January 18th.2017
On housing issues the government has boosted demand but not supply,it is very hard to detect what the government thinks a good housing policy looks like.The National Party is seen as the party of home ownership,but it has failed to revive home ownership for New Zealanders.At the same time waiting lists for state housing and council housing continue to get longer,while the cost of the accommodation supplement is soaring along with private market rents.It should be noted that rents have risen by 5.6% in the last year while wages have not risen to meet the increased rents being demanded by landlords.
The National government under Jim Bolger was ideologically opposed to state/council housing and sold 13,500 state houses to private landlords at fire sale prices.It was a disaster,we are now reaping the price of that bad policy with the present housing crisis and the inequality it has produced.The Key/English administrations have just carried on with the 1990's policy which is seen as a failure.It is seen as the legacy of the Bolger/Key governments,one that increased homelessness and inequality in a country that once prided itself on being an egalitarian society
It is an election year,so make sure you vote,so as your children and grandchildren have a better start in life than what you had,we owe them that.
