Nick Smith

Well.  How’s that going to work out in a coalition government with the Greens?

Ruth
DYSON
Conservation Spokesperson
Damien
O’CONNOR
West Coast-Tasman MP
23 May 2013 MEDIA STATEMENT
Denniston deal a lost opportunity
The Government has missed an opportunity to allow conservation groups and the mining company Bathurst to reach a compromise over the Denniston Plateau by riding roughshod over the process, says Labour’s Conservation spokesperson Ruth Dyson.

“There was a real possibility of a win-win for both sides that would have seen mining go ahead while other areas were protected for conservation purposes. A compromise could have been reached but the Government has stepped in at the last minute and blown that out of the water.

“It is so desperate to get runs on the board after the Solid Energy shambles and the loss of hundreds of mining jobs that it has overridden the process.

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The government is set to spend $377 million upgrading state houses…not that you’d know of you read the Herald article about it.

They said the government was spending just $377…miserly bastards…surely they could have rounded it up to $400.

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More jewels of wisdom espoused by Holly Walker and accordingly embraced by the Herald. Plenty of supporting comment by Twyford but did the Horrid actually think about contacting Nick Smith?

Handing state homes over to community providers may benefit corporate developers, the Green Party says.

Housing Minister Nick Smith has said he wants more social housing provided from within the community, rather than by the state.

Greens Housing spokeswoman Holly Walker said the community housing sector was an important part of solving the housing crisis.

But handing homes over to community organisations would risk benefiting corporate housing developers set up as pseudo-community providers.

“There is a real concern that if Nick Smith’s plan is fast-tracked the beneficiaries will be National’s developer mates, not the thousands of families in urgent need of affordable housing,” Ms Walker said.

“It’s important that the Government retains its responsibility for the wellbeing of low-incomes families and ensures that tenants in state, community, and private rental accommodation are all living in safe, secure, appropriate housing.

“Transferring properties to the community housing sector shouldn’t be seen as a chance to abdicate Government responsibility for the outcomes of those tenants.”  Read more »

The Policy Parrot says;

Auckland Council just got stiffed good and proper by the National Government and old Nick and deservedly so.

The announcement of an ‘accord’ between Auckland Council and the National Government is a fantastic case example of why PR spin doctors can screw things up for you.

When Penny Hulse, Mayor Brown and Roger Snakely begged Amy Adams for the Unitary Plan to be given operative status on notification they were given their marching orders and told to get lost.

At the same time old Nick announces houses are bloody expensive and its time for Council to release some land.

Council panicked and with a bit of spin told media that a fast tracked unitary plan would allow Auckland to get on with it adding that they specifically want to release greenfield land.

The Council can hardly be surprised to find the Government has given them what they asked for.  Read more »

Apparently Len Brown is set to build 39,000 homes inside 3 years.

Auckland Mayor Len Brown and the Government have struck a deal that will enable 39,000 new houses to be built within the next three years.

The Auckland Housing Accord has been agreed to today by Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith and Mr Brown to “urgently increase the supply and affordability of housing in Auckland”.

The legislation, to be introduced to Parliament as part of this year’s Budget, sets a target of 9000 additional residential houses being consented for in Year 1, 13,000 in Year 2, and 17,000 in Year 3.

“This accord will help deliver thousands of new homes for Auckland by streamlining the planning and consenting process and getting government and council working more closely together on housing development,” Dr Smith said.  Read more »

This weekend’s National party Mainland conference in Hamner Springs will probably skirt around the most important issue…where is the new blood coming through to replace the inevitable retirements?

• Colin King will be on the pension before the next election
• Nick Smith is rumoured to have a major international appointment lined up
• Chris Auchinvole has health issues and will retire
• Kate Wilkinson got the arse from cabinet and will get beaten in Waimak if she runs again
• Gerry Brownlee will either burst or retire   Read more »

A solo mum with 5 kids under 10 can’t find anywhere to live in Nelson.  So ex-housing Minister and scum list MP Maryan Street sees an opportunity to score some cheap pimping points.

A Nelson mother of five children aged under 10 has five days to find her family a new home, after Housing New Zealand could not find her a large enough house in Nelson.

The solo mother and her children, aged 9 to 2, have been living in a leaky garage at her sister’s place for six months, but have to move out as her sister is shifting.

They shifted to Nelson to escape a violent ex-partner, and the woman does not want to be named for fear he will track her down. All she wants, she says, is a better future for her children.

The 33-year-old said she had worked with Housing NZ for 10 weeks after she failed to find a rental home in the competitive Nelson market. She said landlords did not even return her phone calls.

“All I want is a house in Nelson. It could have one room, two rooms or three rooms. As long as we’ve got a house, I don’t care.

Regular readers will know what’s coming now.

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Christopher Finlayson pours numerous luminaries back into their bottles over their wailing about a law change to restrict protests at sea. He takes a swipe at Dame Anne Salmond and Sir Geoffrey Palmer, with a little swipe Bruce Fergusson.

The sledging is superb, delivered without histrionics and razor sharp as he plunges the dagger in.

Finlayson is so dry yet so funny at the same time.   Read more »

Labour has admitted that their ad campaign is in fact a third party campaign to assist Len Brown in his re-election bid:

Labour denies it is stomping on Len Brown’s turf and says its Auckland City campaign will help the mayor get re-elected.

The party has put up billboards in the city with Nick Smith’s face and the message ‘Did you elect this man to run the city?’.  Read more »

Labour have launched an attack billboard campaign targeting government ministers. It is nothing more than advertising by proxy for and on behalf of Len Brown. It looks like Len Brown is going to campaign on the government halting his plans and using the Labour party to front it.

Kate Sutton sent out this email a short time ago to supporters:

This is a special edition of the Auckland/Northland Labour News. Today, Labour launched a campaign against the National Government’s constant attacks and undermining of Aucklanders.

You can read more about the campaign here: http://www.labour.org.nz/auckland

Today we erected a billboard on the southern motorway that features an image of the Hon Nick Smith and asks: Did you elect this man to run our city? Why is the Government undermining the Council you elected?

Housing Minister Nick Smith, who is the MP for Nelson, is the latest Minister to try to run Auckland from his office in Wellington with his threats to take away Auckland Council’s planning powers, and open the city up to uncontrolled sprawl.

On the two most important issues for Auckland – housing affordability and transport – the Government is telling Aucklanders what to do because its ideologically opposed to the Auckland Plan.

The Auckland Plan said that Aucklanders don’t want LA-style sprawl and they do want a modern public transport system. But the Government doesn’t want to listen. It is arrogant and out of touch.

Several more billboards will appear in the next few days.

You can message Nick Smith directly from here: http://www.labour.org.nz/auckland

This campaign has been coordinated by Labour MPs and funded by donations from concerned Aucklanders.  Read more »