Labour is getting crapped on from the left and right after loosening its restrictions on people making capital gains off KiwiBuild houses. Hayden Donnell argues with the only expert he respects on the new rules. On Wednesday, important political news was emitted from the Newshub. Phil Twyford had changed the rules for people looking to … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. This morning, it’s a US midterm elections special edition. But don’t worry, there’s plenty of NZ news and features if you scroll down the page. It wasn’t quite a blue wave, but the Democratic Party has restored some semblance of balance to American politics. The numbers aren’t yet final, but … Read more
Housing was in the news this week, and there was a striking indication of where the Ardern-led government’s focus lies, writes Guyon Espiner of RNZ There were two big housing stories this week, two quite different approaches to them and one clear signal where the government’s focus lies. The first was a government generated “media … Read more
Yesterday saw yet another story of young home owner success splashed across the news. But this time both sides of the political divide kicked off, sledging the government and the new mortgagees alike. Don Rowe explains. Monday morning dawned like many others. It was raining in Auckland. Denise L’Estrange-Corbet was being weird on the telly. Stuff … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Protest on at parliament today over opening prayer, major changes recommended for biodiversity, and the strange tale of a drug dealer not being deported. To lead off today, we’re going to start with a story that isn’t necessarily the biggest of the day, but is … Read more
Set to deliver 100,000 homes in the next 10 years, Kiwibuild is the government’s ambitious $2 billion plan targeting first-home buyers. But how is it changing Auckland’s wider landscape? Read more: Eye in the sky: a visual guide to Auckland’s housing boom This week, more than 85 potential first-home buyers will be holding their breath to … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Stark stats show youth mental health service crisis, US China trade war could hurt NZ, and Netsafe dismisses complaint over negative media coverage. Mental health services for young people are at crisis point, as some stark new statistics show. More than a thousand people under the age of … Read more
New Zealand is in desperate need of skilled tradespeople, which means it’s past time we got women onboard and on the drills. In Mount Albert, on the land where a psychiatric hospital once stood, houses are about to be built. Earlier this year, the government announced it was purchasing 29 hectares of land from Unitec … Read more
The launch of a new aerial imaging company in New Zealand gives a bird’s eye glimpse of Auckland’s rapidly changing landscape, allowing us to compare some of the city’s major infrastructure projects in places like Hobsonville, Mount Roskill, Papakura, Flatbush and Drury before and after construction. As a wise man once said, it’s about time … Read more
The off-site industry is full of great energy but in a mess, stumbling around looking for solutions, writes Dan Heyworth, CEO of Box, a company which has dipped its toe in the prefab business. Heralded as key to the government’s ability to build 100,000 homes over the next 10 years, prefab is hot right now. … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: A new medical cannabis bill has hit the member’s ballot, abortion on the agenda on Parliament’s forecourt, and justice minister Andrew Little’s message to Australia. There will be competing bills on medical marijuana, after National MP Dr Shane Reti released his own in opposition to the … Read more
A disability advocate is urging the government to make accessibility a central part of the Kiwibuild programme. Alex Braae reports. The government’s flagship Kiwibuild policy has always intended to lead the way on housing, in the creation of good quality, affordable homes that first home buyers can spend years or even decades in. But advocates … Read more
Are people who earn decent salaries too privileged to be thrown a bone by the government? Jenée Tibshraeny thinks not. This story first appeared on interest.co.nz. I would like to thank Housing Minister Phil Twyford for validating my generation’s “Ponsonby problems” as real ones. By setting the income caps for KiwiBuild eligibility at $120,000 for a … Read more
In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens and luminaries making the news. Today: We don’t know about you, but this millennial can’t wait for her free KiwiBuild home. The Spinoff TV screens Fridays at 9.45pm from June 22nd on THREE. Thanks to NZ on Air. … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Huge interest in Kiwibuild houses as registrations open, Fonterra and Greenpeace find themselves on the same side of a dairy issue, and GCSB report comes out. Registrations of interest for the Kiwibuild ballot has boomed, after it was opened yesterday morning. As of the last figures being … Read more
The buyer eligibility rules for the government’s marquee house building programme have just been released. Do you qualify? Alex Braae has the skinny What’s all this then? Remember when the housing crisis became a real thing for the commentariat of New Zealand, because their sons and daughters were being priced out of the market? Well … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Government moves to address construction worker shortage, data on regressiveness of fuel tax released, and Sir John Key pops up as a lobbyist. It’s been a big 24 hours of news about the logistics of the Kiwibuild programme, in which the government intends to build 100,000 … Read more
KiwiBuild is the perfect opportunity to drag up our pathetic building standards, argues the head of the NZ Green Building Council. We all have a home. It might not be the place that you hunker down each night, but we all have a place we know of as home. A home should be a sanctuary, … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Phil Twyford talks up prefab housing industry, massive alleged money laundering scheme uncovered, and all the latest in strike news. Housing minister Phil Twyford is looking to prefab housing to make the Kiwibuild plan possible. Under the Kiwibuild plan, Labour has promised 100,000 homes over ten years. … Read more
Labour’s inexplicable timidity risks turning the much-vaunted KiwiBuild policy into a damp squib, argues Guyon Espiner for RNZ. The most ambitious interventionist economic plan pursued by a New Zealand government was named after a race. Think Big won the Melbourne Cup twice in the mid-1970s, making quite an impression on Allan Highet, a long forgotten … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: The government has partly made up its mind on the mega–prison, Māori wards fall short in regional votes, and midwives say the budget boost was too little, too late. The government has made a decision to not expand Wakeria Prison into a so–called mega–prison, but is … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Kiwifruit workers debate and divide deepens, an admission that Kiwibuild might not involve actually building so many houses, and Trump pulls out of Iran deal. The shortage of fruit pickers and packhouse staff has morphed into a debate on migrant workers and unemployment in Parliament. One … Read more
How will the government’s Kiwibuild plans in Mt Albert look once they’re fully built? Urban designer Matthew Prasad casts a critical eye over the project. It’s only been a week since the government’s first Kiwibuild development announcement, and there has been a lot of talk and hypothesising about what form the development may take at … Read more
The new coalition government has made a start on addressing the housing crisis with the just-announced independent housing review. But Jenny McArthur warns that Labour’s proposed KiwiBuild policy could risk adopting solutions that actually fuel the problems they claim to solve, reinforcing inequality for decades to come. After years of futile policy interventions, it’s time … Read more