Wednesday 8 October 2014

Things happen slowly on Planet Key

Things happen slowly on Planet Key.

Seven years ago  at the National Party conference, before he was even Prime Minister,

Mr Key signalled a National-led government would improve housing affordability by embarking on a programme of personal tax cuts, changing the building regulatory regime, keeping interest rates lower, reforming development rules to free up land, and allowing state house dwellers to buy their homes.

So seven years later, the promises of jam tomorrow all remain the same.

All but one.

It now looks like he is finally planning a state-house sell-off worth $5 billion, but not to state-house dwellers.

That’s a mistake.

Back in 2007 he promised to “allow Housing New Zealand tenants who want to purchase the house they live in, to do so.”

And back in 2007 I said,

That's very good. That's very, very good. When Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives allowed sitting council house tenants to buy at a heavy discount the houses in which they lived it was enormously popular (indeed, her "right-to-buy housing revolution" as it was dubbed was the first enormously popular thing her Conservative Government had done) and enormously successful, and there's no reason it wouldn't be both successful and popular here.
    In the UK after introduction of Thatcher's 1980 Housing Act, home ownership grew from 55 % of the population in 1980 to 64 % in
1987; by the time Margaret Thatcher left office in 1990 it was 67 %. That's a huge jump, and it inspired a huge change in fortunes, and in expectations.
    With "right-to-buy" Thatcher wanted to create a social revolution, and she did. By 1995, 2.1 million working class tenants had become members of the "property-owning democracy," changing Britain and these people's lives for the better. This is one thing I'm very pleased that the Nats have learned from the Tories (albeit twenty-seven years late) …

Turns out they never learned it all.

Instead we’re promised another privatisation in name only.

And seven years after the promise was first dangled.

30 comments:

Julian said...

Thanks PC.

In John Key's 2007 speech (to which you linked) he said:

"Tonight, Helen Clark should look in the bathroom mirror and ask: "What have I done for housing affordability in the past eight years?" She'll have answered before she's squeezed out the toothpaste. Nothing."

Well we are in his seventh year as Prime Minister and housing affordability is even worse now than it was under Clark. They are, indeed, hollow men.

Julian

Jamie said...

This sounds like a lot of sitting around with finger up back-side to me.

"A little less conversation, a little more action please.
All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me" The King.

Mr Lineberry said...

The reason the houses are not going to be sold to tenants is quite simple - albeit one which will upset various people's 'delicate sensibilities'.

Let me give you a classic example...and bear with me here...

For a couple of years (2007 - 09) in Invercargill all manner of foolish people, including many Australians, started buying up lots of houses as investments because they were very cheap.

When it came to renting them out they had enormous problems with tenants, if they could find any, and many found long periods when these houses were empty.

The rents which were charged were about what it would cost for a mortgage to buy the same house, and nobody (despite people like me warning their friends about the foolishness they were engaging in) asked the question "if the rent is $180 per week, and the mortgage cost to buy would be $180 per week - why are they renting?" (ie: what is wrong with them?)

The 'good' people in Invercargill bought their houses - because they were cheap and very affordable - which meant the pool of tenants was confined to....the 'bad' people (and the 1001 problems they brought with them)

The point I am making, and the reason no state house tenants are going to be offered the house they live in to buy is simple.... a feral working class..... (told you it would upset your naïve view of people! haha!)

Mr Key having been around the block a few times isn't stupid and is well aware of what sort of people live in State housing areas.... and has no intention of risking a massive housing crash when 40,000 state houses are sold at mortgagee auctions a year later because nobody paid their mortgage.

Back in the Thatcher days of 35 years ago you had a decent, respectable, hardworking 'working class' who knew 'their place', doffed their caps to their masters, and were quite good sorts of folk.

Today they are feral and would wrestle each other for a scrap of bread (read Bob Jones' novel "True Facts" for more info on this).

If a State house tenant can afford to buy a house - why are they in a state house? why haven't they bought the house next door? (why aren't they renting from a private landlord?)

Peter Cresswell said...

@Mr Lineberry: Like many of your comments, this hardly merits a response. But among other things you do seem to have overlooked the Winter of Discontent, the British Disease, Arthur Scargill, and the outrageous success Thatcher's programme achieved in creating a class of property-owners where where previously there had almost been open revolt.

Mr Lineberry said...

Ask Shane Pleasance if you think I am exaggerating - he will tell you.

Nobody asked the question "why are these people not able to buy the house next door?" (the mortgage cost being the same as the rent [you] are seeking) - and found out the answer the hard way.

Similar questions spring to mind - why can't they rent from a private landlord? why don't they already own their own house?

Last night on TV1 (and Whaleoil has run a piece on this today) there was a family featured - if you were a Bank Manager would you lend them half a million dollars to buy a house? haha!

I do not mean to cause offence - but some of you are really kinda 'naive' when it comes to what many people are like.

Jamie said...

Mr Lineberry talking big and running his mouth as per usual. Taking bets you got a glass jaw to go with it.

Anonymous said...

Jamie

He is a uniquely sickly and unhealthy looking specimen no doubt about it. Havn't you seen a photo? It isn't just the jaw that's glass. Plenty to shatter with that one. Very brittle.

Amit

Mr Lineberry said...

Once you two get over your violence fantasies ..... can you think of a plausible reason as to why Mr Key isn't going to sell the houses to the working class people who live in them?

The only logical conclusion is they are bad credit risks, and I, for one, and pleased Mr Key is doing the right thing with this policy.

Dolf said...

Actually Jamie, Allow me to be a pedant for just a second:

Above you state that the "Citizens debt share"

This however is the Residents tax share. If you had your way, and all those unsavoury foreign types were thrown out, you as a citizen will be stuck with a lot more. Be careful what you wish for.

Also, you are giving returned servicemen everywhere a bad name with your threats of violence. Please don't be the stereotype, at least not in public.

Jamie said...

Hehe Dolf???
Since when are unsavoury types(talkin bout jihadi's)paying taxes???

P.S. I stand by my words buddy.

Mr Lineberry said...

Jamie - I once spent some years living with a 'decorated' Vietnam and Korean war veteran, and over the years met hundreds of his friends who are also 'decorated' veterans of those conflicts. I never once heard any of them discuss their exploits. Ever.

Those who are the real thing - who have experienced actual combat - never discuss their military service (even with each other, curiously enough), making you history's sole exception to that rule haha!

On the other hand - those whose short military service was spent in the mail room or peeling spuds are quick to beef up their contributions.

Combat veterans are also not violent men - it is almost unheard of.

Barry said...

@Dolf

That tax issue re citizens/foreigners is a fallacy. The more tax a government takes in, the less efficient it is spent. You should know that.

Dolf said...

Barry, you are missing my point:

Our friend Jamie want to get rid of all those "funny sounding foreigners". My contention is that they are productive members of society and therefore essential to help pay off the debt (I may have a vested interest as I am a naturalized immigrant)

I was merely pointing out to Jamie that giving him what he asks for (less foreigners) may not give him what he wants (less debt).

How government spends our money, is a whole new conversation, and on that one I agree with your assertion completely.

Anonymous said...

Jamie

Probably best not to put the "ass" and "cash" in the same sentence when writing to Mr Lineberry. Just a thought.

Don't worry about the NZ national debt. It isn't your responsibility (nor mine). It will never be repaid. It will be renegged. That's all to the good if you ask me.

Amit

Jamie said...

Mr Lineberry said...
'Jamie - I once spent some years living with a 'decorated' Vietnam and Korean war veteran, and over the years met hundreds of his friends who are also 'decorated' veterans of those conflicts. I never once heard any of them discuss their exploits. Ever.'

(Yawn) Get some better war stories bud, you're boring.

'Those who are the real thing - who have experienced actual combat - never discuss their military service (even with each other, curiously enough'

(Laugh) It's the army not the mafia.

'On the other hand - those whose short military service was spent in the mail room or peeling spuds are quick to beef up their contributions.'

Ow dang low-blow. It's alright I'm tough I can take it. Another one writing bad checks.
I already stated RF 4 and half years, 04-08, honourable discharge, Returned Serviceman including the middle-east. No combat, but did see buds get killed. Definitely not a hero. But respectable in this day and age.
I done my hitch
Which is more than can say boi; you ain't even done a day in your life.

'Combat veterans are also not violent men'
Jeez this noise is still going on, it just won't shut up.
That doesn't even make sense, it's combat not a game of tidlee-winks.
I'm thinking of the word oxymoron.

Served.

On to the next
Amit

'Don't worry about the NZ national debt. It isn't your responsibility (nor mine). It will never be repaid. It will be renegged. That's all to the good if you ask me.'

What can you say to that but...
You Amit are one ignorant SOB

Right onto Dolf
'I may have a vested interest as I am a naturalized immigrant'
It's your country now. How many is too many in your opinion???
5 million?6mil?7?10?20?
How bout we turn the whole of NZ into Auckland huh???
What about we let in jihadi's too???
Oh wait we already did that.

Mr Lineberry said...

Jamie - good to hear your elaboration; I kinda picked you were far, far, FAR too lippy to have experienced combat service, and pleased you admitted that. Well done.

An honourable discharge is fine, better than a poke in the eye.

The military wouldn't take me for medical reasons (severe haemophilia), even if I had any desire to take part.

Jamie said...

(Laughs)

Anonymous said...

Jamie

Naaah. YOU are the ignorant here son! You are way out of your depth.

The magnitude of sovereign debt internationally is one of the reasons why it (including NZ govt's portion) won't ever to be fully repaid. Aside from that, it isn't meant to be. The structure of central banking and government finance precludes it. Sovereign and municipal debt is in bubble. This time a bail out is not going to be large enough to prevent crisis. Default is what comes next. Then "restructure". This can take several forms. NZ has already gone through a mild version previously. Learn from recent history. Also learn the basics of Austrian economics (for example the ABCT).

Anyway, it isn't your debt. You didn't borrow it. Still, if you want to take responsibility for it, please do go ahead!

Amit

Jamie said...

When you are in a hole Amit, just stop digging

Anonymous said...

Jamie

Yo soldier boy, seems that's what you do. Guess that's 'cause you're the trench digger around here!


Amit

Jamie said...

'Trench digger'????????

I'll take it as a compliment I guess.....

Dolf said...

Jamie:

Provided they are law abiding and contributing members of society, I say bring in as many as wants to come. We can always do with more hard workers.

Also, in answer to your "Bring in the Jihadis" statement: The ISIS conflict has shown us that extremism is no longer a Ethnic thing, but an ideological one. There are fighters in Syria right now with surnames like "Rogers" and "Thompson".

At the moment all the Jihadis wants to be in Syria. Not here. So we do not have to worry about them coming here, because they don't want to.

Now, once the fight in Syria is over, then things get interesting, and then we have to have a plan. But in the short/Medium term we are more worried about our jihadis going there than theirs coming here.

Jamie said...

Hmmm....

Where did dolf go or did he run out of ammunition too, maybe he just re-loading???

Hey Barry I missed your comment before...
Barry said...
"That tax issue re citizens/foreigners is a fallacy. The more tax a government takes in, the less efficient it is spent. You should know that."

Bang on the money there mate. Solid gold!!!

Anonymous said...

Jamie

Were you aware that more than three-quarters of the weapons in the Mid-East were manufactured and supplied from the West (you know, USA, UK etc)?

Just askin'

Amit

Jamie said...

WTF??? Amit come crawling back and this is the best you got???

(Laughs again)


'Were you aware that more than three-quarters of the weapons in the Mid-East were manufactured and supplied from the West '

Um AK-47???

China?

Russia?

Look I ain't got the time to thrash ya this weekend

Go look at my other post.
Take dolf with ya

Anonymous said...

Jamie

It is a fact. You can't shout down fact, fool. How about doing some simple homework and looking up the data before emoting?

Amit

Jamie said...

Fair enough....

"The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known in the Soviet documentation as Avtomat Kalashnikova (Russian: Автомат Калашникова). It is also known as Kalashnikov, AK, or in Russian slang, Kalash."

Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year of World War II (1945). After the war in 1946, the AK-47 was presented for official military trials. In 1948, the fixed-stock version was introduced into active service with selected units of the Soviet Army. An early development of the design was the AKS (S—Skladnoy or "folding"), which was equipped with an underfolding metal shoulder stock. In 1949, the AK-47 was officially accepted by the Soviet Armed Forces[8] and used by the majority of the member states of the Warsaw Pact.

Jamie said...

Even after six decades the model and its variants remain the most popular and widely used assault rifles in the world because of their substantial reliability even under harsh conditions, low production costs compared to contemporary Western weapons, availability in virtually every geographic region and ease of use. The AK-47 has been manufactured in many countries and has seen service with armed forces as well as irregular forces worldwide, and was the basis for developing many other types of individual and crew-served firearms. More AK-type rifles have been produced than all other assault rifles combined.[3]

Jamie said...

Throughout the world, the AK and its variants are among the most commonly smuggled small arms sold to governments, rebels, criminals, and civilians alike, with little international oversight.[citation needed] In some countries, prices for AKs are very low; in Somalia, Rwanda, Mozambique, Congo and Tanzania prices are between $30 and $125 per weapon,[98] and prices have fallen in the last few decades due to mass counterfeiting. Moisés Naím observed that in a small town in Kenya in 1986, an AK-47 cost fifteen cows but that in 2005, the price was down to four cows indicating that supply was "immense".[99] The weapon has appeared in a number of conflicts including clashes in the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia.[100]

The Taliban and the Northern Alliance fought each other with Soviet AKs; some of these were exported to Pakistan. The gun is now also made in Pakistan's semi-autonomous areas (see Khyber Pass Copy).[citation needed] "'The Distribution of Iranian Ammunition in Africa', by the private British arms-tracking group Conflict Armament Research (CAR), shows how Iran broke trade embargos and infiltrated African markets with massive amounts of illegal, unmarked 7.62 mm rounds for the Kalashnikov-style AK-47 rifles."[101]

Estimated numbers of AK-type weapons vary. The Small Arms Survey suggest that "between 70 and 100 million of these weapons have been produced since 1947."[102] The World Bank estimates that out of the 500 million total firearms available worldwide, 100 million are of the Kalashnikov family, and 75 million are AK-47s.[3] Because AK-type weapons have been made in other countries, often illicitly, it is impossible to know how many really exist.[103]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK-47#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKillicoat20073-4
***Source

Happy???

Anonymous said...

Jamie

Not good enough. Btu, at least you've made a start.

This, "The AK-47 has been manufactured in many countries and has seen service with armed forces as well as irregular forces worldwide, and was the basis for developing many other types of individual and crew-served firearms. "

Made in many countries....

List the countries where the AK47, its variants and knock-offs are manufactured. List the companies or organisations doing that and who are their funders and who are their beneficial owners. Notice anything?

And, of course, the AK47 and variants is only ONE of the weapons types that exists in the Mid East. It may have escaped you that there are many, many, many other types of weapons present in the region.

Here is the research you need to do so you don't continue making an idiot of yourself. List the weapons and weapons systems. List where they were manufactured or supplied from. Find the quanta (that is, how many and at what price). Start with land mines and go from there. Notice anything?

Amit