is a neoliberal hell hole you guys like to portray, Really your hyperbole rubbish just turns people off, some free advise just chill for the weekend, stop burying yourself in regressive left neo miserablism, there is a lot more good out their than bad , happy weekend, go the canes chiefs and highlanders 😀

      • Stuart Munro 20.1.1
        21 July 2017 at 5:41 pm

        Your ‘hyperbole rubbish’ was a direct quote Red.

        If there is justice in the world that scum-sucking lowlife must be made to pay.

        • Red 20.1.1.1
          21 July 2017 at 5:55 pm

          Storm the palace comrad 😀

          • Stuart Munro 20.1.1.1.1
            21 July 2017 at 5:58 pm

            It may come to that.

            • Red 20.1.1.1.1.1
              21 July 2017 at 6:12 pm

              Viva the revolution, need a more revolutionary name though, Stuart Munro doesn’t really cut it in regard to the Romantisim of the whole thing and a name to get behind, 😀

              • Stuart Munro …
                21 July 2017 at 6:20 pm

                Democracy is supposed to make the revolution unnecessary.

                But the corruption of the current government, and its failure to adhere to the principles of Westminster descended democracy are not trivial, and are the proximate cause of the many crisies afflicting our nation.

                It will be with deep regret that we may be obliged to consign these failed ministers to the tiger food enclosure. But fixing the problems created by their corrupting greed and manifest incompetence calls for such sacrifices.

                • Red …
                  22 July 2017 at 12:03 am

                  I am sure tigers deserve better

                  • Stuart Munro …
                    22 July 2017 at 2:26 am

                    Everybody deserves better – even hagfish would be disappointed by the quality of Gnat ministers. I’ve shat better governments.

                    • Stuart Munro …
                      22 July 2017 at 10:12 am

                      Of course, your diversion does rather get away from the point, that Key recognized and stated that there was a housing crisis back in 2008 – so that Tremain’s cartoon above is unwontedly generous.

                      The whole Gnat party have known for their entire term in government that there is a housing crisis – and CHOSE to do nothing positive about it – in fact disposing of public housing in such a way as to make things worse.

                      This is not what a good government does.

                      The people deserve better. Infinitely better. And last act of oppressed people tends to be one of fearful symmetry – Blake’s tiger enacting primitive justice on the effete entitled swine who oppress them.

      • Draco T Bastard 20.1.2
        21 July 2017 at 8:29 pm

        Jeez you guys are working each other’s up into a lather, settle down, nz is not as bad as you think nor as good as some portray but overall it’s pretty good.

        It’s probably worse.

        It’s definitely worse than what the delusional Gnats think.

        Queue for social housing passes 5000, driven by demand in Auckland and Christchurch

        Nz stats social survey highlighting that 83pc of kiwis are highly satisfied with their lives

        So, we should just ignore the 17% who aren’t?

        And I really doubt that 83%. Citation please.

        • Red 20.1.2.1
          21 July 2017 at 11:47 pm

          The Statistics NZ 2014 New Zealand General Social Survey, which surveyed 9000 people and was released today, showed just over 8 in 10 New Zealanders or 82.6 per cent, rated their overall life satisfaction at 7 or above out of 10

          Slightly more New Zealanders, 9 in 10 or 87.1 per cent, rated their sense of purpose highly. ( nz herald may 26 2015)

          There you go, lefty doom and gloom merchants part of the 17pc I assume are thankfully a minority, possibly it’s a condition and you all can’t help it 😀,

        • Red 20.1.2.2
          22 July 2017 at 12:07 am

          5000 people in Auckland looking for social housing 1, 495,000 are not, hence why social survey indicates by far the majority of people are happy with thier lot and also why negative green and labour campaigning will lead to a collapse in thier vote,

          • Draco T Bastard 20.1.2.2.1
            22 July 2017 at 12:38 am

            And how many thousands don’t have a home?
            How many houses have more than one family crunched into them?

            You’re just trying to make the serious crisis that we have, that your preferred government has made worse by throwing numbers out of your arse around.

    • tc 20.2
      21 July 2017 at 5:36 pm

      Akshully….

      1. Tax havens, he didn’t say which people.
      2. To developer mates with a few RONS chucking some existing state houses in also.
      3. Removing pesky barriers like warm dry homes, the rma, gut the regulatory bodies.
      4. Went one better, let them buy the house they had put in place of their existing one. Didn’t say they’d be able to afford it being Auckland and all that.

  21. SMILIN 21
    23 July 2017 at 6:33 pm

    It is criminal for natzional not know or do anything responsible about the NZ housing crisis that they escalated thru the greed of their leader Key to serve the neoliberal bs that created a person who couldnt remember anything on the 81 springbok tour or has ever voiced an opinion on his real country Israel and its system of upscale apartheid incorporating genocide on the palestinian people
    Is it any wonder we are now a third world country begging for the crumbs from the US as we give our country over to them and the chinese to manage control and own by doing next to nothing to stop immigration that will kill our domestic food production and ability to govt own our state housing

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