There are people living in cars

37 comments on “There are people living in cars ”

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1. millsy 1

   17 February 2016 at 4:13 pm

   I dont think National really cares, and deep down, I dont think Labour care either.
   • Sabine 1.1

     17 February 2016 at 4:19 pm

     i don’t think that anyone really cares, because that revelation that people have been and are living in cars, sheds, garages, unfit state housing, unfit private housing means not enough for anyone to do anything, and that includes ordinary non voting and voting (regardless of party) Kiwis.
     Those that have properties says ‘she’ll be right” and those that have got no properties will live stacked 10 to a room, and they call it kiwi experience.
     We had the same situation after the Jenny Shipley experiment. Famlies living in Garages together with rats and other ‘pets’. t’was on TV so it must’ave been true, but nothing was done ever since, and why would any political party do anything, if the Kiwi public actually is not demanding it?

     Really it seems to me that the every generation of kiwis is quite happy to have their kids live in decrepit flats till they are forty and which time they a. buy a house themselves or their parents help them in a house.

     Nothing to do with Party per se. It is really just that National is very blunt about it ‘i don’t give a shit attitude” while the Labour Party thanks to its heritage at least still cares a little bit about state housing and such.

     But doing something? Heaven forbid, she’ll be right, you’ll see.
     • Macro 1.1.1

       17 February 2016 at 7:10 pm

       while the Labour Party thanks to its heritage at least still cares a little bit about state housing and such.

       But doing something? Heaven forbid, she’ll be right, you’ll see.

       I have a sneaking feeling that you are right – but only a feeling. I do know that when Labour were last in office there were a number of new state houses built in and around Auckland. Not a lot – but they were very good quality and certainly not slum material. I worked on a number of sub divisions in Henderson, and Manakau in infill areas and they would have taken around 100+ houses.
       I think the general demand for action on improving the state housing lot is growing and I also know that the Greens would be right behind any initiative to improve social housing across the board.
     • Brendon Harre -Left wing Liberal 1.1.2

       17 February 2016 at 7:55 pm

       Speak for yourselves Millsy and Sabine. I am involved with the Labour Party and have put a great deal of effort in raising these housing issues. From my point of view my efforts are not alone -there is a real commitment and dedication to fix these problems within the party.

       The recent Labour Party national conference had two speeches by Shamubeel Eaqub -author of Generation Rent that highlightly these housing issues. The Labour party recently organised a meeting for Hutt Valley constituents to discuss housing Issues where five Labour MPs attended. It also featured a presentation by University of Otago public health professor Philippa Howden-Chapman. http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/hutt-valley/76781151/new-zealand-no-longer-has-a-problem-with-generation-rent–its-now-generations-rent

       These are just a few examples of Labour doing the hard yards of real policy formation to fix our social problems.
       • sabine 1.1.2.1

         17 February 2016 at 8:48 pm

         if you read my comment again, you will see that i am more talking about kiwis as the populace and not the politians per se.
         I have also stated that Labour is better then National and I base labours support on housing on the fact that state housing is the legacy of Labour governments past.

         but the largest push needs to come from Kiwis of all age, income etc etc. Only when people truly demand that all have a dwelling to live in will something change.

         We have had the same situation after Jenny Shipley, high costs, no rentals available etc. I remember watching a TV 1 news bulletin that led with a black and white footage from yesteryear showing a couple looking at rentals. And then came the story of the Mum who lived with her children, a few rodents and cockroaches in a Garage. Now i just migrated to NZ in 98 from Germany and i was shocked that this could happen and could be considered normal.

         you know what, nothing much has changed. Parties and Politians can do so much, but the push needs to come from the populace, and as of now, a few people living in cars, well that is just the price to pay for progress and if they can’t afford AKL they can just move. That in a nutshell is the mindset that needs to change, and alas, I have no hope that it ever will.
         • Brendon Harre -Left wing Liberal 1.1.2.1.1

           17 February 2016 at 11:30 pm

           Fair points Sabine. I am a kiwi -born and bred. I recently returned from Europe. I too was shocked about housing conditions on my return.

           I agree to improve housing conditions for all we need culture change -make unaffordable housing a moral issue about fairness -a return to a fair go society. Explain to the public we are drifting into a situation where society is dividing into ‘generation rent’ who have few rights, poor conditions and pay excessive prices versus a ‘landed gentry’ who gain from the ‘rules’ of the property game being tilted in their favour. Then explain to the public this slow drift into entrenched inequality doesn’t have to be our future. We have a choice.

           It may seem that New Zealand is a slow and sleepy land. So the prospects of cultural change are minimal. But the reality is that NZ goes through rapid change followed by settled times where the change is digested. NZ did it in the 1890s with the Liberal government, the 1930s with the first Labour government, the 1980s with Rogernomics (although that went pear shaped).

           I feel another change coming.
           • savenz 1.1.2.1.1.1

             18 February 2016 at 11:18 am

             Yep, the old villas and bungalows and even the state houses are not insulated generally, BUT what is the solution?

             The Natz is, to sell the state houses so they don’t have to renovate them. Keep the money, pretend to be doing some social housing while creating more corporate welfare by getting the tax payers to subsidise social housing.
             Not so sure what Labour’s position is. If they say put in xxx affordable housing – I mean is it enough for the $64,000 new people coming in each year?
             The point is, it will take 10’s of thousands to bring our traditional housing stock up to scratch for modern living. Kiwis families don’t have that kind of savings in general, so being told what crap people they are for having no insulation they can’t afford is not really a winner.

             There is a shortage of landlords due to 64,000 migrants that politicians don’t like mentioning. Landlords will just sell their properties on to middle class migrants and there will be a further shortage of rentals. More people in cars. Personally I would prefer a private landlord than some corporation to be renting off, which is where the Natz obviously want to take it.

             The little girl who died in the mouldy state house, has a heat pump apparently. Problem was, the parents couldn’t afford to use it.

             Housing is a lot more complicated than the sound bytes the herald likes to portray. Yep, you can put in insulation (and i think people should) and a heat pump, but you are already on $10,000 per house for that to happen. In fact I think that is going to happen as the bill is being put together by the Natz. You then need a way to ventilate it. More costs.

             One additional thing causing mould is how people live today. In the old days people opened windows for ventilation, nowadays people work the houses are closed up all day, and with the risk of burglary etc – old fashioned cheap ventilation is not popular. So we have ventilation systems (many of them cons and don’t work) which require electricity to run. i.e. more costs to the consumer for them just to have air circulating.

             The cost of living (power, water, rates, insurance) and wages need to be urgently addressed at the same time, as does immigration criteria and housing to fully address housing problems. Upgrading old houses costs a lot and Kiwis will have to pay for it, one way or another. Unless we sell to the Chinese and Australians and then rent from them like Natz solutions for state houses and become tenants in our own country.

             I’d like to see a bit of Kiwi ingenuity and helpfulness to each other. A while back fair go ran a way to cheaply make houses warmer. Maybe a social system when people just help the elderly and their neighbours might be a system to look at. Go back to basics! The state houses were built by returned service men for the state, maybe harness the unemployed and volunteers to upgrade old houses and build new ones.
         • Bill 1.1.2.1.2

           18 February 2016 at 3:53 pm

           Squatters rights.
           Tenancy rights.
           Confiscate properties (residential and commercial) that are sitting empty for speculation, and renovate/re-fit/convert.
           Encourage/enable housing collectives.
           Fix rents to GV in such a way that house owners don’t get a freebie, courtesy of the public purse.
     • Smilin 1.1.3

       18 February 2016 at 4:04 pm

       These politicians are charged by their position as representatives of the people to do something about it yet the govt gets away with these crimes of doin nothing and there is no accountability
2. McFlock 2

   17 February 2016 at 4:27 pm

   I really like that speech. Needed to be said.
3. Coaster 3

   17 February 2016 at 4:33 pm

   The people care, the people just need a sanders type of voice to get behind.
   • Smilin 3.1

     18 February 2016 at 4:12 pm

     Yeah we need a leader not a ponzi patsy
4. wild katipo 4

   17 February 2016 at 4:46 pm

   Well said Grant , … even though I use the term ‘neo liberal wretch ‘ to describe so many politicians ans ALL of the govt’s post 1984 in this country… and I though I don’t particularly like Grant Robertson either , if Robertson stands up with a pair ,Ill give him credit.

   There is starting to be a dawning of the realization that this Milton Freidman , Chicago school of Economics neo liberalism has been nothing but a long 32 year fraudulent rort among many people in this country.

   And we are seeing the fruition and results of it now as we speak.

   It was a lie in the very beginning at the first meeting of the Mont Pelerin society in the late 1940’s and its been a lie ever since.

   Therefore I would strongly encourage people to view this excellent documentary ‘The war on Democracy ‘ aired by Maori TV. It was a very bold decision for them to have even considered showing it in light of what is now happening under the Key led National govt at present.

   http://johnpilger.com/videos/the-war-on-democracy

   In it you will see the exact same things that have occurred here economically , but also the individuals behind it and its catastrophic results in Bolivia, Nicaragua , Chile and the thousands of people who were tortured and butchered under the auspices of Freidmans neo liberal Chicago’s School of Economics in Latin America.

   Its one hour, but an hour truly well spent. If even simply as a reminder of just WHY we oppose the neo liberal far right.
   • The Chairman 4.1

     17 February 2016 at 9:05 pm

     It’s longer than an hour but good viewing nonetheless

     https://youtu.be/rsNqEM7s84E
     • wild katipo 4.1.1

       18 February 2016 at 2:36 am

       Thank goodness for folk like you , Chairman ,… thank you so much… spending a bit of time viewing other excellent doco’s by John Pilger atm.

       I’m a bit 1876 regards computers and all the fandangled stuff ,- links included… classically old school …. but at least I’ve learnt how to post… though I sure as hell smell corruption when I see it.

       Meant a lot you putting that up there.

       Cheers.
       • The Chairman 4.1.1.1

         18 February 2016 at 8:00 am

         Thank you for bringing the film to our attention.
     • Smilin 4.1.2

       18 February 2016 at 10:16 pm

       A shocking reminder of what is happening in more sophisticated (with an F if you like) ways now or cloaked with 1000s of pages of intellectual carnage waiting to be released -TPPA the new american frontier and we are in its path- Puppet JK , the conquistador
5. Ad 5

   17 February 2016 at 5:41 pm

   Yup, liked it.
   My dad lived in a car in the early 1950s after he followed his mother when she ran away from the incredible squalor of the family home in the bush. The car and the shack were in Ahipara, and he was there with his brother from age 7 to 13 and went to the Maori school there.

   He kind of laughs about it now, but that scale of poverty has few redeeming features.
   • Shona 5.1

     17 February 2016 at 7:12 pm

     Well your Grandma knew how to pick a stunning place to live. There would have been plenty of free food with the toeheroa still flourishing and oodles of Tuatua. Just drag the net on either tide for Gurnard Snapper etc. Scallops and mullet too would have been plentiful. Your dad would have lived well and despite the dreadful dodgy housing development there now it is still a good place to grow up with a great preschool and primary school.
   • Manuka AOR 5.2

     17 February 2016 at 7:24 pm

     Ad, I was at Ahipara school – maybe a couple of years after your dad was there, ..

     Yes there was poverty. Ahipara school burnt down while I was there – some of it. We were allowed to get the books that were smoke damaged and take them home for free. I took armfuls – and so began a lifetime love of books. Even in the tech world of today, my books are irreplacable.
     • weka 5.2.1

       17 February 2016 at 7:41 pm

       Good story.
6. One Anonymous Bloke 6

   17 February 2016 at 5:52 pm

   We can toss policy proposals around ’til the cows milk themselves.

   The reasons for this low point aren’t political, they’re ethical: too many lies being propagated by vested interests, too much greed. Policy for sale, politicians as pimps. Stupidity.

   Get the money out of politics. Let the light in along with the facts.
7. Tautuhi 7

   17 February 2016 at 6:24 pm

   Probably something to do with the housing crisis in Auckland?
8. AmaKiwi 8

   17 February 2016 at 8:57 pm

   When Grant spoke, the house was empty. The media did not mention a word of Robertson’s speech. He was impassioned, but there was nothing that could not have been said by a thousand others.

   Labour is not connecting. Compare speeches from NZ Labour’s front bench with quotes from Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Jeremy Corbyn:

   “We’re Americans (Kiwis). We celebrate success. We just don’t want the game to be rigged.

   “For many, the American (Kiwi) dream has become a nightmare.

   “You know, I think many people have the mistaken impression that Congress (Parliament) regulates Wall Street (big business). In truth that’s not the case. The real truth is that Wall Street (big business) regulates the Congress (Parliament).

   “Washington (Wellington) is dominated by big money.

   “I believe in public ownership, but I have never favoured the remote nationalised model of the postwar era.

   “I’m a leader, not a dictator. I want to persuade people rather than threaten or control them.

   “Inequality is a terrible waste of time, a waste of people’s resources.

   My suggestion: Keep Cunliffe in the broom closet lest something quotable might get out.
   • Colonial Viper 8.1

     17 February 2016 at 11:25 pm

     better still, anytime Cunliffe makes the merest effective sound, Little should come down on him like a tonne of bricks, strip him of his best portfolios, and demote him to the backbenches.

     Bring on GR2020.
     • AmaKiwi 8.1.1

       18 February 2016 at 12:56 am

       My unreliable rumor mill sources intimate Cunliffe got the chop because he wanted the caucus to take a strong stand against the TPPA.

       If I had one sentence to describe to a foreigner Little’s TPPA position I would say, “Labour will do whatever John Key wants.”

       I am not abandoning Labour. The Labour caucus has abandoned the people.
       • Korero Pono 8.1.1.1

         18 February 2016 at 8:03 am

         @ AmaKiwi + 100 – I feel the same about Labour – semi good speeches like Robertson’s doesn’t cut it when the speech turns into a promotion of Labour policy that does not address the immediate issue of the housing crisis and poverty that he started out on – seemed kind of fake from that point. Labour has to remember that their party started us out on this neo-liberal nightmare and their stance on TPPA, well it has always been nothing more than weak and confusing for would be Labour supporters. Labour are still lost and potential “once upon a time’ Labour voters are not so foolish to put faith in a party that has let them down in the past.
         • Colonial Viper 8.1.1.1.1

           18 February 2016 at 11:43 am

           Labour has ended up taking for granted or driving away its most loyal voters, in favour of chasing disloyal swing voters from the National side.
           • millsy 8.1.1.1.1.1

             18 February 2016 at 11:48 am

             This was blatant in 2005 when South Auckland turned out in droves to keep Don Brash out, and Helen Clark repaid their faith by not doing anything for them.
       • millsy 8.1.1.2

         18 February 2016 at 11:37 am

         Cunliffe was too impatient — he should have waited till after 2014 to make a play for the leadership.
         • Colonial Viper 8.1.1.2.1

           18 February 2016 at 11:47 am

           I would frame the problem differently: Cunliffe got the leadership, but he didn’t do what it took to keep it.

           In essence, forces in the Labour Party wanted a big change and put him in.

           But then instead of fulfilling his potential in that regard he proceeded to try and appease the Thorndon bubble Labour establishment. They promptly turned around and screwed him.

           And on the way he lost all his core supporters too.
           • millsy 8.1.1.2.1.1

             18 February 2016 at 11:52 am

             Yeah that is true also. The 2014 Labour manifesto was actually quite a conservative document. apart from NZ Power and NZ Inc.
           • savenz 8.1.1.2.1.2

             18 February 2016 at 12:10 pm

             @CV Cunliffe still one of Labour’s best. Yep he made some mistakes, I actually though Labour policy came across as Nat Lite with more taxes while keeping neoliberalism, so pretty much nothing for anyone apart from hard core labour who would vote Labour brand no matter what.

             But underneath that, Cunliffe is still driven to change things for the better, and a risk taker which is what labour needs, not safe careerists still thinking the Clark years are a winner. Clark was right for her time, I voted for her back in the day, but things have moved on, and now the public are angry and want answers. Clark was also very smart and could be decisive, much smarter than her fellow neoliberal Lite Little, who annoyingly plays safe with TPPA.

             I know a lot of people similar to Little, they focus on the wrong things even though they are good and reasonably capable people. Little is not an activist and I think Labour needs to become a party of activists to show they are still Labour and not Nat Lite. Examples are Davis going to Christmas Island – a good move. Examples of failure, Labour’s confusion on TPPA. It can still work if Little sends off MP’s to be activists as their leader.

             You shouldn’t expect Cunliffe with a divided party to singlehandedly take on the Natz sophisticated dirty politics smear mud machinery and win a general election first time out as leader and it should not be held against him.

             I wish he was still the leader (but don’t think Little should be toppled) so that’s out. But Cunliffe could be no 2 and that is yet another mistake Labour has made. Get the hard hitters out on the front to beat up the Natz.
             • Korero Pono …

               18 February 2016 at 3:29 pm

               Agreed with most of what you say but it wasn’t just the ‘Natz sophisticated dirty politics smear mud machinary’ that was the problem, the problem was and still is within the Labour caucus – getting rid of Shearer and Goff would be a good start. The problem with Labour is it appears they no longer represent the average person, yeah sure they talk about poverty and homelessness but hey the Natz would probably be doing that too if they were in opposition. I imagine if most people are like me then they see that Labour no longer has values that represent the needs of the people, they say they do but their actions indicate the opposite.
               • Smilin …

                 18 February 2016 at 7:42 pm

                 Yes patronising privileged procrastination
                 Anyone tried to get anything they deserve lately from the govt will know what its like -you use to be able to get such n such but its not there now or you dont qualify and you have to pay big time -the meter is tickin and all that
                 Fuck you Key you owe this country
9. Smilin 9

   18 February 2016 at 7:33 pm

   The fear, too big to fail, TPPA, THEY WILL GET THEIR WAY !!!
   A very sad day. NZ will become a KEYHOLE
10. AndyW 10

    20 February 2016 at 11:33 pm

    Ok, it’s pretty simple seeing there are heaps of jobs out there (why are orchards using immigrants? I worked in an orchard so I can comment). They may not be $90.000 a year, but they’re jobs. Step 1: stop spending your money on alcohol and drugs. If you can afford it, fine. If not; just suck it up and stop. .2., guess what…stop having kids. If you can’t afford to live in a house you can’t afford to raise a child – it deserves better.

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