Lot’s of rich people rushing to the corporate media to breathlessly tell us that they have the solutions to NZs Housing Crisis.
Recently Ex- Governor Don Brash, Ex-Chair of the Reserve Bank Arthur Grimes, right wing Warlord and neoliberal stormtrooper Stephen Jennings and the CEO of ANZ NZ David Hisco have all appeared to warn us the housing bubble will burst, and in the mind of Stephen Jennings, the solution is to privatise the education system.
Jennings comes to this conclusion I assume because education takes up a significant chunk of Government expenditure and he’s thinking ahead to try and find solutions for the societal nightmare that will explode in NZ when the pop bursts.
Some, like the Spinoff see this as Capitalists acknowledging its shortcomings and wanting atonement for their 30 year experiment that has enriched them and impoverished us.
I think that’s a very generous characterisation.
These greedy few who have feasted on deregulation and their sudden concern now is no acknowledgement, it’s driven by a deep seated fear that the masses will turn on them and elect a political class who will stymie their power and blame them.
BREXIT and the rise of Trump and Bernie have spooked the rich in NZ into realising they need to appease the rabble lest that rabble over throw their regime.
These words being spoken by the rich are not bourn by concern for us, they are given because of their concern for themselves.
Real solutions to NZs Housing Crisis would require 300 000 affordable homes and 30 000 new state houses. To do this would require massive Government intervention and a tax system that leashes corporations. The rich will not allow the crisis to give a solution that challenges their hegemony, and that’s why they are suddenly full of concern and on our screens.
“Real solutions to NZs Housing Crisis would require 300 000 affordable homes and 30 000 new state houses. To do this would require massive Government intervention and a tax system that leashes corporations. The rich will not allow the crisis to give a solution that challenges their hegemony, and that’s why they are suddenly full of concern and on our screens.”
We may disagree on the numbers for homes needed, but you are right that only significant state investment and intervention will address the “challenge” or crisis we now have.
That though would spell fear in those mentioned above, as they rather want to continue having their private enterprise buddies offer the “solutions”, which will inevitably result in many new high rise, pigeon hole “apartments” all over Auckland, as that will be all that will become “affordable” under present market conditions.
But even the experts and commentators from the Property Institute and Property Council that were on Q+A and The Nation recently, admit it will not be as easy as many think, to get the homes built and to even get good, healthy, well designed and AFFORDABLE homes built.
https://www.property.org.nz/MainMenu
http://www.propertynz.co.nz/
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/content/tvnz/ondemand/shows/q/q-and-a/s9/e21.html
And forget all that spin from Nick (the Dick) Smith, he has been spinning, lying and deceiving us for ages with his answers that are no answers, let alone solutions.
Some say this will safeguard the construction of “good” and “well designed” residential housing in Auckland:
http://www.aucklanddesignmanual.co.nz/project-type/buildings-and-sites/housing
I tried to click on templates and links but get few pages loading, maybe the website is overloaded, as too many try to use it?
This is just offering “guidance” and advice, it is not the same as rules ensuring that good quality homes will actually be built by developers, who favour profits, not building affordable homes for the poor, offering too little of profit.
As we know, the recommendations by the Independent Hearing Panel mean, they think the market is best to resolve it all, with as little rules as possible, and we know how well that market has worked so far.
ACT Party solutions I would call that what is now proposed to Council to vote on, but have ACT Party like solutions ever worked? What was the cause for the leaky homes crisis, we are still trying to remedy? Ah, yes, deregulation, and we are getting that with the Unitary Plan, unless Councillors examine the recommendations carefully and reconsider some of them.
Will they ever learn, I wonder?
I thought it was a bit rich of Christine Fletcher on the AK council sitting on one of the panels, I think it was The Nation, she of the almighty huge site in her leafy suburb safe from any high rises going up by her boundary. Mr Hart, the rich lister in Glendowie is safe as well but one of the panel members was a Glendowie resident and he and his neighbours weren’t so lucky. The whole set up is a rort, what has happened to John Walker and Len Brown’s properties in their leafy big acres in South Auckland – I bet there won’t be any intensification going on down there either. No wonder people are cynical about the democratic process in this country.
Agreed. Self-interest is all they know. The concept of genuinely offering a workable solution out of an altruistic desire to help is anathema to them.
Agreed to all this as we live with the “Aspirational” mind cultivated clearly by SS Joyce master NZ Propagandist to tell us that we need to get greed into our heads and expect return’s from “investment”
I grew up in the 1950’s when to chase the dollar/Pound then was a wrong thing to do but now its endemic.
Until we teach fairness we will all suffer from this.
I think what we’re seeing is the end of the honeymoon romance between National, and the 1%er ACT backers who acquired it in 2005. Back then, it made sense for them to slide National’s moderate “centre-right” public image over a skeleton of ACT policy and PR machinery, and put Brash and then Key into leadership. Now this marriage of convenience is failing, these backers are leaving the used-up carcass of National,like rats leaving a sinking ship, and pushing for an ACT-style swing even further into corporate feudalism (eg privatize the schools). Desperation doesn’t win elections, because it’s corrosive to long-term thinking and cross-party cooperation, as we saw with the last election. This is more evidence National is in trouble, but it’s also a warning to opposition parties to avoid being desperate to beat them in 2017, and focus on long-term thinking, and cross-party cooperation.
Shit that makes sence doesn’t it in hindsight.
Just look nat the ACT Transport talking head, Ken Shirley, he wants all older drivers now off the roads!
Ken Shirley has also bagged even the top bod of AA to parrot this also!!!
This is radical so the truckies can own the roads without bothering to navigate older careful slow drivers, who are driving safely?
Bloody right wingers.
At the end of the day we all know the problem is a lack of supply. This is something the Govt is trying to address with the HASHA Act and other measures. As long as the Govt can free up more land, developers can build more houses. By cutting back on red tape, the HASHA Act will allow free market forces to create housing market equilibrium.
The Government is also aiding this process through changes to Resource Management Act, which will allow development to progress with less community interference.
Mike.
Oh, you are not informed about the HASHA expiring by 16 Sept. 2016:
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2013/0072/latest/DLM5204785.html
“18 Disestablishing special housing areas
(1) Every Order in Council made under section 16 is revoked on the close of 16 September 2016, unless earlier revoked, and the special housing area declared by that order is disestablished at the same time that each order is revoked.
(2) An Order in Council revoking an order made under section 16 may only be made before the close of 16 September 2016 on the recommendation of the Minister.”
And RMA reforms depend on the support of Peter Dunne, who has special wishes, and alternatively may also depend on the Maori Party, who have some special wishes also.
Resource and materials and labour constraints will hold up the building of planned and consented homes, as persons from the Property Council and Institute already stated.
The government may be in between a rock and a hard place soon.
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