Watching a Christopher Luxon press conference is a masterclass in gaslighting.
You just know what he’s saying is disingenuous - if not outright deceptive and lies - but out he comes - with confidence and vigour - telling me black is white, and white is red.
According to the Prime Minister, allowing builders to self-certify builds is going to be good for NZ because:
his government has been “working hard” at reducing emergency housing and they’re doing well [code: making it hard to access emergency housing & not knowing where many children went after being moved out],
there aren’t enough social houses [code: Chris Bishop has been actively killing off government social housing after their farcical “No KO contact, no public submissions” review by Bill-pay me $500,000-English],
things take too long (echoing Chris Bishop’s talking point about fast-track, without addressing resourcing or rationale or context),
and housing is important for well-being.
No mention of his government’s policies of rewarding landlords and opposing CGT though - ensuring property is a rewarding investment in NZ - despite property speculators being the main competitors against First Home Buyers, and elevating house prices.
No, that would be too direct - and against Luxon’s interests.
This month, TradeMe reported property investors are returning to the market thanks to this government’s legislative changes which is making it attractive financially again.
And frankly, Bishop’s intentional strategy of killing off social housing investment - and throwing away $300mn of investment in the process - has not got the attention it deserves - but it has a marked effort on housing availability and support for peoples’ well-being.
Not to mention NZ Government assets- given Kainga Ora’s assets are now worth $70bn on a 25% debt ratio.
Thise points are all irrelevant when Mr ex-Deodorant Salesman is making a sales pitch.
In the National-ACT Party world, it’s property developers that are to be trusted - and they need to ensure a vigorous take down of anything that might threaten corporate dominance and convenience.
So self-certification is their latest brain child.
On this point, this excellent RNZ Checkpoint chat hosted by Lisa Owen with Building Minister Chris Penk reveals that in Auckland:
32% of framing work fail their inspections
35% fail pre-line inspections
29% fail cavity rate inspection
25% fail cladding inspections
i.e. ~30% of certifications now fail in a formal inspection environment. And we know there are a lot of cowboys in the industry who are long gone by the time problems arise.
The ‘leaky homes’ saga cost NZ $23bn, according to some estimates, and big name players were all involved.
So what is this government doing?
Ah, that’s right, this government will too be long gone by the time the **** hits the fan.
And right now Luxon is focused on those big marketing numbers and photo opportunities he wants to sell by the time 2026 rolls round.
As an aside, I know the Tories the world over (especially favoured by Rupert Murdoch press) like to use the words “red tape” over and over again to refer to regulations - but we should all remember, it was the UK Tories who took down building regulations (“red tape”) that caused the Greenfell Tower disaster which resulted in 72 deaths and 70 serious injuries in London.
People died in their homes, in what should have been a structurally safe and sound environment.
It’s not a game - nor should it be politics.
And it’s not only Luxon in this scheme.
Take Chris Bishop.
In his spare time, he arm-wrestles Kainga Ora for donor Winton Property Development, then ensures Winton’s projects for fast-track are chosen after Winton said it didn’t want local authorities involved in its projects, to now allowing Winton to build on flood plains in Auckland.
Flood prone areas isn’t a joke, just ask the property owners who are now in debt after the floods, and the many who couldn’t get compensation.
Once again these are peoples’ lives at stake.
How does it not look like Christophers Luxon and Bishop are acting as ponies for anyone with dosh?
NZ For Sale To The World
Elsewhere - on the friendly right wing Newstalk ZB channel this week, the Prime Minister repeated his foreign buyers’ talking points.
It wasn’t a privilege to invest in NZ, he said, echoing David “Atas is a conspiracy” Seymour a few weeks ago.
Why should foreigners have to prove their benefit to NZ, Luxon asked - very stupidly.
Well Prime Minister, business cases are standard practice in the world and no government - unless they are corrupt - allows foreigners to buy assets or invest without considering the implications for the domestic country and its citizens.
Luxon echoed what I reported a couple of weeks ago - and what I have not seen mentioned in the press - which is, he’s going to present a “deal sheet”, a list of projects and options so foreigners can “choose” what they want to buy from us and where to put their money.
A couple of weeks ago, he mentioned it could be water, hospitals, health, schools, roads, despite previously calling Labour fear mongerers for pointing out there was a risk National would privatise our assets.
I’ve spoken before about the drawbacks of privatisation before so won’t elaborate.
But of note, Dr Sean Sweeney, the CEO for Auckland’s City Rail Link who has been headhunted to lead a $20bn infrastructure program in Ireland , pointed out that all the Public-Private-Partnership projects in Australia have resulted in private operators asking the government for handouts.
i.e. PPPs are not cheaper in any way and lead to a long term problem where we don’t own the assets, but need to keep paying from all sides (citizens and government)1
But none of these facts, expertise and experience matters to Mr Luxon, Bishop, Seymour and their party members.
And although NZ First killed off wealthy foreigners buying our houses at the outset, they have been dead silent on amendments to the Overseas Investment Act to make it easier for foreigners to buy everything in NZ - including sensitive land.
It all speaks to the weakness of the media landscape, and the dominance of right wing money - that we don’t even hear a yell.
Finally - and interestingly - a survey of 90 international investors looking at New Zealand recently found they view our assets as cheap, our IP as valuable and our new government as friendly to their goals.
Simpson Grierson’s Expanding Horizons - Offshore perspectives on investment into New Zealand reveals Kiwis appear easier to fleece too:
New Zealand assets are cheap because there isn’t a lot of competition for them, the economy is weak and, on the flipside, recouping the cost of the investment is relatively easy from New Zealand consumers.
David Seymour gets heat for being a neoliberal stooge, but from what I can see - there is no real difference between ACT and National - not at heart. And NZ First seems bonded too.
The power of money.
PS
I heard Luxon called Chloe Swarbrick “conspiratorial” in the House when she asked him about his privatisation plans, and thought “What? He’s on the record.”
But more than that - he’s shouting it from the rooftops. Why aren’t more Kiwis hearing it?
PPS
There’s no doubt Jeff Bezos has resources beyond our wildest imagination. Without doing the sums, I imagine a few minutes of time earns him millions of dollars just in pure interest.
So when he got caught out having an affair with his now-fiance Lauren Sanchez, his letter at the time won him sympathy, and no-one castigated him or his affair partner. i.e. He can buy the best brains, the best PR material, the most authentic writing money can buy.
But today he came out with another Op-Ed he supposedly wrote, arguing that Washington Post should not endorse a President for the first time in decades because people lack trust in the media. Sure, Jeff,
At the time Wa-Po staff found out he disallowed the endorsement, he was out partying with celebrities.
Hey, I know you’re wealthy and sorted, but I think the time has come for this system of ours to change.
__________
My article People of Courage & Decency. And Everyone In Between is now open to all subscribers.
These are my other notes on the Sean Sweeney interview on Q&A:
He points out that international folks believe these infrastructure projects are inevitably impossible to cost because of the complexity and once build starts, a lot more comes to light
He notes cancelling projects has big implications - he and many professionals are leaving or have left NZ and we lose the expertise and understanding. If we need to do it in future, it ends up costing NZ a lot more
He says that we really need a genuine conversation that is not guided by political agendas, but by public good and NZ has what it takes if we wanted to build good long term infrastructure
He says that Public-Private Partnerships don't cost the country less - in fact in Australia, in the last five years, all PPP have come back to the government to ask for handouts. This is really significant because Luxon and Chris Bishop have signalled everything in NZ - from healthcare to hospitals to roads to water - will be done though privatisation models which might make the government's books look better in the short term - and look like we are doing things - but inevitably costs the country a lot more - especially once it's delivered. (This one is at ~11:15 minutes)
He talks about the issues with Auckland CBD and that it's undergoing shifts which need to be managed and understood
He said Auckland City Rail Link will be delivered in 2025/26
He is optimistic about Kiwis and says infrastructure is so important and can help us be more productive and more efficient
NZ For Sale: Chris Luxon Is Concierge To The Wealthy