The Right is winning the bullshit media narrative
Last weekend saw a continuation of right wing parties coming out with inane policy announcements that make a media splash without any hard questions being asked.
Social issues
housing
Homelessness kills
Very sad recent news from yesterday. Three homeless people in Aotearoa, the land of plenty, have recently frozen to death.
This Government’s war on the homeless and the young
In a land of milk and honey you would think that every kiwi would have plenty to eat and somewhere to live. But this week has shown the Government wants to refuse emergency to some poor people and feed young children inadequate school lunches.
Kamikaze Chris does Labour a favour
On May 21st, 2026 National’s Chris Bishop did his best to lose the 2026 general election and his Hutt South electorate.
National wages war on the poor
How cruel do you have to be to raise rents for some of our poorest citizens during a cost of living crisis?
Who Ended No‑Fault Evictions in England? Labour Did
From Friday 1 May 2026, no‑fault evictions are finally banned in England. The end of Section 21 marks a hard‑won victory for renters after years of campaigning, organising, and living under the constant threat of being forced from our homes without explanation. This change did not happen by accident — it happened because tenants, housing activists and communities refused to accept a system stacked against them.
In support of Chris Bishop
Chris Bishop was forced to eat humble pie this week on his plan to make Auckland a more compact city. And the Government’s backflip on the number of new dwellings makes a mockery of Auckland Council’s recent consultation on Plan Change 120. How councillors are supposed to weigh the new proposal with open minds under that kind of pressure is anyone’s guess.
Luxon’s utu
Christopher Luxon is extracting utu on Chris Bishop for his pre Christmas attempted coup by making Bishop eat humble pie on his plans to allow intensification in Auckland’s inner suburbs.
Affordability is not about prices – it is about extraction
The real affordability crisis lies in the systematic extraction of income from households.
Privatisation and Plunder
Privatisation and Plunder is essential reading for those who want to work for a society where prosperity for all is the aim.
Let them eat Michelin Stars
The Government’s class prejudices are now on clear display. In the same week that news emerged that the Government is considering a ban on rough sleepers in major urban town centres further news emerged that it is subsidising Michelin to award Michelin stars to local restaurants.
Government to avoid proper scrutiny of plans to allow rich foreigners to buy mansions
Remember Act’s Regulatory Standards Bill which would establish principles of responsible regulation and increase transparency? It appears that not all policy will be subject to these requirements. Especially if they affect rich foreigners buying local mansions.
Foreign Buyers Ban Reversal A Sell Out By Winston Peters & His Party
NZ First’s legacy is now firmly NZ Last
Foreign Buyers Ban Will Be Lifted Under Urgency
PM Luxon has said he wants the repeal completed by the end of the year
How was National able to take down construction so quickly?
Industry experts say Chris Bishop and his party are to blame, but Bishop denies it, saying construction industry leaders are just “wrong”
Ani O’Brien’s weird take on homelessness
Ani O’Brien thinks that claims by Chloe Swarbrick that the Government is intentionally increasing homelessness are engaging in hyperbole and are not true. But who is the person engaging in hyperbole?
So the Government has increased homelessness
For some time now National has been crowing about how they have solved the emergency housing problem in Aotearoa. But a recent report suggests that their policies have cause a surge in the number of homeless kiwis.
The ultimate Fuck you, to your neighbours, the community and the environment. Private helicopters!
Again, we were woken up by a bunch of hoodrats drifting on the intersection by our house. Great clouds of smoke and lots of noise. As you do at three o clock in the morning, my brain started tying this together with recent articles about private helicopters in urban areas, and other forms of antisocial “Fuck You’s” to the rest of us.
Homelessness up by 58% in Auckland
$250mn in emergency housing “savings” a year under National, while government increases corrections budget to ~$2b a year, and will surpass NZ’s ”moral and fiscal prison failure prison rate” by 2026
Our growing stress is everywhere
We don’t know where this country is going and it’s getting worse.
Reasons for Optimism
We’re good, but we know we want better leadership.
Cuts to Disability Services Are Part of a Class War
Over the last year, the Coalition has unleashed a series of cuts which have been devastating for the disabled community. These cuts are part of a class war — and it’s time to organise and fight back, writes Elliot Crossan.
Come Rich Foreigners – New Zealand Is For Sale
Long signaled, all right wing parties are opening the doors for wealthy foreigners to easily acquire our significant assets and lands.
State of the Nation – dire
Remember National’s promise to get us back on track? Salvation Army’s latest state of the nation report suggests that for ordinary people things are getting much worse.
Kieran McAnulty is underrated: How Chris Bishop Got Away with Blowing Up Kāinga Ora & State Housing Momentum
Kieran McAnulty’s points are fair and important – so why is media ignoring most of them? Also – Labour delivered 14,000 homes in government – so why is Chris Bishop blowing that trajectory up?
National’s solution to the housing crisis
Dan Bidois has unwittingly exposed that National has a list of well honed talking points that are used and repeated ad mauseum. Normally within context, sometimes not.
Government contributes to developing homeless crisis
There is increasing concern that recently introduced policy changes by National have made housing for the most needy amongst us more tenuous.
Minister Bishop’s Misguided Legislation
Chris Bishop’s plan to “flood the market” with housing development described as being “unaffordable, unworkable and unfair” is also “unsustainable” and even “unhinged”.
Luxon on rents – another National economic idiot
I was incredulous that this lummox Christopher Luxon had ever paid attention during even a basic economics course. Landlords aren’t going to pass any cost reductions on to tenants in rent values. They charge new tenants the rental rates that the market can bear. In the absence of significiant new housing or a reduction in population, that is directly related to what tenants can afford to pay
Our Resistance
There are still groups of people in New Zealand who can and do organise to resist the damage of the right.
Be very afraid for Kainga Ora
So National’s shock and awe campaign is under way. And the first target is Kainga Ora.
Managing Expectations – the NZ Housing crisis and Labour’s response.
Watching the 2023 election campaign in New Zealand, one of Labour’s challenges appears to be that it has failed to manage voters’ expectations over the last six years. Recalling the election campaign in 2017, Jacinda Ardern gave people hope that politics could be different. However government is about handling problems – like building at scale and pandemics.
The Greens In Real Government in October 2023
What happens if the Green Party gets 10% of the vote and the top 9 get in. And say they get to form a government. What would Greens in Cabinet look like?
An ACT New Zealand
What will New Zealand look like if Act forms part of the next Government?
What is at stake this election – housing
Since 2017 this Government has constructed 12,000 new Kainga Ora houses, overseen record numbers of new housing consents, moved to resolving the housing crisis and stabilised and reduced house prices. All this is at stake if there is a change of Government.
A letter to Chris Hipkins
My 2c on what I think Chris Hipkins needs to do to win this year’s election.