New Zealand Housing Summit
The government assault on state housing, state house tenants and Housing New Zealand is one of the most shameful episodes in the history of this country.
Instead of addressing the housing crisis for tenants and families on low incomes the government is cutting housing support for those in most need.
A triad of ministers: Bill English (Minister for State Housing), Paula Bennett (Minister of Social Housing) and Nick Smith (Minister of Housing) are driving a campaign to pass responsibility for housing low-income tenants and families onto “social housing groups” which with the best will in the world will never be able to provide quality affordable homes for the many thousands of people who need them.
Only the government has the resources and capacity to solve the housing crisis. It can borrow money much more cheaply than the private sector and can use economies of scale alongside its many reserves of crown-owned land to build decent homes far more cheaply than the private sector. Moreover the private sector has no interest in providing affordable housing unless their profits are assured with huge government handouts.
So far the government has bulldozed (sometimes literally) its way through opposition to its plans to begin the privatisation of $17 billion in state housing assets.
How do we stop the destruction of state housing and the demonization of families who are being picked off one by one, bullied and threatened by Housing New Zealand to leave their homes on the flimsiest of pretexts?
The answer is that we organise!
Planning is well underway for the New Zealand Housing Summit to be held on Saturday 16 April from 10am to 4.30pm at the Western Springs Garden Community Hall on Great North Road, (opposite Motions Road) Auckland.
The joint chairs of the Summit are:
· Prue Kapua – President of the Maori Women’s Welfare League and
· Efeso Collins – Chairperson of the Otara-Papatoetoe Community Board
This high-calibre duo will keep the Summit on track and ensure we get the most from this critical event.
The organising committee (a coalition of groups including the State Housing Action Network, Child Poverty Action Group and Unite Union) is planning an agenda for the day with the aim to develop a broad, co-ordinated and widely-accepted action plan to address the crisis in quality, affordable housing for tenants and families on low incomes.
The issues we have identified as needing the most urgent action are:
· Stopping the sale or transfer of state houses
· Creating a Bill of Rights for all tenants including:
o Ensuring tenure – end 90 day evictions
o A warrant of fitness for all rentals without displacement of tenants
o Rent controls
· Building more state houses without displacement of existing tenants
We are approaching church organisations, unions, community groups, student groups, Maori and Pasifika groups, refugee groups etc to be an active part of the Summit.
You, readers of the Daily Blog, can do your bit by:
(1) Helping spread the word about the event by circulating the poster by email and facebook etc.
(2) Registering to come:
(3) Making a donation to help with the organising.
Account Name: State Housing Action Network. Account No 38-9017-0226218-00
Donations will enable us get speakers and state house tenants from various centres around New Zealand to the Summit.
Help us make New Zealand Housing Summit the defining moment which defeats the National government’s appalling housing policies.
To Mr. John Minto,
I’ve been researching the Springbok tour and evidently your name has come up in nearly every mention of the protest. To ask bluntly, I would love to be able to hear from you personally whether over the phone or even in person!
Really hope to hear back from you soon,
Sincerely,
Hala Al-Durra
I mean. First of all you should never give your contact details to anonymous tanking memes on the net. Please think before continuing to type
find his email address it is readily available.
Hmmmm…. this is interesting , … indeed….but just why is it a threat to ANDREW / ANDREWO , I wonder , that he should be interested?….
Does he have vested interests as a slum landlord or private interest building contractor – or govt sourced demolition contracts perhaps?
How the neo liberal wretch always squeals loudest when their beloved ill -gotten cash stack is threatened…
Yes it looks as “Goose” Gooseman or Andew or AndrewO is a paid troll for the corporate’s or is one also.
Pay no mind but keep on track with John Minto’s summit on the sorry state of the flogging off of our state housing that is one of the biggest taxpayer rip-offs by these criminals NZ has ever seen.
We have a mafia style operation inside our country and must use this example and others to force kiwis to see what is needed to fix the rot going on here, by voting them out due to their widespread corruption.
Ne’er a wiser word be said, my friend…
The Government wants to privatize state homes……. and newspaper headlines of state homes testing positive for P use are the stereotype smear used turn off sympathy towards tenants.
When they start testing state homes ( and others ) for lead paint/dust then I will believe that they have the health and interests of the tenants at heart.
lead paint chips or lead dust from previous renovations is a poison which attacks the central nervous system and brain ………….. infants and pets are particularly vulnerable to it.
Lead does not break down can remain on site for decades and decades…….
Also with the ‘P’ dog whistle Andrew was smearing state house tenants with …………. Could Andrew tell us which houses that tested positive for P being smoked there were caused by sub-contractors, plumbers, sparkys, painters or other people who may have done so without the tenants knowledge ???? ……….. I’ve heard P use is quite high among painters and tradies ……..
I think the people we should start drug testing are the crowd who turn up to a Max Key DJ event …….
He would very quickly be playing to an empty room if that started happening.
Because a far higher percentage of the rich young dicks who go to gigs Max Key plays at would be on drugs than poor state tenants …
Max Keys scene is the drug taking one Andrew …….. just thought you should know 🙂 .
Sorry Andrew, but world actually NEEDS more people LIKE John – to get things done, issues addressed, you know, the good stuff.
I feel so sad that this country of ours has such a horrible govt. in charge.
Thanks again John – you hit the nail on the head yet again.
Privatization is such a greedy and ugly thing, most of the time, and this govt. has failed – big time – yet again. I listened to the parliament debates over this issue just to hear the pro-Natzs who support this new housing bill.
They are in so much denial is is pathetic. They spew nonsense defending their willingness to sell out our state housing etc. right from under our feet.
On the up side, the MP’s who spoke out against this damaging housing bill did a very fine job — especially David Cunliffe ; Grant Robertson and Marama Davidson. We have got to get behind the Labour and Green parties now ! to defeat this madness that presently governs.
Paula Bennett is beyond a major disgrace and the others can only point the blaming finger at Labour while not solving this major housing problem. They are again not offering solutions yet selling off state homes which compounds the problem. Can any of us imagine a homeless person being able to afford to pay a mortgage or let alone rental payments ? All the ( rude and insulting ) and pathetic Paula Bennett can do is to show disdain towards Labour MP’s by using stupid; irrelevant yoga position metaphors and clearly she could not get into any easy beginner yoga position if her life depended on it. She thinks she is so clever and funny and no one is laughing at this ego maniacal ( turn coat ) minion.
It is a very sad day for this country to be led by this kind of a govt. who is devoid of any real solutions and has their heads in the sand. Privatization is their motto while scratching their corporate buddies backs. Building contractors and real estate markets will fend out well with this – mean while folks will continue to live on the streets and in cars and not much will change.
Shame on this out of touch and grossly in denial – blame shifting National led government.
Shame of their plans and policies that feather everyone elses nest and does not solve many problems.
National should change its name to the ” Privatization and Corporate Owned Government ” and the worst govt. we have ever had.
They joke and laugh it up in parliament while many suffer over their piss poor leadership and being devoid of sound intelligent solutions and good plans.
Go Labour, Go Greens, Go NZ First – etc. . . . . . . . . . .
100% right John Minto! But how do you get this government to listen to reason? They blindly follow their ideology imported from the U$ that decent social provision is some kind of commie trick. Everything must be privatised for God Profit. 🙁 🙁 🙁
Notice how Andrew does not give a toss about very real and damaging Lead paint contamination/pollution problem ???????????
Perhaps because that’s on the landlord and their responsibility????????? ….. but nothing is ever done about it ……… and where is the lead contamination testing ?????????
Stereotype state tenant bashing by the Nats and Andrew reminds me of Mike Sabins get rich business idea ….. meth-Con ……. it’s a con Andrew ….. a con.
The fact also remains Andrew that to listen to DJ Max Key play it helps if you are on drugs …………..
Max Keys rich wanky scene is the real drug taking one …. not poor state house tenants………….
Drugs go where the money is ……………….. Property developers take more than their fair share ………… remember Chris Lyons ?
Has the Minister of Socail Housing monitored this properly especially in the disability sector why is ihc the preferred for housing . is it not paula bennetts job and decision