The Greens aren’t shying away from their role in a future government. Jacinda Ardern will be the leader, but they’ll be the conscience for Labour, Marama Davidson and James Shaw tell Justin Giovannetti. The promises from Green Party co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson this election can be boiled down to something simple: they’ll give … Read more
The government has announced its latest set of moves to get people into homeownership. So what’s it about and how will it work? What’s all this then? At a standup this morning, housing minister Megan Woods announced $400 million would be put towards the government’s new progressive home ownership scheme, which aims to give people … Read more
Over the decades, Mike Fox has witnessed the housing market progressively tilt towards larger, more expensive homes. Without a major overhaul of the current regulatory processes, he says, things will never change. It’s one of the biggest problems our country faces – we cannot produce the affordable housing that’s so desperately needed. But we can … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Kiwibuild buyers left facing years of delays, calls for relaxation of alert levels and travel, and new details emerge in NZ First Foundation saga. Despite a reset of the policy last year, Kiwibuild is still proving to be problematic. A disastrous new story has emerged from One … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Dozens of electorates will have boundary changes, Zespri launches legal action over special kiwifruit, and more tumbles out of NZ First Foundation. Dozens of electorates will see their boundaries change, and a whole new electorate will be created in Auckland, if new proposals go ahead. The Representation … Read more
First it was KiwiBuild, now it’s Auckland’s light rail that’s looking increasingly shambolic. Jenée Tibshraeny from Interest asks what’s going on, and how thin is that ice that transport minister Phil Twyford is skating on. The Opposition’s latest attack phrase aimed at the government is set to be one of its most potent yet. It’s … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Range of reaction to Kiwibuild reset, Peter Ellis dies before Supreme Court appeal can be heard, and calls for apology for te reo suppression. Hang on, it is still called Kiwibuild right? The government’s flagship policy, which has by most metrics been a disaster, has been … Read more
Almost two years on, the coalition government’s flagship KiwiBuild programme has been given a ‘reset’, with the big 100,000 target – and all the targets along the way – thrown in the bin. What just happened? Megan Woods has pressed a reset button, detonating a controlled explosion beneath the government’s big KiwiBuild housing programme. The … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Massive bill looms for water overhaul, Five Eyes countries discuss backdoors for encrypted apps, and could Ihumātao lead to Māori politics reorganisation? Central government is set to take significantly more power over the water systems of New Zealand. The measures announced by minister for local government Nanaia … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Some win, some lose from National reshuffle, End of Life choice bill facing crucial vote tonight, and Luxon-ad supporter lobbies against predatory lending controls. In any reshuffle, for someone to move up, someone else has got to go down. So it has been with the National … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Report questions government’s plans for renewable energy, reshuffle confirmed by PM for later this week, and two powerful pieces about giving birth. The government’s priorities for lowering carbon emissions are in question, in a report produced about electricity generation. Basically, the current goal is to get … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Pressure put on refugee policy over discriminatory clause, man stood down by Parliamentary Services speaks out, and Fox River cleanup going badly. New Zealand’s refugee policy stands accused of being racist and discriminatory, in the same vein as US President Donald Trump’s Muslim ban. This has been … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: National calls for housing minister to be sacked, iwi vows no more children will be taken by Oranga Tamariki, and Christchurch businesses fear hard winter. Housing minister Phil Twyford hasn’t been the happiest camper during this term of government. He came into office with vast, visionary plans … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Figures of foreign buyers shows a big decrease, principals unimpressed by government teacher recruitment fund, and CRL funding issues debated at Council. The statistics on foreign house buyers since the ban came into effect have shown a dramatic decline in sales to those overseas. It has pretty … Read more
In ditching the CGT, Jacinda Ardern has implicitly accepted that the primary structure of savings and investment in New Zealand will remain bound up in the family home. Accepting this reality may have been necessary to keep Kiwibuild on life support as house prices begin to fall. Avoiding solutions to the political question of wealth … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Flashpoint looms for disastrous census, a deep dive on emissions from tourism, and minister promises hard look at unsafe landfills. The debacle around the 2018 census is set for a major flashpoint this week, with parliament demanding data Stats NZ doesn’t yet want to provide. Radio NZ reports … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Military crisis erupts between India and Pakistan, top marine biologist disowns Te Papa connection, and DHBs still desperate for nurses. A hugely important story is unfolding right now in a critical part of the world. India and Pakistan, two nuclear armed powers and fierce geopolitical rivals, have … Read more
Everything from competition around supplying materials to how many lights you have in a room can determine the cost of building a house, says Box co-founder Dan Heyworth. You’re not imagining things – the cost of designing and building really is going crazy. In February 2017, the McKinsey Global Institute studied the effect of implementing construction … Read more
Broken promises, paying more for less… National MP Chris Bishop draws parallels between the doomed Fyre Festival and the Labour government. I’ve just got back from my honeymoon (it was great, thanks for asking). Browsing idly one night on my iPad, I noticed that Netflix had a new documentary called Fyre. I’d vaguely heard the … Read more
Sure, KiwiBuild has gotten off to a rocky start, but it’s far from a disaster, argues interest.co.nz’s David Hargreaves. In fact, with a few simple tweaks, it could even become a success. Some people can be pretty quick to call something a failure. In the eyes of some this government’s flagship KiwiBuild policy already appears … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: PM tells MPs it’s time to deliver some results, National launches new tax policy aimed at bracket creep, and Local Government NZ counts cost of climate change. It’s time for the rubber to meet the road, as far as the government’s agenda is concerned. PM Jacinda Ardern … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Drama erupts over departure of Kiwibuild boss, West Coast Council’s climate change stance in spotlight, and change is coming to insurance sector. There’s some serious drama going down about the suspension and resignation of former Kiwibuild boss Stephen Barclay. He was forced to take leave in November, … Read more
Māori architectural designer Jade Kake looks at the latest Kiwibuild news and offers some solutions. Kiwibuild was Labour’s flagship policy in the last election, promising to deliver 100,000 homes over ten years for first home buyers, of which half are to be built in Auckland. So far, Kiwibuild has failed to meet expectations, and is … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Jacinda Ardern wows the world at Davos, range of reactions to Kiwibuild news, and tobacco funding for Taxpayers Union revealed. The Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has continued her uncanny ability to wow the world, regardless of what’s going on at home. She’s been in Britain and Switzerland … Read more
The much-vaunted Kiwibuild programme isn’t going to come close to reaching the initial house building targets. So what has gone wrong? And can it be salvaged? AUT expert Professor John Tookey answered some of our questions. The numbers on Kiwibuild are bleak. Thirty three houses built to date. A target of 1000 for the first … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Dramatic climbdown on a key Kiwibuild target, future of New Zealand’s energy supply in focus, and hundreds of teacher vacancies remain. The government’s flagship Kiwibuild policy is set to fall seriously short of the first real target it has had to meet. Housing minister Phil Twyford has … Read more
Former ski patroller Julie Scott has taken on a challenge of a very different kind: finding low-cost homes for families in New Zealand’s most expensive property market. Not all heroes wear capes. Sometimes they walk among us and perform their magic without needing to transform into someone different. It’s the seemingly ordinary-looking jobs that can … Read more
A coalition of 150 scientists have written an open letter calling for faster and more comprehensive action on climate change. But what could that actually look like in practice? The IPCC report couldn’t have put it more plainly. Human civilisation will be unable to avert the worst effects of climate change unless we act swiftly … Read more
Government fixation on gentrifying state housing neighbourhoods to provide sites for KiwiBuild developments seriously undermines the opportunity to meet the most pressing needs, writes Alan Johnson, the Child Poverty Action Group’s housing spokesperson. The recent media preoccupation with KiwiBuild as a middle class welfare programme risks overlooking a far more critical housing story. It is … Read more