The Labour Party brought to you by the words 'Hands-on' and the number '550 000'
It says something about the speed with which the Shearer camp threw together the affordable 100 000 homes in the wake of the manufactured leadership coup that the numbers are as wonky as they are on their KiwiBuild policy.
A 5-story apartment complex in Massey, Papakura or Manurewa doesn't seem nearly as wondrous as it did at the Labour Party conference. Labour should be talking about 4 bedroom apartments in the central city and a mass build up of 3-story density on roads that already have a built up infrastructure like Dominion Road, but they aren't. They are talking about homes on the fringe of Auckland. That is a large let down from what was promised and gives National the edge when pointing out Labour haven't done their costings properly.
The problem for National is far larger than point scoring Labour's haste in launching their housing policy. John Key has told NZers for 4 years what Government can't do, but by 2014 voters will want to hear what Government can do.
In speech notes that could have come from Cunliffe, Shearer set the tone for bigger Government by pointing out that the free market hasn't worked and needs realigning by the active hand of Government as opposed to the vagaries of a failed free market that is locking Generation X and Y out from ever owning their home.
The lack of policy detail is probably a realization from the haste of the previous one that Labour need to do their homework first. Shearer is acknowledging that this economic crisis requires a different approach than the neoliberal one, the question still remains why it has taken him so long to articulate this.
How far David Parker will be allowed to transform the economy to one that doesn't slavishly worship free market principles still remains the main issue for progressive voters leading into 2014.
That Bill English has been left to attack Shearer shows that they don't want to give the issue of house affordability any oxygen and they certainly don't want to have a philosophical debate about the role of Government post a free market crash. What we can expect from National is not a defense of their record because their record shows more poverty while the rich got richer, what we can expect is attacks on Labour, the Greens and MANA.
Expect Key's fear mongering use of 'Labour, the Greens and MANA' to jump 457% this year.
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posted by Bomber @ 10:54 am
2 comments
2 Comments:
If history is anything to go by, and it usually is, the high house prices will resolve all by themselves, with or without Government intervention.
Normally (i.e. averaged over multiple decades) home prices in pretty much any Western country are 2-3.5 times the household income. That would have average Auckland home prices in ~$150,000-$200,000 price range at the medium end. Everyone reading this will think this is crazy, but the heights of the housing bubble here have hit truly astronomical levels (especially in Auckland). Expect a 50%+ decline when this bubble pops (which history up to know guarantees will eventually happen). Google housing statistics for Japan, US (in the bubble areas), Greece, Spain etc if you think this won't/can't happen here.
The Government building houses in a vain attempt to drive prices down is a simply ridiculous waste of money. Just my opinion.
@ nitrium . It IS a waste of money . And worse still , it's a weird waste of money .
Am I the only one who stands back from a house and marvels at it's simplicity ?
How many nails , do you think is in the three bedroom house ?1000 ?
How much wood ? About 8 trees ?
So how much glass then ? About 300 kg ?
Roofing iron ? Say about 500 kg ?
Plastic tubing , piping , and electrical cable ?
Say 200 kg .
Sundry fittings , switches , hinges , swivels , locks , bolts and flanges ?
About $ 400 .00 worth .
So , one could be forgiven for thinking that an ordinary house . Three bedrooms , a kitchen / dinning with a lounging area for drunken brawls , crying and slumping into death could set you back say $20k in actual money . Not wank money the banks pimp but actual money . Real money .
So ... is it safe to say that ' housing people ' is really a way of laundering Fed Reserve money to make worthless plasti-paper worth ... you guessed it .More .
And how about the ' land ' . The hallowed ' Land ' ! I'm all Oooo and fuckin' aaaaa when I think of the ' Land ' . Land surely should only be worth what one can produce from it ?
Take a small section of ' land ' . Say 600 sq meters of ' Land ' . How many sheep would that run ? I can tell you ! One sheep . If you don't mind seeing a very skinny wee sheep in about August . How many turnips would you get off 600 sq M . Not fuckin many , if any .
How much dope could you grow off 600 sq m ? Quite a bit actually which is why pushing decriminalization has become sooo sexy .
So , you have your $20 k house on a worthless piece of ' land ' so , dear reader ... where THE FUCK DOES $ 750 THOUSAND DOLLARS COME THE FUCK FROM !
I rented a small old house with a nice view of mud twice a day in an equally nice sea side suburb in Christchurch right ? The wee house was two bedrooms , a lounge , bathroom and kitchen . It was old and just a bit funky and sure , I loved it .
It had a sandy section with a few fruit trees growing but nothing special , you know the thing .
The section value was $ 750,000 .
What a load of mystery ?
You and I and anyone needing a house are being fucked up the arsehole so completely and totally that I can scarcely believe that audacity of it .
It'd be like me going up to someone in the street and saying ' Hey buddy ! You're on my sidewalk . I watched you walk my side walk for 100 meters . That's a $1000.00 a meter so you owe me 100 K AND THE GUY PAYS UP WITHOUT QUESTION ! HUH ? HUH ? Fuck , I dunno .
Why , in the name of God are NZ houses so expensive ? Because THEY tell you they are ! So , who 'lends ' you the money to buy into the dream ? THEY do . Who works all their lives just trying to pay off a worthless piece of ' land ' and an equally worthless piece of shit housing ? YOU do .
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