Sunday, July 28, 2013

Labour wants to tell us who we can and can't sell our property to

Labour has announced it will ban foreigners from buying houses.

What a racist, anti-global, anti-freedom joke. What a retrograde step for New Zealand's reputation as a desirable destination for immigrants.

And if I can't sell my property to the highest bidder, regardless of their skin colour or country of birth, that amounts to a confiscation of wealth.

It's a nasty small-minded policy that makes Labour look desperate. Shearer is under siege from his own party and consequently we're getting siege-mentality policies.


6 comments:

Odakyu-sen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Odakyu-sen said...

Xenophobic for sure, but not necessarily racist. Most Kiwis are "New Zealand Europeans" but Europeans are foreigners.

"And if I can't sell my property to the highest bidder, regardless of their skin colour or country of birth, that amounts to a confiscation of wealth." Yes, it does. However, perhaps others will end up paying a price in order for you to get the highest possible return.

On one hand, I am happy because I can sell my flat for way more than I paid for it (even in inflation-adjusted $), but at the same time I wonder how a young Kiwi couple can afford to buy their first home. Is it right for me to enrich myself at the expense of the future generation of NZer's?

Anonymous said...

Good move from Labour.
Far too many first home buyers are being locked out of a crazy market. Don't be so smug and greedy, Lindsay, you wealth creation is at the expense of others, it seems.
Is it only okay for you to own a home. Typical, greedy right wing.

Anonymous said...

The figure quoted for foreign buyers nationally is about 5% or so. That sound minimal but I gather the problem is not really a national one. What's the % of foreign buyers in Auckland?

3:16

Baxter said...

Commercial Law expert Steven Franks blogs that the policy breaches several articles of the FTA with China, and probably Malaysia as well.

thor42 said...

I agree, Lindsay.

WhaleOil has blogged that the numbers don't stack up for this policy anyway, so it's completely unworkable.
Not only that, but you can bet that there will be *dozens* of loopholes.