National's wrecking ball to Auckland - and the economy

Auckland constitutes 1/3 of NZ's population but makes up approximately 40% of NZ's GDP. In the last election, Auckland swung heavily to National.

Yesterday, I learned that Auckland now has the highest unemployment rate in the country - 6.4%. even as employment growth deteriorates.

Source: Auckland Council

That’s the highest quarter since 2015 and worse than during the 2020-2021 Covid lockdowns.¹

It’s a whopping 2.4% increase from when Labour was governing.

When we account for economist Craig Renney’s calculation that a Kiwi citizen is leaving every 7 and a half minutes, we all know the real number would be much higher

i.e. if Kiwis weren’t leaving the country at a rate higher than we’ve seen in almost 35 years.

Here’s another interesting view - as evidenced in this video, economic forecasts have continued to deteriorate continuously during National’s tenure.

Have a look for yourself -

Treasury’s growth projections for 2025 has fallen from 2% in 2023 to 1.7% to 0.5% in 2025.

The latest economic update (May 2025) is even worse:

2025’s forecast is now -0.8% GDP.

And the 2026 GDP forecast has dropped from 3.3% in December 2024 to 2.9%.

The 2025 reduction amounts to about $11.9 billion if my math is correct.²

Source: Treasury

And yes, it’s definitively all happening on National’s watch.

There’s more:

There are now 216,000 Kiwis on jobseeker support - rising rapidly each month.

In March 2023, then Shadow Minister Louise Upston called Labour’s jobseekers numbers (around 170,000) “shameful” and “spin”.

But jobseekers are now up over 25% since that time -

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Source: MSD

And, Louise Upston, rather than finding it “shameful” is congratulating herself - and blaming beneficiaries for the results of National’s wrecking ball policies - including slashing construction jobs by 17,000, slashing public sector jobs by 10,000, effectively shutting down state housing and the work of our largest construction employer³ etc.⁴

In Auckland alone, Chris Bishop’s directive to “fix” Kainga Ora saw 1583 home builds cancelled in Auckland - and 3500 overall - just this year.

Source: KO

The above includes a $100 million, 16-storey tower in central Manukau and the Rowlands Ave redevelopment in Mount Wellington – which would have replaced 60 demolished units with 180 new homes.

Jonathan Milne reports Auckland councillor Josephine Bartley asking -

“I just don’t understand it. We have so many people still on the Public Housing Register who need homes. Kāinga Ora’s role should be about building homes – what else are they here for?”

In Auckland 1 in 10 workers are employed in construction - making it a double blow.

Another facet - previously mentioned here - is Auckland homelessness is up 90% in short months, even as emergency housing denials rise by 386%.

Gang numbers are also at a record high - surpassing a record of 10,000 plus. And consider that’s after National culled gang numbers and Luxon got visibly angry when questioned about it.

While National play politics, Auckland, and the country, is faltering.

PS

I was really annoyed to learn that the “banned” Paywave charges in shops will now most likely be passed fully onto consumers - whether you pay in cash or card.

In addition, the fees aren’t waived for online purchases, even though they represent some of the most exorbitant fees. The rationale given by Commerce Minister Scott Simpson also didn’t add up - as this Newsroom report outlines.

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Emmerson

Cook

Murdoch

1. Source: Auckland Council

2. Our GDP is $425 billion - a reduction of 2.8% GDP through 2025 represents about $11.9 billion nominal

3. Kainga Ora is NZ’s largest construction sector employer

4. What’s worse is they are not done - if Luxon and National cannot find it in themselves to find some courage and dignity, David Seymour is signalling more drastic cuts to come.