Dawn chorus: Fruit picking concession
Govt to let in 2,000 more RSE workers at $22.10/hr living wage; MSD to offer $200/wk & $1,000 incentive for beneficiary fruit pickers; Germany wants EU ski fields shut; Italy wants debt cancelled
TLDR: The Government has relented to calls for more migrant workers to pick fruit and grapes over the summer, announcing this morning it will allow in 2,000 more RSE workers from the Pacific to join the 6,000 still here from last summer, along with 13,300 students and other migrant workers being given a special visa.
MSD will also offer beneficiaries $200 a week and a $1,000 cash incentive if they work picking fruit for at least six weeks.
Elsewhere overnight, Italy called on the ECB to cancel its debt and Germany called on Europe to close all its ski fields for winter to stop the spread of Covid-19.
This morning in our political economy
Details here on this morning's news from @DamienOConnorMP @KrisinMana and @CarmelSepuloni that 2,000 RSE workers from the Pacific will be given border exemptions to pick fruit this summer at $22.10/hr living wage for 30 hrs/week.
MSD also to pay $200/week to beneficiary fruit pickers for accommodation + $1,000 incentive after six weeks work. This is on top of allowing 6,000 RSE workers & 13,300 Working Holiday Scheme visa holders to remain in New Zealand for summer fruit picking
Let's hope there's plenty of residential in this. Fascinating that Centreport has a $667.2m insurance payout to play with. Would build an awful lot of apartments.
In the global political economy overnight
Signs ‘o the times news
There'll be hardly any mortgagee sales. Interest rates & unemployment so low that it will be rarer than in GFC, which was barely any compared to US. Banks don't pull the trigger so quickly here. No need to. They have borrowers by the short and curlies.
Here's the mortgagee sale numbers from @CoreLogicNZ showing just how small the number is. Got the latest @NickGoodall_CL? stuff.co.nz/business/12350…
Sometimes our housing market doesn't make us world champions. This year's Expat Insider 2020 survey of world's best cities ranks Auckland at 22nd overall, but 57th for finance and housing and 60th for cost of living.
Longer reads worth your time
Excellent Richard Harman interview with Grant McCullum, who didn't get onto National's board on the weekend to challenge Peter Goodfellow. Looks like he'll have another go next year. I'm a happy subscriber to Politik. Well worth it. politik.co.nz/2020/11/27/sha… via @POLITIKwebsite-$$$
Matthew Hooton recommends abolishing Auckland's Rural Urban Boundary and forcing councils to open up land for housing. But that doesn't solve the council infrastructure funding problem. Councils will find other road blocks. FYI via @nzherald-$$$
Matthew Hooton is right on this: "Beyond electoral politics, the two-decade-old housing crisis, during which prices have more than quadrupled, is a Les Misérables-level threat to social cohesion." @nzherald-$$$
Have a great day
Ngā Mihi
Bernard
PS: Thanks to Sean for the Kaka pic again.
