Like many Kiwis I spent part of this summer camping. A mate had a patch of dirt where I could pitch a tent and he let me use the old hut nearby to shelter when it rained six inches in three days. My sturdy tent https://www.globosurfer.com/best-pop-up-tents/ held up well, but sick of the wet I bugged out in the end. I had a choice.
While I was play-camping reports surfaced of people living rough in the bush in my electorate of New Lynn. These young people have far fewer choices than most of us. No backup shelter when it rains. No sturdy tent. And no home to go back to when playing bush gets uncomfortable.
Young and mostly male, the New Lynn homeless are a visible part part of the bigger tragedy of high youth unemployment. If you are under 25 you are twice as likely to be out of a job. If you are young, brown and male, make that at least four times.
The misfortune of these young people is that they have no steady income to pay the rent. Let alone the four weeks bond, four weeks rent in advance and agent’s fee every single time they have to move. They have no leeway to catch up or pay off debt. No way to keep up with, let alone get ahead of Auckland’s crazy property market.
Their story happens to be in my area, but most Auckland and urban MPs are facing the same sad issues.
This is a Government failure. The solutions to the housing crisis are pretty obvious. Build more affordable houses, fast. Give renters decent rights and make landlords do what is necessary to have safe, healthy rental accommodation. Restore Housing NZ to be a community provider not a profit-raker.
Don’t outsource the problem offshore. Manage offshore speculation in our homes.
This Government’s so-called economic growth is not delivering for everyone. It is relying too much on unrestrained offshore money flows to keep the sagging boat afloat.
The truth is there are just not enough jobs, and even fewer for those in our community who lack the skills increasingly needed in a tech-driven economy. It is a tragic failure of this Government to have cancelled adult and community education. And it is Labour, not National, who is driving new ideas on the future of work.
Instead, National just throws people off welfare – driving them to desperation – and the bush in my electorate. Punishing those on the bottom might work for redneck focus groups, but it does not solve the job or housing crises. Sowing the seeds of a social underbelly that in the end indicts and damages us all. No wonder National’s spin doctors are in overdrive and ministers have belatedly sent Work and Income in to “see what can be done”.
Meanwhile the people of New Lynn have been picking up where the Government has failed and delivered food parcels and blankets and tents.
I know the people in my electorate are pretty special people. But I also know the are representative of most of New Zealand: they have a strong sense of community; they value work; they want their kids to get ahead; and they also want their neighbours to be OK too.
In other words – they understand much better than this Government that having the filthy rich living cheek by jowl with abject poverty is not sustainable – for anyone.
We all benefit from a society where all can do well, where there is a safety net when misfortune strikes and a hand up to get back on your feet.
Just ask the homeless bushies of New Lynn. It is past time for a change.
How about Labour going back to its roots and representing the Left? How about promising to undo the grotesque changes National have rammed down our throats? How about standing up to the ultra rich?
A change in Labour would be the best start because the way things are at the moment, Labour do not represent the interests of the downtrodden.
WELL SAID 100+
If Labour won’t stand up then its time we took legal action for mis representation – they should have to change their name to “National Lite”
LAST CHANCE LABOUR – STEP UP OR STEP OFF..!!!
Can you pick up that squirt Key and take him out of parliament?
Thanks for the great post very good to hear from you, keep up the great work!
“The solutions to the housing crisis are pretty obvious. Build more affordable houses, fast.”
What did those homeless people think of your $400K ‘affordable’ housing at the last election.
That wasn’t a solution.
Agree. State housing needs to be increased – forget about “affordable housing” until later.
It is the wider community that benefits from the provision of healthy, accessible homes for all incomes, and so, it is only the state that will have the long-term interests to invest money knowing that returns are delivered in positive social and community outcomes.
That said. State housing needs to be protected long-term from future governments selling off communities. Establish a local community/government partnership that will avoid this.
Yes, but ooh, we cannot build too many homes, and not just for those who are not working, as that would be “unfair” to the “hard working” middle class who have invested in their equity in their homes. So many may “lose” value, and then they won’t vote for the government, because what we have bred for decades is selfish thinking, encouraged by neoliberal propaganda and brainwashing.
And as Labour want to get those votes also, they will only do so much, that is if they get elected into government.
afordble home on nz incomes would be between 150- 250 thousand at 3 x income this is the ticking time bomb of the housing bubble
You think that is the wage for the average Joe Public? Get real, the average for many I know is more like between $28,000 to $35,000. Can’t buy much of a house on that!
The problem is solved as soon as you realise that Auckland on this trajectory, is screwed.
No public transport infrastructure to speak of, and a bunch of new motorway developments moving the jam a few meters.
Housing jammed in and eating up every square inch of land.
What was once a green and leafy city is rapidly losing it’s appeal.
The regions have land and opportunity, but National and Labour are myopic to the potential.
Kiwi Capital Gain house hoarding speculators must be removed permanently from the housing market probably by a draconian CGT. One house for one family or person. It’s an unspoken scandal that has pushed up house prices to crazy levels. Because it’s kiwis no one says dicky boo!
Well said 100+
“One house for one family or person”
Yes, it’s time we rethink our ‘freedom of private property’. The dead-capital barbarians need a straight-jacket. If they’re such amazing business people, then they can invest their money into other areas of the economy.
Rentier capitalism shouldn’t be a human right. Housing is. The former prevents the latter.
perfectly said Fatty!
Don’t worry too much about it Jay1.
The middle class who have borrowed against rising property values are about to learn exactly why over leveraging is highly risky.
It’s a bubble. And it will burst.
I give it two years max.
They’ll be screaming into their lattes how unfair it is. But they only have themselves to blame. They got themselves into massive debt to invest in a single market, gambling that prices would always only go up and their incomes would continue to be enough to pay the interest on the debt. More debt to buy “investment” property, BMW’s, jet-skis and other crap no one needs.
When bubble bursts it will remove the speculators from the market.
Yes. When David C. says “Manage offshore speculation in our homes” it’s not enough. Domestic speculators are a far bigger problem.
“We all benefit from a society where all can do well, where there is a safety net when misfortune strikes and a hand up to get back on your feet.”
You had 9 years in government to undo to the damage to the safety net courtesy of Ruthenasia. Nothing. In fact at the end of your reign we were worse off in real terms. And your silence in response to the ongoing dismantling of the safety net over the past 7 years is deafening and speaks volumes.
Noone at the bottom of the heap takes any “concern” from Labour politicians about our welfare seriously anymore.
Older people in this country will never forget that it was ‘Labour’ that put NZ on the path to disaster.
From Muldoon on it made no difference which major party was elected -the policies remained the same: more globalisation, more financialisation, more corporatisation, more looting of resources, more pollution, and more degradation of society.
Many Labour supporters forget that the reason Key got into power in the first place was that people were so disgusted with the hypocrisy of the Clark government.
Now, as everything circles the drain we see the same spinelessness that has characterised ‘Labour’ for decades.
Sure, Key is the worst NZ prime minister ever. But the reason he is still there (apart from the manipulation by the media) is because there is no credible opposition.
It all comes back to the bottom though, really.
I hold no special place for Labour in my heart, don’t you worry, but they’re struggling to please the voters while also providing a left-wing vision.
Let’s face it: people want money, holidays, tech, and all the shit that’s bombarded in their faces 24/7.
Most people don’t know fuck all about how society works, they only know that Key looks richer, and they want to be rich, and so monkey-see, monkey-do.
And as people become more entrenched in atomized, materialistic lifestyles, their empathy and sense of community naturally goes down; “who gives a fuck about those brown kids, they’re just bludgers anyway”, yeah, right.
The struggle for the Left is how to wake those voters up. If those voters were awake, then a genuine left government would fall into place easily. Doesn’t _really_ matter to Cunliffe either way; but it sure as hell matters to those bushies.
totally agree with Lostrelic!
A wee chat with Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders might help…
Unless something is done about the investor disesase that ravages Aucklands property market then any talk of more and “affordable” housing is pointless. It is as futile as King Canute trying to stop the tide.
This is THE number 1 reason your average Aucklander cannot buy a home and why so many are struggling to even rent and include businesses in that group too!
National have failed spectacularly vaguely hoping against hope enough houses can be built, by God knows who, to satisfy investor greed and miraculously have enough left over for ordinary folk but at the same time will not do a damned thing about it and can only be relied upon to keep the current untenable situation alive!
How many investment homes do you and your fellow opposition MP’s own?
“National’s spin doctors are in overdrive and ministers have belatedly sent Work and Income in to “see what can be done”. ”
Work and Income are damned hypocrites, all they wanted to do is damage control, as having young homeless sleep rough in bush in Auckland’s suburbia does not look good, especially when the mainstream media have for a change taken note and reported on this in the main news.
It is Work and Income and the upper levels of their management, also their so-called “Health Advisors” and “Disability Advisors”, who make appalling recommendations and decisions based upon equally questionable ones they get from their MSD paid “Designated Doctors” and tell sick that they can work.
The system that National has now “reformed” to follow agendas thought out in the UK was already set up by Labour in 2007, and it was under Labour that a Principal Health Advisor called Dr David Bratt was put in charge at MSD and WINZ, overseeing the new medical and work ability assessment regime. The Nats took that over and tightened it up further, adopting the mantra that work is all good, even “therapeutic” also for sick and disabled. The benefit is being likened to “a drug”, as Dr Bratt has repeatedly preached to doctors and others.
It is beyond belief that such “experts” can go around making bizarre claims not founded on solid science, their adopted science is all stuff thought out by equally questionable “experts” in the UK:
http://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/medical-and-work-capability-assessments-based-on-the-controversial-bio-psycho-social-model/
http://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2013/12/28/designated-doctors-used-by-work-and-income-some-also-used-by-acc-the-truth-about-them/
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2015/08/09/msd-and-dr-david-bratt-present-misleading-evidence-claiming-worklessness-causes-poor-health/
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2015/03/17/the-medical-appeal-board-how-msd-and-winz-have-secretely-changed-the-process-disadvantaging-beneficiaries/
http://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2014/06/21/work-ability-assessments-done-for-work-and-income-a-revealing-fact-study-part-a/
http://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2014/06/22/work-ability-assessments-done-for-work-and-income-a-revealing-fact-study-part-d/
And even the Health and Disability Commissioner covers for the dishonest practices by WINZ:
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2015/10/04/how-the-n-z-health-and-disability-commissioner-let-off-a-biased-designated-doctor/
And for the rest – all those without a job get pressured anyway, under the “relentless focus on work” (remember Bennett!), whether healthy or not, hence more lose benefits and security and end up staying with friends and family – or as in the case mentioned above – sleeping rough.
we need riots and campaign of harassment of national party mps everywhere they go they get protesters even out side there houses
@Darth – +1 – great idea!
Prohibit the importation of cattle fodder made from oil palms,(global warming) Limit the size of cattle farms, Break up large farms into small more efficient units, (Jobs & Land conservation, Reforestation.)
this is only one simple answer to the worlds problems, but if the TTP is signed it would not be possible to implement.
I was excited to see GUEST POST: DAVID CUNLIFFE on my Facebook feed. This post, while making good points, only repeats what we already know and offers no answers to our problems other than the vague promise that “Labour is driving the future of work”.
There seems to be stagnation with our great party as people await what to results with the Andrew as leader, Grant as Finance Spokesperson, the policy that emerges from his Future of Work commission, and the overall policy and approach used heading into 2017.
David, you are clearly still the favourite of the Labour left. It would be great to hear something a bit more substantial from you. Your fiery contribution to the Wednesday debate last year was hands down the best thing I saw from Labour in 2015. Unfortunately, only die-hard pols fans saw it.
At a time when Corbyn is radically changing the UK Labour party and Sanders is surging with a genuine left-wing agenda, one can’t help but feel we might have been sold short in our turn at a mini-revolution. You spoke of socialism and Labour roots, but our 2014 manifesto was far from radical and barely bold. As the good man you are, you tried to compromise too much with people that would never let you, or us, achieve our goals.
Those of us who looked closely enough feel we know why this happened, within Labour, within the media, within the tactics of our opponents, and within you as you struggled to deliver on the hopes of the membership.
As a Labour member, I mourn the fact my party no longer gives me inspiration and hope. Now, the main thing I would hope to see out of Labour is a full and frank account from you, David, of those within the party that put their own interests and dislike of you ahead of the party, ahead of the membership, and ahead of the people of New Zealand that once hoped your election as leader would lead to genuine Labour policy. Because, I believe, that would have genuinely lead to a Labour-led government.
+1 Mike
Great discussions people…but don’t forget we are talking about politics. In this neoliberal era that means appeasing the middle ground where the self-interested reside. If you are lucky enough to scrape together enough funds to go up against corporate interests and “Mum and Dad” investors then you also run the risk of having the media dogs barking down your throat and ready to rip your clothes off at every turn. Here’s an idea people…get involved at the grassroots level…join your local Labour group and get on board with some fundraising initiatives. Make it happen. From personal experience I can say that you’ll also meet some really nice people giving up their time for little more than the restoration of hope.
What about the 60,000 migrants coming into NZ competing for dwindling jobs and houses? Is that ok? Come displace some 24 year old who has to camp in the bush and have little hope of getting a job?
What about wages getting lower and lower in real terms? The average salary in NZ of $882 p/w (June 2015 quarter) in NZ.
(source – http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/income-and-work/Income/NZIncomeSurvey_HOTPJun15qtr.aspx)
We can have more jobs, but if they are not high value jobs then people can’t afford to live in their own country or community in many cases – let alone with the insecurity of jobs these days so that getting a mortgage or continuing a mortgage for 25 years becomes uncertain. Meanwhile our assets like housing are being traded on a world market which has driven up prices while our wages are being driven down.
What about building a house in NZ costs more than Australia – it is often $100k just to connect to services – a person in Auckland I know is just being charged $40k to connect a phone line, because they don’t have enough phone lines in the street. Do we really live in such a pathetic 3rd world country where getting a phone line is difficult in the Super city? Yes we do!
Don’t even get me going about the extortion from Vector who can force people building a house to pay to pay thousands for transformers. There is no business accountability, individuals have to pay to upgrade infrastructure because our infrastructure companies don’t feel it is their job to do so and our government does not want to regulate them or help consumers.
Forget about being able to afford a house, it’s the cost of an affordable house to connect to power, water and phone these days. Try putting a driveway in, and see where $10,000 gets you. How the hell can someone pay these charges on the average wage of $882 p/w?
I hate the glib politicians – just build more affordable houses!! I’m afraid that boat has sailed and current affordable houses being built are something like $650k. Not exactly affordable on the average wage! Most are a lot higher.
So building more houses is not working! Never much mention about increasing wages and conditions I notice from politicians. Far from it, under the much touted ‘free’ trade agreements locals can compete with workers whose average wages are .65 cents an hour in their own countries – $15 p/h is now a fortune!
Oh Kiwis, can just rent to overseas landlords BUT yay, the politicians will make their life a bit easier by having more regulation. Ok, so forget about owning your own home in your own country then I guess. Someone is not exactly going to rent out a house at the average house price that the average renter can afford to rent. Lucky 60,000 migrants are coming in that need somewhere to rent and they have their own saving so don’t need to rely on NZ wages.
What about TPP when our sovereignty is being sold? Something that Labour seems pretty cagey about!
People might be able to take austerity for a purpose, but Labour trying to cuddle up to big business making obscene profits while having low wages and encouraging immigration into a country that has no jobs or houses to spare is not a winner, while championing free trade agreements that make money for the same few individuals but most people worse off with lowered wages and higher prices for goods like medicine (apart from TV’s).
Even if you have a so called top salary in NZ and slaved for years to become a doctor for example, you would struggle to be able to afford to live a affluent lifestyle in Auckland (comprising of nice house, car and holiday and being able to afford kids) on local wages while paying back student loans etc.
If you are a top teacher, forget it.
The point is, those who work hard, are smart still can not get ahead and being told they need to pay more tax, while middle men businesses like banks and so forth are making a killing in profits. Something is wrong. The teachers and Doctors used to vote Labour, now they are being told they are the greedy ones who need to pay more and work longer.
Yep Labour can just blame landlords again and the middle class not paying enough taxes, and get Nash to host conferences at SkyCity and blog about losing his principals to win and fight Hone Harewira to show they hate his ideas and Labour can lose a 4th term election.
Or Labour can get real and see that NZ has BIG problems starting with Neoliberalism the whole system needs to change and the average joe is being extorted left right and centre in this country by business in most cases.
The middle class don’t like the Natz, but what Labour is offering so far isn’t exactly going to help them either and is certainly not very clear.
While I think Cunliffe is one of the most honest politicians in the Labour party and one of their best, I struggle with the lack of incite Labour seem to have about what is going on in this country and what is going to improve peoples lives – in particular the 65% of homeowners – I feel very sorry for people renting because it would be difficult on the average wage to buy, but there is a very wide amount of issues around property prices in NZ that are not discussed such as outrageous infrastructure charges and I’m tired of the glib replies from politicians about ‘building more affordable housing’. They need 60,000 houses just for all the new migrants last year – how many are they actually planning and if each affordable house is $650k how can Kiwis afford it on the average wage?
Work is not setting anyone free these days…
The real question is, where are the jobs in the former western world and why don’t they pay enough to live on and why is everyone on contract and earning less and less?
“Welcome to the “1099 economy”: The only things being shared are the scraps our corporations leave behind
Companies can hire and fire perma-lancers at will. Is it any wonder the middle class is vanishing before our eyes?”
http://www.salon.com/2015/12/29/the_sharing_economy_partner/
Anyone keeping an eye on what’s going on over the fence?
http://benjaminfulford.net/
Okay well if no one’s keeping an eye out for what’s going on over the fence is anyone listening for true facts from our MSM and govt about the truth of the world economy and our own – or do they all pretend we are safe under an impenetrable dome : http://geopolitics.co/2016/01/20/international-shipping-shuts-down-baltic-dry-index-freefalling/
If Labour doesn’t pull its finger out and begin acting as a strong viable opposition, (challenging the FJK mobsters), representing the ordinary Kiwi, then NZ will be stuck in purgatory, with NatzKEY tearing down everything NZers past and present, worked hard for to make this nation a better place for future generations!
However, I can’t see any drastic changes coming from Labour anytime soon. Nothing positive will happen, until the ABC neo libs traitors are dealt with and kicked out by a strong leader, and the party gets back to its core root values, of egalitarianism. When that becomes a reality, working class Kiwis will once more have a credible party to vote for.
If Labour can’t do that, then it might as well curl up its toes and die!
If Labour doesn’t pull its finger out and begin acting as a strong viable opposition, (challenging the FJK mobsters), representing the ordinary Kiwi, then NZ will be stuck in purgatory, with NatzKEY tearing down everything NZers past and present, worked hard for to make this nation a better place for future generations!
However, I can’t see any drastic changes coming from Labour anytime soon. Nothing positive will happen, until the ABC neo libs traitors are dealt with and kicked out by a strong leader, and the party gets back to its core root values, of egalitarianism. When that becomes a reality, working class Kiwis will once more have a credible party to vote for.
If Labour can’t do that, then it might as well curl up its toes and die!
It has died. It hasn’t got rid of King, Mallard et al they are on the right of the party and dominate it.
With right wing (probably paid) stooges championed as left wing commentators for Labour like Pagani – I think Cunliffe has made better speeches and resonated with more people over topic’s like the demise of democracy than this article.
Look at the drivel which we have to endure, by people linked to the Labour party. No wonder the Labour party is divided and they have less and less support and nobody trusts them on TPP.
http://pundit.co.nz/content/opponents-of-the-tpp-have-been-vague-about-their-alternative
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