413 days ago

The Bonfire of the Vanities

Marie from Waikanae

Nicola Willis wants to take food from hungry children. Hungry children do not learn well. Children who do not learn well do not attain a high educational standard. Children with no qualifications find it hard to get a job. They often choose alternative pathways in life. They are at risk of ending up in prison. Nicola Willis wants to build more prisons and reduce the wasteful spending of food in schools. We think this might have come out of the right wing think tank she headed up. It doesn't make any sense to us, but she might need those prisons to house all the people she will condemn to poverty.
The winter energy payment is also under fire. They have said it will stay for now. But watch this space. This and numerous other welfare initiatives will all go on the bonfire. If they are elected, they can do what they like. And they usually do.
Nicola Willis wants to sell billions of dollars of real estate to foreign buyers, in addition to opening up immigration and allowing a lot more people in. It will fuel a deepening housing crisis and even worse affordability for kiwi families. This would also flow on to rental prices.
But don't panic yet. It might not eventuate. Maybe she is just in fantasy land imagining that there are that many interested foreign buyers out there. If that's the case the money to pay for their tax cuts would have to come from somewhere else. Nationals go to budget has always been Health, Education and Welfare when they need some extra cash.

It hasn't escaped our notice that Christopher Luxon, John Key, Nicola Willis and Hugh Fletcher are all very good mates. Did Key know when he increased immigration quotas significantly during his term that it would flow on to more housing demand? National likes to reuse the same old tired initiatives, cf boot camps, roads of national significance, welfare penalties etc. Are they gearing up to produce another steep rise in house prices? Home ownership on the bonfire?

Another area they repeatedly use as a cash cow is public housing. This was a particular fetish of Bill English. Nicola's side-kick, Chris Bishop, really loathes Kianga Ora, (formerly Housing NZ). He's vowed to dismantle it, sell off our public housing stock and farm the business of providing public housing out to various charities. Its the same old tired neoliberal argument that a private enterprise can do better. But their definition of better is different to ours.
Don't hold your breath if they manage to form a government. We bet the amount of funding that housing charities receive would be minuscule. But the sales would be massive. Kianga Ora on the bonfire. It always amuses us when we hear people accusing Labour of not delivering on housing, when they have built more houses in their current term than National ever has.

Lurking in the wings, also in the National caucus is Judith Collins. We can't wait to see what the queen of dirty politics has up her sleeve. She's probably stoking the bonfire as I write.

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More messages from your neighbours
17 hours ago

Calling All Puzzle Masters! Can You Solve This?

Riddler from The Neighbourly Riddler

When John was six years old he hammered a nail into his favorite tree to mark his height.
Ten years later at age sixteen, John returned to see how much higher the nail was.
If the tree grew by five centimetres each year, how much higher would the nail be?

Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.

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15 days ago

What's your favourite recipe for courgettes?

Mei Leng Wong Reporter from NZ Gardener & Get Growing

Kia ora neighbours. If you've got a family recipe for courgettes, we'd love to see it and maybe publish it in our magazine. Send your recipe to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of our January 2025 issue.

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5 days ago

Live Q&A: Garden maintenance with Crewcut

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

This Wednesday, we are having another Neighbourly Q&A session. This time with John Bracewell from Crewcut.

John Bracewell, former Black Caps coach turned Franchisee Development Manager and currently the face of Crewcut’s #Movember campaign, knows a thing or two about keeping the grass looking sharp—whether it’s on a cricket pitch or in your backyard!

As a seasoned Crewcut franchisee, John is excited to answer your lawn and gardening questions. After years of perfecting the greens on the field, he's ready to share tips on how to knock your garden out of the park. Let's just say he’s as passionate about lush lawns as he is about a good game of cricket!

John is happy to answer questions about lawn mowing, tree/hedge trimming, tidying your garden, ride on mowing, you name it! He'll be online on Wednesday, 27th of November to answer them all.

Share your question below now ⬇️

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