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zhao

37 comments · +661 / −108 · rank #1912 of 40,276

The problem with lease hold land is that suddenly the land owner can decide to hike the rents up, and youre stuck because you have to move the house. Napier City Council is refusing to freehold leasehold land, and those owners in Cornwall Park had to abandon their houses because the land lease rose dramatically. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/9024096/Another-Cornwall-Park-house-abandoned

+23−1

Lets go the whole communist way shall we comrades? If you own more than one house, then all the others are forfeited to the state to give to others without housing. More than one storey to your house. Sorry, one storey is enough. Forfeit the other levels to homeless comrades. Thats what happened in China. Encroaching on private property rights is just one thin edge of the edge.This issue is easily solved. The government can rent these houses as long as it maintains them, and guarantees the rent and the property. People who damage publically managed housing get put into converted containers that they cant trash with prison type metal bathrooms. If you can prove you can look after property you get rewarded by an upgrade to your living conditions. People need incentives. If these measures were in place the housing problem would vanish.

+20−4

Although doctors have ethical responsibilities to their patients, both alive and deceased, they have an even greater ethical responsibility to the community. Phillipa Malpas is correct that the police should have been informed once Shaun had died. And I would argue, the police should have been informed once he appeared to make a partial recovery as they were not in a position to determine he could not kill again.

+10−0

Is there a plan in place for keeping all of our countrys social housing stock in good nick? And wouldnt turning off the toby be an easier fix if its just the overflow from the header tank? Or does the toby control the water to more than one flat? And when can someone come to my house to install free double glazing?

+13−4

What a shame. As a Wellington Boys College student some 50 years ago we were expected to give up our seats to adults, or older forms if we were on the school buses otherwise youd get physically removed! Now that Im of an age that needs a seat, theyre going to take that privilege away :( I guess its time to drive the car to work instead.

+8−0

The problem is, and has always been, political. Our grandparents and parents were taxed to build the dams, the power lines, the hydroelectric power stations etc. My relatives helped design the pylons that carried the electricity across the country. But who owns them and the power they generate now?Instead of spending tax payers money on token military upgrades we should be fixing the housing stock in this country to modern standards. Triple glaze every window and insulate for the benefit of future generations. But its going to cost $6k to retrofit just three windows in our flat. Impossible for most renters.

+12−5

Air New Zealand should be applauded for offering choices even though its sad that the impossible burger is only available to Business Premier customers. If Winston chose to fly coach, he wouldnt be offended as that choice would not be available to him.

+12−6

And thats the gap in understanding between those who have and those who dont. The haves are willing to make sacrifices in lifestyle so that they can have investment property.

+9−5

Im not arguing for communism which doesnt work. Im arguing for a narrowing of the gap between the obscenely rich and the have nots. Too many of the latter leads to social unrest and revolutions. Or, in NZs case, an enlarging prison population as well as ingrained generational dependency.

+1−0

Nothing is fair in life and taxation is a part of that. What we should be doing is looking to create an equitable society where there is no unhealthy gap between the super rich, and the poor. Otherwise we end up with enclaves of gated communities amongst the poor with society the poorer on a whole. On one extreme we have communism like North Korea where wealth ends up concentrated in the hands of the political elite with no hope for those of wrong thought, and the USA where wealth ends up with the mega corporations or is inherited. Where is the balance?

+4−4

We were advised by Wellington Water we could straddle the drains running across the property with a specified clearance on each side. Ready to go, and then they changed their minds and said that we had to dig the drains up, and resleeve them in concrete for them. That was going to be a mission since they were 3 m down with very limited access to the site for any heavy equipment. So, we had to move the house to avoid the drains.

+0−0

I think this is simply resolved. If you want to pay for a seat, then do so. If you just want to stand, then pay for standing only. Gold card users can then upgrade to a seat if they want one. If you want a seat for your shopping then buy another seat. Everyone wins and no one has to be educated on manners.

+4−15