Government gives itself fewer actions to do this quarter with release of new plan
The Herald revealed last month that the latest Ipsos NZ issues monitor survey, conducted immediately after the May Budget, found National had lost
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Scoop
3 hours ago
- Scoop
LGNZ Urges More People To Run For Council
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is calling for more people to put their hands up to stand in this year's local elections in October. Nominations opened yesterday, with prospective candidates required to submit their nomination before the cutoff date of 12 noon on 1 August. To help potential candidates make this decision, LGNZ has produced a handy 2025 candidate's guide. LGNZ also offers a comprehensive range of pre-elected learning materials via its online learning platform, Ākona. LGNZ Chief Executive Susan Freeman-Greene says a hallmark of healthy democracy is when people are willing to represent their community around the council table. 'This year we'll have 1465 seats available across 66 councils, including 66 Mayoral seats and 683 community board seats. There will also be 127 seats up for election across the 11 regional councils,' says Susan Freeman-Greene. 'At the last local election, we had 3119 people standing across 1607 seats across the country; a ratio of almost two people for every seat. Seven mayors were elected unopposed into their roles in the last election, while 40% of members elected for the first time. 'Obviously we'd like to have more candidates standing, as evidence tells us that the more candidates who are contesting a seat, the higher the voter turnout will be. And ultimately, we want more New Zealanders heading to the polls to have their say; the 42% voter turnout at the 2022 local elections was not good enough.' Susan Freeman-Greene says that elected members can come from all walks of life. 'Being an elected member is an important and public role. There's no question it's a demanding job but it's also very rewarding. Every day councils make important decisions that impact future generations – from infrastructure investment like roads, bridges and pipes, to climate resilience.'
NZ Herald
7 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Auckland housing supply improves, 100,000 homes built in seven years
His report comes as the Government directs the council to allow buildings of at least 15 storeys near train stations close to the City Rail Link, and a wider intensification blueprint is being drawn up by the council. Blick said the median price for a house in Auckland was now about $1 million, or 7.5 times the median household income. In 2000, houses cost about five times the median household income. 'If we still had a multiple of five, the median house price would be $680,000, not $1m,' Blick said. New townhouses have been springing up across Auckland since the Auckland Unitary Plan came in. Photo / Michael Craig The report shows the housing boom 'hasn't happened by chance'. It was the result of more flexible planning rules in the Unitary Plan that came into effect in late 2016. What's more, Blick said, the vast majority of consented homes had been built. The practice of single homes being replaced with terraced housing or apartments on the same piece of land meant that about 89% of new homes were net additions to Auckland's housing stock. The shift towards terraced houses and apartments reflected budget constraints and people's preference for living closer to jobs, schools, public transport and other amenities. Council research into the projected supply and demand for housing over 30 years found the Unitary Plan had the capacity for 900,000 homes, of which 650,000 were commercially viable. A breakdown of the 100,000 new homes built over seven years showed numbers climbed from 10,200 in 2018 to a peak of 18,100 in 2023, driven by strong demand and falling interest rates. Blick said people took on more debt, money flooded into the housing market, pushing up prices, and developers built a lot more houses. Auckland Council chief economist Gary Blick says the focus should remain on building new houses close to town centres and major transport infrastructure. By 2021, he said, inflation got away, interest rates rose steeply and dampened people's demand and ability to take on debt. Consents eased to 14,000 last year, albeit still higher than pre-Unitary Plan levels. 'We do get fluctuations across the economic cycle… new homes took off like a rocket and then they cooled down a bit,' he said. Looking ahead, Blick said the focus should remain on building new houses close to town centres and major transport infrastructure, such as the City Rail Link, but he acknowledged some people wanted to live on the city fringes. The council and the Government have agreed on a new planning blueprint for the city, allowing greater housing density near major transport routes. The council has already signed off on more density in the central city and has until October 10 to finalise a plan across the wider city. As part of the negotiations, Housing Minister Chris Bishop has allowed the council to opt out of the previous Government's directive allowing three dwellings of up to three storeys on most sites in Auckland. Your first home should not be your dream home Natasha Thirani is close to buying her first home. Photo / Jason Dorday Natasha Thirani and her husband Vivek, both 32, are close to buying their first home. Mt Eden, where they rent an apartment, is a dream location, but it is too expensive for their budget of $850,000 for a townhouse with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a garage and a bit of outdoor space. They have been looking at properties at The Glade, a masterplanned community in Mt Wellington, but it's a little beyond their budget and has the added cost of body corporate fees. Natasha felt it was the best time to get into the housing market, with interest rates falling from 7% to about 4% and plenty of houses to choose from. However, the experience could be nerve-racking and there were many pros and cons, she said. Her advice for other first-time buyers was not to max out their home loan. 'If you're looking to buy your first car, you don't go for a Ferrari or a Porsche. It's the same when you are buying your first home. It is important you buy it as a first home and not a dream home,' she said. Asked if the Unitary Plan was doing a good job and about the Government's directive for greater intensification, Mayor Wayne Brown said the city's population was set to grow by more than 250,000 over the next decade, more than the population of Wellington City. 'I've heard from a heap of developers who're up for this growth and are prepared to deliver it. They've told us they're on board to provide it in the right places. 'We don't want growth just anywhere, but we certainly still need more of it. It will be focused where we have invested the most because that's what makes sense,' the mayor said. Blick said there were trade-offs with the Government's directive for greater housing density, saying change could be difficult at times, but the city must be mindful of housing becoming less affordable over time, especially for younger people. There is a shift towards townhouses and apartments, and living close to transport and other amenities, says Gary Blick. Auckland's long-running housing crisis appears to have turned a corner on the supply side with the city's largest real estate company, Barfoot & Thompson, reporting a glut of 6083 unsold homes at the end of May this year, nearly double the figure of 3013 in May 2016. Managing director Peter Thompson said in April this year: 'Buyer choice remains at an all-time high… through a combination of new builds reaching the market and existing properties.' A survey of real estate agents by economist Tony Alexander this year found that FOMO (fear of missing out) has been replaced with FOOP (fear of overpaying), and that buyers were conscious of house prices falling after they purchased. Derek Handley is the founder of Aera, a company specialising in helping first-home buyers from start to finish, including financial advice, mortgage brokerage and finding a newly built home. He said right now, there was a lot of housing available in Auckland, and he could take a young couple and show them five houses across five neighbourhoods in an afternoon. Auckland did not have a housing crisis, said Handley, it had a mindset crisis where people thought they couldn't afford a home. He said a couple, aged about 30, could combine their KiwiSaver balances for a deposit on a new townhouse, costing between $600,000 and $650,000. 'It's a hell of a lot more achievable than what people have been telling themselves over the last X number of years, and it may have something to do with there are so many more brand new homes available,' Handley said. Auckland councillor Richard Hills says many people, especially younger people, find themselves locked out of buying a house. Photo / Dean Purcell Councillor Richard Hills, who chairs the policy and planning committee, said it was great to see progress on the housing front over the past eight years, with many new homes closer to transport and jobs, and options for people at different stages of their lives. Hills said this did not mean all the housing issues were fixed. There was an increase in homelessness across the city, rents were still too expensive for some, and many people, especially younger people, were finding themselves locked out of the dream of purchasing a home as the median house price was about 7.5 times the median household income, far more than 20 or 30 years ago. Hills said data showed Auckland needed at least 300,000 homes for future residents over the next 30 years, and the sensible place was close to transport corridors and hubs such as rail stations. 'Aucklanders have invested in projects like the City Rail Link, so it makes sense for more people to have good access to it,' Hills said. The final word goes to Blick: 'Auckland's housing story isn't perfect, but it is a tale of improvement.' Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
1News
12 hours ago
- 1News
Chinese consulate asks NZ film festival to can Philippine doco
Chinese officials have asked that a Filipino documentary be removed from future screenings at the New Zealand Doc Edge Festival, saying doing so would be in the interest of Chinese-New Zealand relations. The documentary, Food Delivery: Fresh from the West Philippine Sea, had its world premiere on June 30 at The Capitol Cinema in Auckland — after being withdrawn from screenings in its home country. The film was scheduled to premiere at the Puregold CinePalo Film Festival in Manila was pulled from the line-up days before it aired over what the film creators described as "external factors" earlier this year. It was then selected by New Zealand's Doc Edge Festival — the first to be able to do so. But, this week, festival organisers were asked to do as the Filipino counterparts had and cut the doco from its schedule. In correspondence seen by 1News, the Chinese Consulate requested the festival refrain from all future screenings — if it wanted to act in the "interest of public and China-New Zealand relations". The correspondence pointed out that New Zealand Prime Minister's Christopher Luxon's recent visit to China had been "fruitful". ADVERTISEMENT Festival organisers said the written request followed several calls to ticketing staff and board members, requesting that the screenings be pulled. "The documentary... is rife with disinformation and false propaganda, serving as a political tool for Philippines to pursue illegitimate claims in the South China Sea. Its screening would severely mislead the public and send the wrong message internationally," the email from the Chinese Consulate read. "This documentary disregarded history and facts, and is designed to amplify the Philippines' wrong position on the issue concerning the South China Sea and deliberately distort and hype up the maritime situation." Doc Edge general manager Rachael Penman said they've refused the request and willingly stand by all their filmmakers. "We are a voice for independent filmmakers," she said. "We programmed a film that we felt was really important to be seen and brings up a conversation with so many people. I hope that everyone does go and see this now, and has their own opportunity to make their own decisions about this film." 1News has reached out to both the Chinese Embassy and the Chinese Consulate via email and phone with questions around its specific concerns with the film and why it was appropriate to exert political pressure in such a way. While it didn't address those specific questions, the Chinese Embassy said as a "matter of principle we hope that publicly promoted content would reflect realities rather than spreading mis or dis-information". ADVERTISEMENT It also called for disputes to be peacefully resolved and expressed its desire for "countries outside the region to play a constructive role in this regard instead of doing the opposite". The Philippine Embassy declined to comment other than to say "it is aware" of the situation. Directed by Filipino filmmaker Baby Ruth Villarama, the tells the stories of local fishermen, the national Coast Guard, and the Navy as they work in the South China Sea – with a particular focus on the area around the Scarborough Shoal. Contained within the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone, China's had de-facto control of it since 2012 and has refused to accept an international ruling that said its claim over almost the entirety of the South China Sea has no legal basis. University of Otago senior lecturer in politics Nicholas Khoo said there is "absolutely no ambiguity" and the Scarborough Shoal is "Filipino territory". "The challenge is that China doesn't respect the Filipino position, nor does it respect the international legal issue that is at stake here." He said the situation "underlines the importance of New Zealand standing up for the international legal order" and for it to continue to "reassert our interest in freedom of navigation", adding that "there should not be an aggressive use of force to attempt to solve issues". ADVERTISEMENT Khoo said the film clearly contradicts China's narrative and that will be why officials are working to prevent its screening. New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded on behalf of government officials and said it fully supports freedom of expression. In relation to the territorial disputes, it said New Zealand does not take a position on individual claims in the South China Sea, but did want disputes resolved peacefully via diplomacy and in accordance with international law, in particular the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. In China the film has also been heavily criticised. Commentators with its state-run network described it as revealing a "pattern of selective storytelling that serves broader political interests" and a "propaganda piece" that "dodges the gritty geopolitics of the region and the realities of the territorial issues and maritime disputes". Villarama told 1News today she had deliberately chosen to shine the lens on the people rather than the politics. "Because we really want to celebrate us as people, without politicising the issue. We want to diplomatically reach out and share our personal stories, because the more personal we go, the more authentic we can be with others." She said she held no animosity towards China, and invited those opposed to her documentary to go and watch "so they can know the truth about our people". ADVERTISEMENT "We don't have any agenda. There is no 'Western influence'."
