NEW ZEALAND HEADLINES
First, the GOOD NEWS
GENE TECH BILL FACES FURTHER DELAYS AMID ONGOING SCRUTINY
PM CHRISTOPHER LUXON HAS REJECTED CLAIMS THAT NEW ZEALAND FIRST IS STALLING THE GOVERNMENT’S GENE TECHNOLOGY BILL, SAYING DELAYS REFLECT THE NEED TO CAREFULLY HANDLE A COMPLEX ISSUE.
The legislation, which would ease a decades-long ban on genetic technologies outside laboratories and establish a “dedicated regulator”, has faced multiple reporting extensions, with NZ First stressing the importance of trade-offs and potential risks to the country’s “GE-free” advantage.
While Labour, the Greens, and Te Pāti Māori oppose the bill, it requires full coalition support to pass, prompting speculation of internal disagreements. Luxon insists the government is committed to advancing the bill, but only with a “cautious”, “well-drafted” approach.
Labour’s science spokesman Reuben Davidson said, “There isn’t a pathway within the coalition to support the bill. So it would seem that behind closed doors there’s disagreement, bickering, and a lack of clarity on a direction to move forward.”
AUCKLAND COUNCIL ANNOUNCES PLAN FOR TWO MILLION NEW HOMES
Auckland councillors have today approved the initial phase of a new plan to accommodate two million new homes.
The city’s skyline is in for a major makeover in Auckland Council’s boldest planning update since the 2016 Unitary Plan. It aims to boost building heights and density around major transport routes
Commentary
We wouldn’t need to waste so much capital pumping it into Auckland’s housing market if we rationalised our immigration system - since the mid 20th century New Zealand has pursued a deliberate policy of immigration-led population growth, despite the fact it is leading to the demographic replacement of the original population, and despite the fact that our comparative advantage as a nation is in primary production, which doesn’t require large numbers of people.
These are just bad policies that aren’t in our interests and should be reversed. We don’t need to import more Indians, Chinese, or whoever else, we need to look after New Zealanders.
If we paused immigration, and hundreds of thousands of people continued to leave, as they are currently, there would be houses galore for everyone, and the excess capital could go into new productive businesses rather than provision of the basics for newcomers.
https://x.com/TheZeitgeistNZ/status/1958833857232609560
From Rev. Brian Tamaki
AUCKLAND COUNCIL: ARE YOU MAD?
Two million new homes in Auckland?
What the heck!
We’re already drowning in traffic, crime, poverty, and broken infrastructure.
Families can’t even afford groceries, yet the council wants to squeeze in millions more houses.
This isn’t “growth”...it’s a fast-track to turning our city into the next Mumbai.
And get real...this isn’t about helping Kiwis.
It’s about mass immigration.
They’re bending over backwards to house wave after wave of newcomers, while our own people are left struggling to rent or buy.
Stacked boxes, concrete jungles, overcrowded schools, collapsing healthcare, and a skyline of slums.
That’s the future they want.
Where’s the plan for roads, hospitals, clean water, and jobs?
Where’s the plan to look after the Kiwis who are already here?
Auckland is already buckling under the weight.
More houses doesn’t equal more hope...it equals more chaos.
This is reckless. This is madness.
And this is the end of the Kiwi dream if we don’t stop it.
https://x.com/BrianTamakiNZ/status/1958729740535439700
AN ECONOMY GOING DOWN THE TUBES
From Christchurch
Smith City Hornby closing "There will be carnage"
Smiths City will shut its Hornby store next week, with owner Colin Neal blaming tough trading conditions and a dramatic fall in spending across big box retail.
Neal confirmed the store would not be renewing its lease, with the final day of trading set for Monday 25 August.
“It’s very tough market conditions. People are just not spending in big box retail. Our foot traffic is very low, and it’s just the market, that nobody has any money at the moment,” he said.
“It has been like that for the last three to six months. Every store, ours and our opposition, has been dramatically reduced in spending. It could be in the 40 to 45 percent market.”
Neal, who bought the company five years ago, said the downturn had caught him by surprise.
“To be fair, I thought the market was going to improve February, March of this year, and I don’t see any improvement for another year,” he said.
“When I was in the transport industry, carrying refrigerated frozen goods, it was very recession proof. Spending on whiteware, TVs and furniture is different. People are just holding their money. You don’t need a TV to eat.”
The closure of Hornby adds to a list of stores the company has wound back this year, including Nelson, Blenheim, Wellington, Palmerston North and Tauranga.
In Christchurch, Smiths City is now operating only from Northwood and The Colombo Mall after closing its flagship Colombo Street site last year.
“Our footprint is just too big for the current retail market and also retail exchange. You’ve got the internet now, and we don’t need the big footprint of 6500 squares. That’s what the flagship store was. We don’t require three or four stores in Christchurch,” Neal said.
“The view was with Hornby it was a new store and had an opportunity to get out. The lease expired, so we’re just going down to two and giving a better experience in the stores.”
Neal said many of the leases signed when he purchased the company were now coming to an end.
“When I did purchase Smiths City, we had leases lined up for five years. A lot of landlords gave you five years or three years, and this is why they’re all coming to the end of the lease. You make decisions, don’t you? It’s commercial.”
Asked how he felt about closing the store, Neal said it was never easy.
“As you know, I like to rescue businesses, and I’ve put a few of them on the table in 2020. I feel sad for a lot of people. That’s a family business that’s done a lot of hard work, and it’s very sad to see that one in particular go.
“But there’s others going, there’s hospitality, there’s cafes closing, and all these people put hard earned money into it, and it’s gone.”
Neal said interest rate cuts had not provided the immediate relief retailers needed.
“Everybody says the OCR comes down. It’s quite a lot of noise in my ears. People don’t fix mortgages, it doesn’t make effect to them today. We need things that make effect immediately. If the economy doesn’t get better, there’s going to be more carnage.”
For now, he said the focus was on keeping the remaining stores running.
“It’s week to week, month to month. All I wish is the economy and people start spending. That would be a positive, but I see no signs for another 12 or 14 months.”
Hornby Councillor Mark Peters said “I’m saddened to see the Hornby Smiths City store closing, it was a great addition to our Hornby community and they will be missed, a sad sign of just how tough the economy is right now, thanks to the team at Smiths City Hornby.”
Hornby Community Board Candidate Cody Cooper said on Facebook “I’m saddened to hear that Smith City Hornby will be not renewing their lease and will be shutting down.
“Smiths opened as the anchor tenant of The Railyard development and was meant to be a big draw for Hornby. Its closure is a real loss for our community and raises questions about the future of the development.”
Given that the public submissions process in New Zealand appears to serve more like a surveillance operation for the government to identify any loopholes or implications in legislation that they have not been able to spot themselves, and that reputable submitters have voluntarily handed over to them so kindly, it is more likely that they have got to go back to the drawing board on how to circumvent roadblocks that have presented themselves.