It’s good to see The Nation on TV3 as desperate for ratings and relevancy as the NZ Herald, because let’s all be honest, this ‘THE CHINESE ARE COMING, THE CHINESE ARE COMING’ is just click bait bullshit.
Which is unfortunate, because beyond the politically motivated xenophobia, there are real questions of China’s influence over our economy and system of political power, just as there are real questions of America’s influence over our economy and system of political power.
Firstly: this is politically motivated xenophobia. As the ever brilliant Keith Ng points out,  Labour can’t make the assumption that Chinese sounding surnames equates to overseas speculators, but because it’s taking Grant Robertson some time to marry up Labour’s values with an economic strategy, and Andrew Little is playing the softly softly catch the sheep game with the country’s power brokers, Labour are out of the headlines and hence down in the polls.
Enter Phil and Rob with a big old dog whistle. Labour know this will resonate with muddle Nu Zilind and don’t believe many conservative Chinese immigrants are voting for Labour anyway, so if they outrage the liberal twitteratti, who cares?
If Giovanni Tiso tweets in Provincial NZ – does anyone hear it?
Sadly it says something about us as a nation when such blatant scapegoating of a race will probably give Labour a bump, because no one in NZ politics was ever hurt by praising the All Blacks, bashing beneficiaries or screaming ‘Yellow Peril’.
More Labour First than NZ First.
Secondly:Â beyond the politically motivated part of this is the genuine mystery of who is actually buying up our residential property. Because the OIO have a hear no property speculation, see no property speculation, speak no property speculation policy on residential sales, we don’t really know who is driving the prices up. The new regulations to require overseas investors to register tax and bank account details here are far too little too late.
Thirdly: the Government have bugger all interest in knowing the answer because they don’t want the property bubble to end, because speculative bubbles and rebuilding from natural disasters are the only things generating the pretence of economic growth, the last thing National want to admit to is a real problem of overseas property speculation, because that demands a response.
Fourthly: – There are real question marks over the economic and political influence of China. They are our biggest market now meaning our economic well being is locked into place by Beijing. This influence carry’s over to our Political institutions. Jenny Shipley, Don Brash, Ruth Richardson and Chris Tremain are Director’s of the China Construction Bank, Judith Collins interaction with Chinese Officials to help her hubbies Chinese Company, Oravida, to gain more Chinese money is now a thing of legend, and Maurice Williamson’s love affair with  Donghua Liu saw him become Liu’s personal handyman when doing up Liu’s batch and heavying the Police to drop domestic violence charges.
The National Government are as dependent on their Chinese friends as the entire economy now has become.
Key has put all our cows in Beijing.
Fifth and finally: We mustn’t forget that China’s interest in us is part of their cold war with America as both move to make the pacific their theatre of operation to decide who is the super power. China’s investment comes as America tries to straight jacket us into the TPPA. How we balance these two giants from tipping over the waka of Aotearoa requires far more insight than the NZ Herald, The Nation, Come Dine With Me or Seven Sharp are capable of.
It is our inane free market rules on foreign ownership that demands tightening up, but that’s  too difficult a concept for Nu Zilinders to grasp, so race baiting it is.
Wish we had a Broadcaster like John Campbell to cut through this crap.
Sorry Martyn, have to disagree on the race baiting argument. I agree that it has the potential to become a finger pointing issue, but at it’s heart it’s an attempt to quantify the reality of the situation, with the information available. There will be many more foreign nationals purchasing property here on top of offshore Chinese investment, and at the very least this is giving us a base line in which to move a margin of error up or down. It’s part of the big picture relating to overall Chinese investment, as you have outlined. Most people fail to see the geopolitical motivations behind both Foreign property / infrastructure purchasing and also the implementation of the TPPA by the US. This is not about Chinese bashing, it’s about awareness of NZ policy or lack thereof and the reality that as a country we are being purchased slowly but surely. The coming international financial upheavals and population migrations due to Climate Change in the near future are making NZ a very attractive investment, and it’s time that the people had an accurate picture of where we are at, so we can decide where we want to head. Labour has done the best that they could with the data available, which is a darn sight more than anyone has had to date.
100 % totally agree.
Absolutely agree, especially with your last point.
China is currently obseesed with the threat posed by a possible Japan/USA/Possibly-Taiwan alliance in the Pacific.
Their interest in li’l ol NZild is ZILCH at the moment. They have bigger threats on their minds.
Anti-Japanese and Anti-American sentiment runs surprisingly high amongst educated mainland Chinese. You only have to watch a sample of their TV dramas, soap-operas and their news bulletins to get a feel for that!
Excellent analysis! It is very difficult to separate out the real issues (foreign investment creating price inflation and distortions), from the xenophobia.
What is obviously desperately needed is a ban on foriegn purchase of
NZ real estate, bu tthis will never haveen under the Key regime, for the reasons that you outline, so Auckland is basically stuffed.
The Key government busy doing nothing as usual – and it’s all Labour’s fault. Some of it is – but the party in government ought to sober up enough to govern. What a pitiful shambles they have made.
“The National Government are as dependent on their Chinese friends as the entire economy now has become.
Key has put all our cows in Beijing.”
I don’t know if you’re correct on that point but I’ve been thinking the same thing. It’d be a complete disaster if it’s true but at least the government has time to slowly divest from China before it’s too late.
Stole my words kevein.
I think Martyn is correct here.
We are far to reliant on China now and will be burnt due to this.
I True why don’t we show NatZ famous call for “Balance and also embrace Chinas big partner Russia?
Russia unlike China don’t appear to want to extend there influence this far from their borders?
I am happy with some balance also but we need a register first that is Labour & NZ First both calling for this so make this an election issue please so we can see if this Asian property flood is happening as I saw in Nairobi in 1970.
It ended in catastrophe.
Kenyan Government forced the Chinese out there afterwards, and it wont happen here you can bet.
The thing about China is their whole economy is based on a extremely large mostly uneducated working age population. That’s why what comes out of China is mostly just put-together consumer goods invented and designed overseas. China provides cheap labour for big western companies in other words.
Well that cheap labour is starting to dry up. The population is getting older and 15 years or so from now there will be one chinese of working age supporting something like 15 chinese of retirement age.
We have time. But if we continue to put all our eggs in the Chinese basket then when China falls so do we.
My views on foreign ownership of NZ property have been clearly expressed on TDB before, so I’ll not bore anyone with repeating them.
Anyway, I think the market will sort it out soon enough. With the Chinese stock market crashing (and a 27% drop in the SSE Composite since 5th June it’s a crash by any measure!) there will be a lot of individuals who need to liquidate hard assets to pay creditors. And if the figures from Labour are any where near the ballpark. the Auckland market could have a small flood of properties coming up for sale by buyers desperate to sell. If our market is infected by the fear which has been building this last month in the Chinese markets then panic could set in and the bubble will burst.
And all those middle class Aucklanders who racked up debt on the basis of rising property prices to buy more rentals, jet skis or luxury cars, will have negative equity.
That’s the thing about markets. They go up… and they go down. And when they go down hard fear and panic sets in, and it’s not pretty. And there’s not a damn thing that any government anywhere ever has been able to do about a market in panic.
I can only go on what I have personally witnessed and heard, but my nieces, nephews , cousins, friends children etc, all who are in their late 20 ‘ s early 30 ‘ s and all with good educations and jobs and all born and bred in NZ, are continually being gazumped by the Chinese when trying to buy a house.
Some have been to over 200 auctions with no luck.
Sometimes they are up against teenagers buying on the phone from God only knows where.
As I write this there is an open home over the road going on.
So far 3 Kiwi European couples and 10 Chinese car loads , (predominantly Audi, Mercedes and BMW) have gone in.
Interestingly , the Kiwis go in with tape measures, the Chinese go in with calculators.
However you cannot blame the Chinese.
They know a mug of a Government when they see one and are going to exploit NZ’s lack of regulations for all they are worth.
This train wreck of a Government has been quite happy to stand aside and trade the hope that was in the eyes of our born and bred children for the dollars signs that have lit up in the eyes of the foreigners.
There is a word for that apart from stupidity… it’s treachery.
Treachery …and its close cousin Treason.
This is also my personal experience. Every single auction I have been to in the Eastern Bays (Orakei, Glendowie, St Heliers etc) was won by a team of Chinese bidding way past anyone else at the auction. Every single one. And every property that is being developed in my neighbourhood – there are currently 16 – is a Chinese development (as verified by my local real estate agent). So the idea that it’s a mystery as to who is purchasing NZ homes and driving the bubble is silly because the evidence is everywhere you look – if you’re looking.
That’s right Mathew.
Anyone with an ounce of observational ability knows what’s going on.
The Ostrich Colony that is the National Party choose to ignore it!
Like everything else that turns to crap under their watch.
According to them with their corporate bullshit speak, they “can’t ‘grow’ the country and the economy ‘going forward’ as there are many ‘complex variables’ presenting themselves”.
In other words , ” we don’t have a f**king clue. It’s too hard “!
We are being taken over by property speculators globally as they focus on Property Hotspots, like Toronto London Sydney & Auckland to name a few.
We will loose badly later here as other places were.
I actually was myself investing in the late 1980’s Toronto property boom and in three years the market slumped so during the selloff the bank repos were then running at 30% so buyer beware.
You will be burnt.
NZ joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank earlier this year, along with 56 other countries (Japan uncommitted and Taiwan declined, latter because of the one-China policy.
As far as I can ascertain, it is intended to act as a balance against the IMF, World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
Its aims appear to be benevolent. Is its undermining the reason for the upheaval in the Chinese economy?
This isn’t racism .
This isn’t about racism !!!
This is about sticking up for whats right .
Ill not have any Tom Dick or Harry swanning into my country buying up our land just because THEY CAN and getting low interest rates from their govt to do so.
Especially when our own people have been kicked out of first home ownership because of it !!!
NO THANK YOU , Mr Bradbury , – NO THANK YOU IF YOU PLEASE.
This isn’t just about this generation its also about the next !!!
And I don’t care if its Chinese , Japanese , Uncle Sams crowd or the merry old English !!!
The fact is – as you have mentioned – that there are too many vested interests among our own political body that have got too much at stake to have any backbone to say NO to these characters.
We cant just waltz overseas and buy up land en masse – They have rules about that sort of thing. And those rules are there to protect those country’s interests.
And we should be the same.
And the fact that we DON’T seem to have rules makes us a sitting duck for all and sundry. Its embarrassingly cringe-worthy to coin a phrase. And pathetically naive to boot.
Talk about a low self esteem – we cant even get past getting all politically correct and devolving into contemplating our navels and getting all neurotic if its ‘ racist ‘ or not.
Admittedly – it is geopolitical – but have we not learnt a thing or two from other leaders?- such as how to play one off against another and drive a hard bargain?
If they want their bloody military outpost or they want that trade – well lets just instead drive a bloody hard bargain – with the understanding that NO means NO as well. And if it has to go back to the drawing board in negotiations – well so be it !!
They want our patronage ?…well then lets see the money , Honey.
That should be our attitude – and even then – within limits.
And we could start by doing what Australia and others do – having a foreign buyers/owners register.
Too harsh ? – then don’t whine about an Auckland housing bubble. Or any farms that get sold out from under us. Until we harden up and learn to say NO to these politicians and these foreigners buying up open slather – we haven’t got a leg to stand on.
It wont solve all the speculation done by our own people but it would be a small start in the right direction.
Totally agree Wild Katipo.
This whole xenophobia talk is bullshit, a smoke screen, a red herring.
It’s a matter of doing what is right for the young people who are born, breed , educated, work and therefore pay taxes here and want to have a future here.
Everything else is secondary and Government policy should reflect that.
This Government because they are so slack, so lazy and like a money trader, like easy money, was asleep at the wheel and when they woke up saw it was in the too hard basket, rolled over and went back to sleep again.
Labour has got this right.
Someone has to have the courage of there convictions and for that I applaud Phil Twyford.
The obvious accusation from the opposition was always going to be the xenophobia one.
Good on Phil for thinking of future generations!
Grant,
are your family trying to buy in Auckland or Wellington, but not in the provinces?
Cleangreen. They are trying to buy in Auckland.
That is where their skill sets are required for themselves and their partners. That is where their families are. That is where their friends are. All important to them.
I was at a dinner party a couple of weeks back talking to a baby boomer like myself, who was loving his house price going up $300.00 a day. I said to him “that’s all very well and good, but what about your two daugthers”. (Who are in their late 20’s).
“Who cares, they can buy in Hamilton or Palmy”, he said rather irritated that I had considered that.
I went on…..”That’s along way to go to visit your grandchildren”, I proffered .
“We’ll cope” he blustered , clearly not having thought passed the end of his nose.
I went on…..”Really, that’s either a 4 or 8 hour drive every time you want to see your children or grandchildren”.
His reply.”Anyone for more coffee”.?
Clearly someone not so fussed about having much to do with his/her grandkids
And there’s another point which I as a trader have learned the hard way.
Those gains of $300 a day? It’s all imaginary. Until he sells.
That profit is only profit when you close the trade.
Otherwise… the market can move against you and you lose. Everything.
And if he sells his home? He has to buy again in the same market. At the same prices.
So you only win and make money out of it if you either sell and leave the market at a peak, and re-enter at a trough. Which sounds reasonable and easy, but in practice is ridiculously hard to do (for a variety of reasons).
Or…
You use your increase in value to leverage the asset, in short, you borrow more money, and then buy more. Which really relies heavily on expecting the market to keep going up and up…. because if it doesn’t then now you’re heavily leveraged and in a VERY vulnerable position.
So in short, it’s pretty stupid for someone who has no intention of selling to think they’re richer on increasing value of the home they live in.
Thanks for the honesty Grant I respect you for that.
As a 70yr old we and our families all grew up and live in Gisborne & HB which are now sinking economies and property prices as speak.
So we do have serious issues here with a two tier economy now cemented in place by Key and his creepy mob.
I don’t know where this will end except that some areas of NZ will become slums.
Others with only rich & elite only places, so gone is the egalitarian equal society we grew up with where we all had a share in our wealth.
Oh well , f**k all compared with having to travel across the ditch to see your family because there are no jobs that pay a living wage in NZ. Or you could buy in the provinces rent them out and rent in Auckland or Aussie like one of our offspring have done.
Well said WK.
We saw it for ourselves today. While out walking, hubby and I popped in to check out an open home and see first hand just where the property interest is coming from.
Even though this was only an open home and not an auction, the main interest was coming from people of Asian descent.
Judging by the language(s) being spoken, I doubt any were permanent residents or Kiwi citizens. Even the real estate agent was of the same ethnicity of the interested parties, conversing with them in the same language, whatever it was. In some instances interpreting details for them!
When she wanted to register our details, I told her we aren’t interested in buying, but wanted to see where the interest is coming from. She wasn’t impressed and told us the open home was only open to potential buyers and asked us to leave, which we did! But not before I told her Phil Twyford and Labour are correct!
+100…Go Mary_A… report from research on the ground
Thanks Chooky đ
You only have to go to auctions to see who’s buying Auckland property.
I don’t have a problem with NZ residents or NZ citizens of whatever ethnic descent buying property for their own residency.They are contributing to the country after all.
However I do take issue with foreign domiciled investors buying up property here out of sheer greed and profit for themselves, to the detriment of Kiwi families getting into their first home!
I have heard of some overseas investors owning up to 30+ properties in this country! If this is true, then some very serious action needs to be taken by government to prevent this sort of thing becoming a permanent trend.
Exactly Mary. The Key government is running a casino economy with NZ Real Estate as chips and kiwis are getting shafted . Because the House ( casino management aka NZ politcians) always wins!
Agree to a point wild katipo, this government deliberately dont have a clue,and don’t want to . Where do we borrow money from ?,probably China and USA.
NZ is in hock and trying to prevent a Greece from happening here in NZ. Key likes to please both countries,more so USA, but lots of money to be made from China. Brics countries of course include China,Brics are aiming to be as powerful as USA, so a foot in both camps.
USA is trying to blame Russia for problems in Ukraine because they want other countries to support them, and buy weapons from USA.
Meanwhile Russia is going ahead with plans and now has 3 new banks and is planning BRICS new future, ignoring USA and their blame game and threatening behaviour.
China’s government might be behind the buy up of properties in NZ ,this might not be a bad thing in light of tppa and other secret trades deals. China may protect us from USA corporations take over,i almost prefer China than the corporations,they are part of BRICs along with INDIA,BRAZIL SOUTH AFICA and RUSSIA,all countries I believe more helpful to NZ than corporations,who it seems just want to profit from us.
This government now don’t want to build up railways and suggesting we don’t need them ,probably because with privatisation no one wants to buy them.Maybe Paula Rebstock has decided they arnt worth anything on the market.Goldman Sachs would have “run the ruler over them”and agreed with Paula Rebstock to cut their losses.Key will concur,he will do as he’s told.
Young people are being badly dealt to ,they shouldn’t even think of competing with Chinese.
People in USA borrowed with low interest and houses higher priced than they could afford,with promises from banks that the house prices will go up in value,they didn’t ,and when the bubble burst ,the banks forclosed, took the properties bundled them up and sold them on ,people lose, banks win everytime.
Chinese people can maybe afford a hit if the housing bubble bursts,young working people cant,i would advise not to buy on this market, wait, your chance will come otherwise risk losing your deposit and still have to pay a high mortgage and no home to show for it.
2×5=10 captcha
Yes …would agree to wait this one out ….as there very well may come a day soon where ….prices will tumble…bad news to current owners if the losses are too big…but for those wanting to buy at cheaper prices , their wait may well have been worth it.
All in all…it is an ugly and stressful time for many…and these excessive ebbs and flows are not conducive to living a quiet , orderly life in bringing up young family’s.
And that is the demographic I cant help but see as the ones loosing out on all of this distasteful business.
Those people and the elderly who didn’t have the good fortune to have been in a secure place in their senior years for whatever reasons.
Keith Ng is being just a tad disingenuous in saying that 126,000 Asians in Auckland might buy 126,000 houses (Or 3,500). If the percentage of people in Auckland with Chinese names is 9% then one would expect, in accordance with normal probability, that 9% of local Auckland house buyers would have Chinese names. The fact that the actual figure is more than four times higher has to be statistically significant, even if the source is not the most reliable.
I just wonder how our Pasifika brothers and sisters feel, they have the lowest percentage of people owning their own property, let alone “invesment” properties.
Besides of “Asian” buyers, the next highest must be “European” (New Zealanders, Australians and those coming from Europe) buyers, who take a large share of the market.
We are seeing a redistribution of wealth, a shift towards the upper percentages, and some people from certain “ethnic” or cultural backgrounds seem to be having an “advantage”, given the fact, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the latter larger in numbers with that, at the same time.
That seems to also be part of the “housing crisis” we have, as the upper middle class often live as singles or couples, some without kids, some with only one or two kids, in ever larger houses and flats. The rest have to crowd into cramped conditions, often in poor standard rental homes.
I think much of it is simply a re-distribution of property wealth, more than actual homelessness, as there are still many rooms to rent via TradeMe and so.
Keith Ng would know that math if stereotypes hold true – and if not his opinion isn’t worth much.
if there really is a bubble, and it’s going to get bigger then burst, isn’t it actually good for the New Zealand economy to sell as many Auckland properties to foreign investors before the bubble bursts?
It’s like the houses are being exported, except they stay in New Zealand and contunue to house people in New Zealand.
Having houses owned overseas is normally a bad thing, because it means the rents are sucking money out of the country, but if the investors bought at the top of the market and make a loss on their investment, that more than cancels out that effect.
It only works if they sell when the bubble bursts. And only if they sell to NZers.
And it only works if they do actually rent out the houses they’re not living in. It may be that there are a larger number of houses in Auckland which are sitting empty, not available as housing, because the owners are waiting for capital gains.
20,000 empty homes in Auckland at last census. Not all will be owned by overseas investors, but some probably are.
It’s becoming quite a problem in London; very wealthy investors park money in London real estate and leave the properties empty. Areas of London are changing, they have less people about apparently. Check out The Guardian for stories on that.
Marching on parliament and arresting FJK and his cronies for treason and wilful harm to future generations, should solve the problem.
With them gone, we can put the overdue regulations in place on foreign ownership! Gee, talk about actual New Zealanders being at the very, very, bottom of the governments priority list!
Yes to that Kim Dandy.
Go Kim Dandy. With you all the way there đ
Maybe we need a Frank Bainimarama type for a massive overhaul. Drive out all the neoliberalism in Parliament, no matter what Party. đ
@ Martyn Bradbury: “Sadly it says something about us as a nation when such blatant scapegoating of a race will probably give Labour a bump, because no one in NZ politics was ever hurt by praising the All Blacks, bashing beneficiaries or screaming âYellow Perilâ”
Oh please: give us a break! The evidence adduced by Phil Twyford, together with rather a lot of anecdote -which, as you yourself point out, is all we have to go on, absent any data collection on the part of the government – is plausible. Stop chucking round that offensive and debate-ending epithet racism and stick to the issues. Which you do indeed raise.
It isn’t racist to name what looks remarkably like a very real problem: disproportionate non-resident Chinese activity in the Auckland real estate market has distorted it almost irreparably. Unfortunate that it’s Chinese who are doing this because the almost complete absence of any rules allows them to do it. But it isn’t racist to point this out, and to raise concerns about it; it could just as easily be some other distinctive ethnic group doing the buying. Don’t insult those of us who are concerned about it.
I watched it and heard it, and first did not quite know how to assess this release of “leaked information” that Phil Twyford presented.
Then I wondered, whether this was a sign of Labour being in total desperation, wanting to get something into the headlines, or whether they have finally realised, that something really serious and worrying is going on, so Phil could not help it, he had to take action.
I now think, it is probably a bit of both, yes, Labour have struggled to get attention, and they must be desperate, the MPs in the House and outside of the House, as the MSM is simply continuing to ridicule them, and gives them too little space and airtime.
Phil Twyford is too smart a guy though, to do this merely to fill the gap, to get attention, I think he is onto something, but did go ahead to present it in a manner, and on a forum, which he better should not have done. He is usually rather professional, articulate and smart, and he can do better.
So while I think he stuffed up a bit, looking like a “wannabe Winston”, I still believe that he has more information, that gives him certainty that there is sufficient truth behind the lists of names and some statistics and percentages.
Let us be honest, who, as an ordinary Kiwi, even on a good and high salary, can afford to buy a home at 700 to 900 k in Auckland now, even just pay the needed deposit. They will be far and few between. Only well resourced investors, and/or wealthy new migrants or off-shore buyers, who may even use some permanent resident relatives and friends to do the buying here for them, can afford to pay such prices.
Even many NZ investors will struggle expanding their portfolios with present average sales prices here. So there must be something to it, and living near Epsom and Central Auckland, I have actually witnessed myself, how this speculation here is going, as I have seen a few homes being flipped over from owner to owner over recent years, hardly inhabited for significant periods in between.
It is time people ask more questions, and do the adding up, this is no longer a market for New Zealand mortals, this is a “global” residential real estate market here, and we know where there are many wealthy in some countries, who look for opportunities to buy, whether for themselves, for relatives or for off-shore companies.
I know of some Mainland Chinese having bought homes for their student kids and so, plus cars and so, to have them well “looked after”, while they study here.
It is not all just fantasy stuff, as John Key, David Seymour and some others like to make us believe. NZ has been for sale for years, and the average worker here will have to go renting for the future, unless some action is urgently taken.
But that should not mean presenting just lists of names resembling those from some ethnic background or origin, it needs to be done a bit smarter and without being seen as “racist” or discriminatory.
It is bizarre though, seeing some progressive liberals now defend the rights of the well heeled investor speculators from different cultural origins, to be given their “rights” to buy homes, land and businesses. Time for a recheck of priorities, I reckon.
@ Mike in Auckland: “But that should not mean presenting just lists of names resembling those from some ethnic background or origin, it needs to be done a bit smarter and without being seen as âracistâ or discriminatory.”
There’s a bit more to it than just presenting lists of names; there’s some plausibility to it. See this:
http://publicaddress.net/speaker/house-buying-patterns-in-auckland/
I would generally agree, but the info that Phil Twyford presented is in a form that can too easily be discredited, as there is insufficient proof for whatever one reads into it. I agree Phil is onto something, which I have long suspected and even raised in some comments long times ago.
But simply presenting what he did, he is still vulnerable, of being accused of what some accuse him of.
We know full well, that it is the government’s responsibility and shortcoming, that we have NO home buyers’ register, so we would have reliable information.
And the fact that the government is so damned reluctant to introduce such a register, that simply gives some indirect credibility to what Phil Twyford alleges.
So it is really the government that is in the position to give answers, and they have a weak position to criticise Phil, as they do all to prevent transparency.
It is not such a “good look” what Phil presented, but then again, he has little other options to raise concerns, as NO figures are available on what is really going on, due to the damned government.
@ Mike in Auckland: “It is not such a âgood lookâ what Phil presented, but then again, he has little other options to raise concerns, as NO figures are available on what is really going on, due to the damned government.”
Publish and be damned, say I! The actual dog whistle here is the government’s – and others’ – dragging out of the race card. It’s designed to squelch debate, and Labour – and we – should just ignore it. I want Twyford to pursue this issue with courage and determination, and the rest of us should back him up. Force the government into justifying its signal failure to do anything pointful about reining in the Auckland property market: keep at it. Don’t be cowed by insults of the racism variety.
“Xenophobia”. I have to say with that line you will be getting a gold plated invite to John Keys next barby with the thoroughly useless Nick Smith serving you with pleasure, whilst doing beer trolley duties.
I’m sorry but I am just too aware of the overwhelming influence overseas speculators are having on Auckland’s property market and the havoc they are wreaking on Kiwi’s simply trying to get a house to live in, in Auckland much less the families that are trying to pay their rent AND live at the same time.
The National Party are to blame here for this awful mess, not Labour who are the messenger of bad tidings of the Elephant in the room! And I guess that is really what this blog is about.
Beer trolley duties is the fitting job for the man, he is well over-paid and given responsibilities that is incapable of meeting, at any time. He deserved the sack already after taking the media for a land hikoi tour around Auckland, for land to build on, some of which is not even government owned.
He certainly deserves the sack after reports of extensive neglect of the state housing stock, most being in poor repair.
China has a massive overpopulation problem ( 1.4 billion):
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-07/04/content_10055250.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alon-tal/overpopulation-is-still-t_b_3990646.html
China has a massive population imbalance between males and females (approx 55 million males more than females by 2020):
http://hir.harvard.edu/archives/8272
China has massive environmental and resource problems:
http://www.livescience.com/27862-china-environmental-problems.html
http://wwf.panda.org/who_we_are/wwf_offices/china/environmental_problems_china/
http://thediplomat.com/2014/11/chinas-looming-water-shortage/
China has spread these problems to Tibet and other countries:
http://freetibet.org/about/tibets-environment
http://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/05/the-silence-around-tibets-ecological-crisis/275617/
http://www.thetibetpost.com/en/news/tibet/4399-china-says-to-increase-urban-population-in-tibet-30-by-2020
http://www.ibtimes.com/japan-gets-involved-south-china-sea-territorial-dispute-tokyo-offers-maritime-support-1844102
I think the parasitical real estate sector might well be playing an important part in accelerating house prices.
Of course, Geoff. The higher the price, the higher the commission.
Yes, and who do the media usually turn to for commentary on the situation? Some patsy from the Real Estate Institute, that deeply altruistic professional group.
[…] Sure the data is scapegoating without the firmness to do so, but the message will have resonance because there are genuine issues of Chinese influence on NZ economy and political system. […]
[…] How waka Aotearoa juggles two Pacific giants like America and China are the two big issues right now. America wants the ability to dictate domestic law for their corporations benefit through the TPPA and China has listed NZ as a country where residential speculation is State sanctioned. To these ends the Communist Party has invested hugely into the National Party… […]
[…] Chinese interests own the National Party, so them to have an opinion more pro Beijing than Wellington shouldn’t be a surprise. […]
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