Episode Details

Now this is more like it team!   

Leaders of Labour, National, and the Green Party all pledged last night to build at least another 1000 state houses a year in Auckland, if they win the election, in whatever configuration. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, National’s deputy leader Nicola Willis, the Greens Co-leader Marama Davidson were guests at the launch in Māngere of Te Ohu Whakawhanaunga Tāmaki Makaurau, an umbrella group for this social housing sector which combines 45 groups all within the social housing sector - community housing providers, churches, unions and community networks. 

It wasn't all peace, love, and Kumbaya, though. I mean, there is an election campaign underway, after all.  

So, during the speeches and the pledging Chris Hipkins pumped up Labour. Labour has already exceeded the 1000 commitment. We've built 12,000 social house units since 2017. Seven thousand of them have been in Tamaki Makaurau but there is more work to be done. 

National’s Nicola Willis told the audience there were 261 people on the state house waiting list in Auckland when Labour took office in 2017, now there are 8175. So both parties made their points while making the pledge, but be that as it may, I think this is a really good first step.   

Remember the other day when we were talking about the doctor's strike? And during a conversation I said, why don't the main parties agree to a minimum level of staffing in all hospitals, so that whoever's in Government says that this is the commitment we've made? 

This is what we need to do. This is how many people we need to have on the floor at any given time and commit to it. Make it happen.  

There should be some absolute fundamentals when it comes to infrastructure and a best practice curriculum within the education system, you know the basic stuff that keeps the country running. Then the politicians can play politics around the edges. If they're just left to tinker around the edges, that will minimise the damage that comes with ideologically driven politics. We need best practice, common sense politics.   

So I think this is a good start, but boy, imagine being on the waiting list for a home.  

This was where the election was, to a certain extent, won and lost for National in 2017. Ultimately, Winston Peters decided who won that election, and there must be a special place reserved in Hades for people like that. But housing was our big issue for National with people sleeping in their cars, families sleeping in their cars, with marae opening their doors and housing people through the cold winters.  

And housing has been big news again because of Labour's empty hollow promises. Because Labour has also done some work, belatedly, on trying to get more state houses. But on the fact that there is so much need and again you can argue that's Labours poor policy. The unintended consequences of which they have been so often guilty, when it comes to the bright line test and the landlords.  

Sure, it might make people get out of the private landlord market, but it has swollen the emergency housing list and the state housing list.  

So 1000 a year in Auckland alone, sure. That's a very good start. It'll take more than eight years to even meet the need right now. Where are those houses going to come from and where are people living? If they can't afford to rent, they can't afford to pay their mortgage. Where do you live? How do you get your kids going to a school regularly when you've got no security about where you wake up?   
In other political news, Nationals committed to building 10,000 new electric vehicle chargers because Chris Luxon says kiwis aren't switching to EVs because they have range anxiety. That would be a no.