Insights From Social Media

Victoria Slapper writes > Some of you may have had a text from the Labour party over the last few days who is rubbishing the NZ Health system. They are blaming this government for not having enough health care workers and the health system in disarray.

I have a story to tell.

Heather du Plessis-Allan: Phil Twyford grants residency to criminals but says no to doctors

 

In his capacity as Associate Immigration Minister Phil Twyford has granted residency to three convicted criminals. 

They have ten convictions between them: One conviction for producing a false passport, one for unlawfully being in an enclosed yard or area, six for drink driving, one for dangerous driving and one for driving while disqualified. 

To be fair we don’t know the full details. These could be really old convictions, all three people might have found God since, changed their lives and become wonderful, contributing members of society.   

Or not. 

But either way, the problem is priorities. 

Mike Butler: Rental property child hospitalisation claim contradicted

Housing Minister Phil Twyford justified the launch of costly new rental property standards in February by saying “6000 children are admitted each year for ‘housing-sensitive hospitalisations’” but, when questioned, two Ministries provided contradictory data that undermined the claim.

I sent a series of questions to the Minister’s office, to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, and to the Ministry of Health, all seeking evidence to support this rather specific claim.

The full quote was that “6000 children are admitted each year for ‘housing-sensitive hospitalisations’, and that these children have been found to be nearly four times more likely to be re-hospitalised and 10 times more likely to die in the following 10 years.”

Mike Butler: ‘Damp rental’ beliefs rubbished

Fewer than 3 percent of tenants find their homes cold and damp, the World Health Organisation did not recommend a healthy temperature, and client-friendly research helped understate the costs of heating and insulation proposals for rental property, according to a discussion document released today.

Iconoclastic economist Ian Harrison of Tailrisk Economics has taken aim at the cherished beliefs of Housing Minister Phil Twyford in a discussion document titled The proposed Healthy Homes Regulations: An Assessment.

Twyford is finalising a series of standards for New Zealand’s 588,700 rental properties on heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture and draught-proofing under the so-called Healthy Homes Guarantee Act that was passed last December.

Mike Butler: Why extra standards for rentals?

Few could argue against the value of warm and dry housing but many could criticise the way the Peters-Ardern Government is imposing extra standards on rental property.

Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford is about to require owners of rental property to install expensive heaters, add an extra layer of insulation, require extractor fans in kitchens and bathrooms, a polythene sheet under the floor to stop rising damp, and draught-stopping tape around windows and doors.

Mike Butler: What Twyford tenancies will do

Reforms that could make many tenancies unmanageable were proposed by one Minister on the day that the Prime Minister launched an advisory group in a bid to avert flagging business confidence.

There was no indication that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford never considered any connection between the confidence of everyone involved in rental property, both landlords and tenants, and falling business confidence.

Twyford has 14 proposals, but the two that will make properties unmanageable for some, and this includes Housing New Zealand, are the end of 90-day no-reason terminations and the requirement to allow dogs.

Mike Butler: Labour’s land-grab claim shows cracks in claimed treaty settlements consensus

The Labour Party’s sudden opposition to a bill that would enable some Auckland reserve land to be used in a treaty settlement for housing appears to show cracks in the claimed cross-party consensus on treaty settlements.

Anyone who dares to criticise treaty settlements, whether the dollar amount of financial redress or the shaky basis of many of the claims, is told that “everyone agrees” that these settlements are “the right thing to do”.