Key’s legacy

Written By: - Date published: 1:15 pm, July 16th, 2012 - 40 comments
Categories: housing, privatisation - Tags:

Which will be remembered as the greater crime in Key’s legacy: selling off our strategically vital and profitable energy assets leading to higher power prices or standing by and doing nothing while another housing bubble fueled by cheap foreign credit leaves us more indebted and with lower home ownership? Or the smug, absent grin he wore throughout?

40 comments on “Key’s legacy ”

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  1. Carol 1
    16 July 2012 at 2:35 pm

    Or focusing on RONS instead of investing in public transport & the building of much needed affordable and healthy housing?

    But methinks it’s all of part of the same agenda.

    I’ll remember him as the smiling, insincere & slippery conman who undermined the welfare and quality of life for most Kiwis.

    • Wyndham 1.1
      16 July 2012 at 2:53 pm

      Unerringly right on the button again, Carol !

    • Dr Terry 1.2
      16 July 2012 at 4:31 pm

      Carol, nobody could express this better than have you. It is hard to imagine, but the day will come when at last we see the forked tongue removed from a viper.

  2. Bored 2
    16 July 2012 at 2:38 pm

    The Cycleway…well almost.

    • darkhorse 2.1
      18 July 2012 at 9:18 pm

      The Cycleway – his best (only) idea – followed by the RWC and it goes down hill from there

      • rosy 2.1.1
        18 July 2012 at 9:40 pm

        Except when we were driving past Taupo last Christmas we noticed that the cycleway ran along the bypass instead of going through the town… I can’t imagine a single tourist on a bike choosing to take that route.

  3. Colonial Viper 3
    16 July 2012 at 3:20 pm

    Cullen’s housing bubble was way better than Key’s.

    • Tom Gould 3.1
      16 July 2012 at 3:28 pm

      Key says there is no property bubble. Just like there is no rent crisis. Just like anyone who wants a job can get one. Is a pattern developing?

      • Deano 3.1.1
        16 July 2012 at 3:32 pm

        And for every ‘expert’ you can find who says there is a problem, Key will assert he could find a hundred who say there isn’t.. if he wanted but, but he can’t be bothered so nah nah nah.

      • Draco T Bastard 3.1.2
        16 July 2012 at 3:50 pm

        Complete denial of reality you mean? That’s been a Tory staple for decades as well.

        • Herodotus 3.1.2.1
          16 July 2012 at 4:09 pm

          Just the same as Helen said that the leaky building issue was a nz herald beat up, if only it had been.
          And re the housing issue NO party has any real solutions, just the same as none have any ideas as to affordable housing.
          It is too hard for any of them to even attack the peripheral areas.

          • weka 3.1.2.1.1
            16 July 2012 at 5:48 pm

            The Greens have a detailed housing policy that addresses those things.
             
            http://www.greens.org.nz/policy/housing-policy-living-well
             
             

             
             

            • mike e 3.1.2.1.1.1
              16 July 2012 at 5:56 pm

              +1 weka

            • Ad 3.1.2.1.1.2
              16 July 2012 at 9:18 pm

              Seriously wow! Great bold targets.

              What’s Labour’s?

              • weka …
                16 July 2012 at 9:25 pm

                Don’t know but I had a look at Mana’s which looked like the Greens’ from ten years ago (as in what you expect from a new, small party). The Greens have come a long way, and are well beyond the accusation that they don’t know what they’re doing. Bold targets and holistic view as well as detail.

                • weka …
                  16 July 2012 at 9:30 pm

                  Just had a look for Labour’s and can’t find any of their policies on their website. Maybe they’re there somewhere, but I can’t see how to get to them. Unbelievable.
                   
                  Here’s Mana’s. You have to click on Housing 
                   
                  http://mana.net.nz/policy/
                   

          • bbfloyd 3.1.2.1.2
            17 July 2012 at 8:44 am

            Are you that much of an idiot little hero? the leaky homes debacle created by the bolger government abandoning housing standards in favor of “self regulation” being, once more, blamed on a labour government left with the job of trying to sort out the mess from yet another incompetent national party pseudo government….

            What’s not a “herald” beat up about that? Or is that too complicated a subject for you to fathom….. Sorry about not putting enough dog whistles in my comment for you to be able to follow the logic, but hey, you’re only a tory, right?

            And if you wish to argue the point, then i’m sure we can have a look at the timelines together, and have a good laugh between us once the rank stupidity of your assertion is exposed ….

            • Herodotus 3.1.2.1.2.1
              17 July 2012 at 7:43 pm

              And I think you will find that the government was following recommendations from Branz and BIA regarding the freeing up of the industry. If you had any understanding as to how Branz works then you would see that any government of the day is only following recommendations and should be asking was/is the process robust? and as we have seen a resounding NO, so why and how was it able to be manipulated for what is such a comprehensive disaster except for a few Building Materials coys, and they still get to keep their ill gotten profits. But we have seen it time and time again
              ttp://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0610/S00223.htm
              “Along the way, major building industrialists applied their significant financial and political leverage to having their attractively-priced monolithic claddings and untreated timber framing duly approved by the appropriate building industry authorities.
              Those approvals were forthcoming, but should never have been.”
              ttp://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10632618
              http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3006431
              But BB keep on with attacking the person and not engaging for a solution, but could we expect anything else !!!

              • mike e …
                17 July 2012 at 8:12 pm

                Hero BB is right leaky buildings had very little to do with the materials maybe 1% 99% to do with construction methods I,ve been working in the building industry most of my life and their were virtually no failures prior to 1991 act.
                Which opened up a can of worms most of them in the National party
                Who brought in private inspectors to compete with council inspectors big f/up their.
                That allowed any tom dick or harry to build anything they liked.
                The results $30 billion to $40 billion dollars of Leaky homes.
                Monolithic cladding will work if it is done properly with proper flashings drains vents and sealing+proper painting with good quality paint.
                Most untreated woods in NZ will stand the test of time except for radiate pine.
                What was happening with even treated timber which is not exterior treated was getting wet from incorrectly constructed houses.
                Another problem quite common in leaky buildings was cantilevered decks that didn’t have a weather flashing from the outside to the inside where the weight was born by the deck joists following into the house.
                Herodotus National have managed to fob leaky homes off all together.
                Maurice Williamson being the latest blame shifter no surprises their.

                • Herodotus …
                  17 July 2012 at 8:39 pm

                  Mikee I also have some dealings in the industry and have had some experience re Bia and Branz regarding getting materials approved buy these organisations, so the system was always set to fail given that Bia and Branz were receiving manufactures submissions supporting their products and not having the means to test what was being submitted. e.g viewing what has resulted in the west of Canada. These structures it could said were setup for the benefit of the multi’s not protecting the voter.
                  Unfortunately like the cost of housing, leaky homes etc “Pollys” are great at creating unforeseen problems but unable at fixing them, and IMO this applies to both major parties.

  4. bad12 4
    16 July 2012 at 3:43 pm

    The only thing Slippery will be remembered for after 6 years of Government,(if He’s lucky),will be the manner in which He tucks tail and runs after being ousted…

    • jack 4.1
      16 July 2012 at 5:25 pm

      With all his investments in his “blind trust”, he’ll be tucks tail and run to the banks.. offshore.

    • Mark 4.2
      16 July 2012 at 5:37 pm

      Unlike your heroes Clark & Cullen….

    • mike e 4.3
      16 July 2012 at 5:38 pm

      Shonkeys bank of America has lost more than 1/2 its value due to more of Merrill lynch’s dodgy dealing.
      bank of America is in deep trouble facing huge libor law suits and fines,Also many other legal and regulatory actions.

  5. Tanz 5
    16 July 2012 at 4:45 pm

    How about all the photo ops, or the infamous catwalk strut?

  6. felix 6
    16 July 2012 at 5:18 pm

    Being an all black.

  7. Pascal's bookie 7
    16 July 2012 at 5:24 pm

    The first Labour- Green government.

  8. marsman 8
    16 July 2012 at 6:55 pm

    Imprisonment for grand theft.

  9. vto 9
    16 July 2012 at 7:27 pm

    He will be remembered as just a banker. In the age when bankers failed humankind.

    • Pascal's bookie 9.2
      16 July 2012 at 8:11 pm

      That’ll definatly be a theme of it v.

      More serioulsy than my previous comment, he’ll be judged on how he managed to fulfill his agenda, and whether it worked.

      He’s made play of being a non politician, open to deals and the like, pragmatic. Whether these things are true or cynical are a bit beside the point, they are how he has sold himself.

      He comments a lot about how he intends his reforms to last by ‘taking the people with him’. That was what the last term was about. Not scaring the horses, differentiating himself from National Past.

      Backing down on mining was part of that (in that it showed he wasn’t beholden to ideology), but the main thing was fulfilling the promise not to sell assets in that term. That has morphed into the partial sales this time. The partial aspect is intended to appear as pragmatic and non-ideological. But the theme over both terms around asset sales is the honest broker routine, first he said he wasn’t going to sell, and he didn’t, now he has said he is going to and it’s expected that the country will let him. There is an aspect of the country owing him this. It’s never stated that way, but it’s a pretty common sales pitch.

      If he can’t pull off the sale, he’ll be remembered as a failed, but cheeky, snakeoil salesman as far as that goes. Even if he gets all the sales through, the legacy aspect here isn’t likely to be pretty. Richardson and douglas reforms lasted, but they are far from being popular. Their reforms are mostly seen as shit beds that can’t be unshit.

      The biggies though, are Christchurch and the economy. If it’s percieved that he should have done better there he’ll be mud. They took a huge gamble in my view, with the first term of doing nothing. If things go south that will bite them hard. Wasted oppurtunity is not something any amount of later work can fix.

      I think one of the biggest missed oppurtunities was in skills training. the masses of unemployed, and underployed youth, (and not so youth) could have been trained and retrained to become the workforce the rebuild will need. Instead, many of them have fled to OZ, and others have been left to languish.

      If the idea takes hold that his term was cynical, and that he did nothing just so he could have his way in the second, and that caused the ChCh rebuild to much harder than it could have been, all for the sake of his asset sales that didn’t work? That’ll be a stain that won’t wash out.

      • vto 9.2.1
        16 July 2012 at 8:41 pm

        Interesting that you see Christchurch as being one of the main definers. Hadn’t considered that. If you’re right then things are shaping up poorly for him methinks. Trades are leaving for greener pastures. People I know bringing people in for the rebuild have stopped because, believe it or not, everybody is still waiting. This government’s call to leave it to the market is biting them. The market, the insurers especially, don’t care and the heroics of post-quake have long since melted under the heat of money money money – there’s money coming to town so best grab what you can.

        Insurance is a dead duck and I cannot see any other option for government but to step in and provide a state-provided insurance. People are giving up and leaving. People are virtually walking away from homes and properties. People in the blue-green zone are the worst off and almost the most common. Rather be a red zoner. People see no end in sight, actually they see no start in sight even. And that is the problem.

        Brownlee has defined himself by leaving housing up to the market and now that house prices and rents have gone through the roof he claims it is succeeding! Unbelievable. He thinks rising housing costs are a success story He is just full of shit. People here notice this bullshit. This is not a time for leaving things up to the market.

        I think the problem and scale of Chch would be too much for most of our most stout and capable of leaders, so of course Key doesn’t come within a bulls roar of providing what is needed.

        If he is to be defined by Chch then the time has already passed. The lens of hindsight will focus this, but it is too late for Key in this regard. The die is cast. The performance has not measured up.

        • Georgecom 9.2.1.1
          16 July 2012 at 9:37 pm

          Doing nothing is catching up with Key. His strategy to combat this growing perception of inactivity is to, do nothing.

        • Fortran 9.2.1.2
          17 July 2012 at 2:01 pm

          vto

          We had a great State Insurance Company which was sold to the Poms, asset stripped, and sold to the Aussies.
          We had Govt Life too. Another good company.

  10. Brian 10
    16 July 2012 at 9:22 pm

    My money’s on the grin.

    Hope the Hawaiian sun frazzles the Martha Farquhar