New data released by the Ministry of Business this week shows rents have risen $175 a week since Labour took office since 2017. Data released for January 2023 shows median rents nationwide have reached a staggering $575 per week.
And New Zealanders are still struggling to make ends meet.
A local Wellington pensioner told teaomāori.news, "I pay $700 a fortnight on my rent. I get $925 from Work and Income and that leaves me with $200 to live on for two weeks."
Labour has regained the lead in the Taxpayers' Union political poll for the first time since March last year – but it wouldn’t have enough MPs to form a government on the numbers.
New Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ net favourability has risen to 33% in the poll, held from March 2 to March 7. His announced plans to go for “bread and butter” issues, and dumping controversial policies, plus the government handling of floods and cyclones are likely to have been responsible for the rise.
The year was 2010. We had walked for seven and a half days to get to a village called Dolphu, on the border of Nepal and China in the upper Himalayas- a journey the locals had said would take us two days. Armed with a tiny camcorder, we were trying to get a shot of the elusive snow leopard. We got none of that. To add to the disappointment, we also heard dire stories of doomsday turning into reality.
The country’s most senior healthcare professionals have seized on Waitangi Day to throw their support behind the Māori Health Authority.
In his first speech at Waitangi as prime minister, Chris Hipkins declared non-Māori had nothing to fear in confronting injustices against Māori.
