Briefly in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Thursday, December 4:
Housing Minister Chris Bishop has admitted ‘slippage’ in the achievement of the Government’s targets of building 550 new social homes in the current year to June 30, and 1,500 in the three years to 2026/27, with officials saying 337 had been delivered in 2025/26 and 147 are on track for delivery in 2026/27. (RNZ)
Major foodbanks are warning they’ll have to close if the government does not provide ongoing funding next year. (RNZ)
Denials of applications to MSD for advanced support have doubled in the last year, with Minister Louise Upston saying she’s not concerned because “advances create greater hardship down the track”. (RNZ)
In more signs of financial stress, the Hawkes Bay Horse of the Year show for March 2026, one of the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere, was cancelled yesterday due to a downward spiral in revenues. (RNZ)
A ‘tsunami of bankruptcies is coming’ due to an IRD crackdown on 20,000 small- and medium-sized businesses having defaulted on $447 million worth of Covid-era government loans, NZ Herald-$’s Kate Macnamara reports this morning.
The Government is set to announce the results of its retirement village review shortly, including putting time limits on capital repayments, Dita de Boni & Rob Stock report for The Post-$ this morning..
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The Lead: Govt set to miss social housing targets
It was one of the main ‘original sins’ of the Government. Its immediate review and subsequent suspension of Kāinga Ora’s build programme in early 2024 sucked momentum out of the construction sector and has worsened the homelessness crisis through 2025, along with the emptying of homeless people from motels.
