Labour govt 2020-23

[westerly]

More the etc than the lack of tradies, in particular the targeted group of first home buyers don't want them despite financial incentives. As witness the hundreds of 'affordable' Kiwibuild homes unsold or under construction, plus those sold to or underwritten by the government. The Kiwibuild Unit had and has a lot of staff, some highly paid, plus big fees paid for legal advice and also a lot of input from real estate experts. Not so expert as it turned out.

Tradies are not the problem, developers were lining up and rubbing their hands with glee. Poor policy, poor planning and poor execution despite Kiwibuild being policy since 2012 - there is the problem.

The problem is debt. Housing has become so heavily mortgaged along with personal debt, the results of not supporting the indebted would be catastrophic. The economy should have been left to crash, the efforts to support with low interest rates etc have resulted in more and more debt further compounding the problem. Both parties are equally to blame.

westerly

[Baa_Baa]

The problem is debt. Housing has become so heavily mortgaged along with personal debt, the results of not supporting the indebted would be catastrophic. The economy should have been left to crash, the efforts to support with low interest rates etc have resulted in more and more debt further compounding the problem. Both parties are equally to blame.

westerly

The government doesn’t set interest rates, can’t blame any government for monetary policy settings

[macduffy]

The government doesn’t set interest rates, can’t blame any government for monetary policy settings

And not entirely the RBNZ's fault either. Low interest rates are a world-wide phenomenon. Any attempt to resist the trend would see NZ's economy devastated. Can you see the govt and/or population allowing the RBNZ to do that? I think not!

[dobby41]

And not entirely the RBNZ's fault either. Low interest rates are a world-wide phenomenon. Any attempt to resist the trend would see NZ's economy devastated. Can you see the govt and/or population allowing the RBNZ to do that? I think not!

I agree.
It is interesting to see how some people treat these knobs as unrelated to one another.
To keep interest rates high the RBNZ would need to push up the OCR so our exchange rate would go sky high and exporters would be screwed.
All the knobs require a finesse in operation.

[westerly]

And not entirely the RBNZ's fault either. Low interest rates are a world-wide phenomenon. Any attempt to resist the trend would see NZ's economy devastated. Can you see the govt and/or population allowing the RBNZ to do that? I think not!

Low interest rates are the result of Govts. pumping money into the economies, The next big crash is going to happen. When ? Who knows but it will happen.

westerly

[jonu]

Here is an interesting article about where the government is steering water infrastructure.

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/govt-agen...ntrol-of-water

I first heard of "3 Waters" about 9 months ago. It is a term already in use in the US and possibly elsewhere. It strikes me as the latest "flavour of the decade" dreamt up somewhere that rightly or wrongly gets adopted in massive scale.

Nowhere have I seen the clear policy outline for adopting this mantra, but governments appear hellbent on forcing it on their populations.

Prior to the Local Government reforms circa 1990 we had Catchment Boards that were locally elected and dealt with very local issues to do with rivers and water catchment. They got subsumed into Regional Councils and from what I can tell it has largely been a ballsup since. Now under "3 Waters", they want to further centralise control. Worked well for Watercare didn't it?

Perhaps this issue warrants its own thread.

[jonu]

Clearly not enough of a vote winner for our Cindy.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/ctv-fa...BIB4FM323Z33Q/

Frankly the political arm should stay at arm's length. That's all she needed to respond.

Pike River on the other hand has had political interference all over it. Andrew Little spun the recovery into an evidence collecting exercise, with around $50 million dollars, purely for political purposes, while at the same time giving the families false hope. Don't ya just luv 'em. all touchy feely when there is a vote to be garnered. Cold as stone when not.

[dobby41]

Clearly not enough of a vote winner for our Cindy.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/ctv-fa...BIB4FM323Z33Q/

Frankly the political arm should stay at arm's length. That's all she needed to respond.

Pike River on the other hand has had political interference all over it. Andrew Little spun the recovery into an evidence collecting exercise, with around $50 million dollars, purely for political purposes, while at the same time giving the families false hope. Don't ya just luv 'em. all touchy feely when there is a vote to be garnered. Cold as stone when not.

People have their views and the CTV person has voices theirs.
If the PM responded to every person on every issue THEY think is important then nothing would get done.
Those good at dog whistle politics would respond - expect something from National and especially Seymour.

[jonu]

People have their views and the CTV person has voices theirs.
If the PM responded to every person on every issue THEY think is important then nothing would get done.
Those good at dog whistle politics would respond - expect something from National and especially Seymour.

My point is that she will respond very quickly....and with millions of dollars if she sniffs a vote in it. Nothing to do with ethics.

[macduffy]

I struggle to see why one tragedy should merit the millions spent on it while another, bigger in terms of the human toll, is ignored.