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Daily review 31/07/2026

Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, July 31st, 2026 - 8 comments
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Daily review is also your post.

This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Don’t forget to be kind to each other …

8 comments on “Daily review 31/07/2026 ”

  1. Incognito 1
    31 July 2026 at 5:37 pm

    The government’s recent NZ$69 million investment in the contestable Flexible Fund, the main funding source for iwi and community housing providers, prioritises social housing and affordable rentals.

    While the investment is welcome, the policy risks overlooking another role these organisations can play: helping working renters move towards home ownership.

    These households sit in the difficult middle of the housing system. They earn too much for social housing, but are unable to save a deposit or buy on the open market.

    https://theconversation.com/is-social-housing-policy-failing-nz-families-trying-to-move-from-renting-to-home-ownership-286065

    This is a good article but I feel cynical about the Coalition’s efforts in this area. To me, they’re doing the bare minimum, if even that, that’s bordering on tokenism. They can’t even build enough social homes.

    https://www.labour.org.nz/news/release-bishop-s-spin-can-t-hide-national-s-failure-to-build/

    Reply
  2. Dennis Frank 2
    31 July 2026 at 5:58 pm

    Nothing about hotels on the Mediterranean waterfront, but he's foreshadowing a peace deal… https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/07/31/trump-says-deal-reached-for-hamas-to-disarm-israel-to-leave-gaza/

    Trump's 20-point ceasefire plan calls on the Iran-backed militant group to surrender its weapons and destroy its vast network of tunnels. It also envisions Israeli forces withdrawing from Gaza, the arrival of a new technocratic Palestinian government, deployment of an international security force and the rebuilding of the battered Palestinian enclave.

    I guess we await Israel's official response to vacating conquered land, with scepticism. It does suggest T is serious about peacemaking. Too radical? You never know…

    Reply
  3. Dennis Frank 3
    31 July 2026 at 7:31 pm

    What puzzles me about this racism of Winston's is that this nation is supposed to have a law preventing it. So why no prosecution?? Lack of political will, apparently.

    That suggests a lack of taking the law seriously by all parties, n'est ce pas? So the law is meant to be a token fig-leaf rather than a deterrent. Perhaps lawyers are even now in a huddle to see if the law can be enforced on Winston, but so far just posturing in public.

    Reply
  4. Incognito 4
    31 July 2026 at 8:22 pm

    The Public Service Commission found that it had breached integrity and political neutrality.

    https://www.labour.org.nz/news/release-report-shows-psc-ads-risked-political-neutrality/

    This is relevant because the Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche is waging a war about postcards.

    https://www.psa.org.nz/news-media/psa-stands-firm-on-change-the-government-campaign-welcomes-talks-with-commissioner

    Reply
  5. greywarshark 5
    1 August 2026 at 12:28 am

    https://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=182031

    Risking an uninsurable future :July 30, 2026 by Roy Murphy

    …Günther Thallinger, a member of the board of management of Allianz SE, the world’s largest insurance company, in March last year said:

    “… extreme weather phenomena drives physical risk in all categories of human-owned assets: land, houses, roads, power lines, railways, ports, and factories. Heat and water destroy capital. Flooded homes lose value. Overheated cities become uninhabitable. Entire asset classes are degrading in real time, which translates into a loss of value, business interruption, and market devaluation on a systemic level.”

    “Humanity risks an uninsurable future.” That was the opening line of the presentation made by Professor Jonathan Boston, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy in the School of Government at Victoria University of Wellington. He was speaking in Wellington at the Reality of Everything symposium which discussed how humanity is destroying the world’s resources at an accelerating rate…

    In Aotearoa between 2000 and 2025, average home insurance premiums rose over 900 percent. As property insurance rises and areas lose insurance coverage, resilience will decline. Less resilience will increase the damage. “Recovery will take longer. Hardship and inequality will worsen, undermining social cohesion. Governing will become harder, threatening democratic stability.”

    Without insurance, houses will become unsellable, or uninhabitable. Families will lose everything. This affects renters as well. But we don’t yet have the data to measure the extent of insurance retreat.

    (This is what we should be facing, and handling, instead we are forced by our outdated system of government and politics to run a Ms and Mr NZAO which seems a time for the ego-centred to parade for votes. We place all our reliance on people with some education and experience many of whom are embedded in a competitive tournament of theatre sports held every three years and then act like parents handing out goodies to their favourites.)

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