If you go down to hear Woods today, you're sure of a big surprise
If you go down to see Woods today, you'd better go in disguise
For every hack that ever there was
Will gather there for certain because
Today's the day that Kiwi-Build gets the Big-Nix.
Let’s face it, folks: KiwiBuild is the biggest brand failure since Edsel. Possibly worse, because Ford’s $250M investment and marketing blitz at least resulted in production of 3,400 of the hideous cars in 1960, though it’s not clear how many actually sold except to aficionados of vandalist aesthetics.
Wednesday was KiwiBuild’s funeral, or, more likely, cremation. Labour certainly wanted to burn that baby to the ground. I thought at the time that I might be wrong and that perhaps they might think that by changing the hood mascot the dog-mobile would suddenly grow to appeal, but my first instinct was right and it was the chop-shop.
There was a hint in Tuesday’s Dompost in a story about “Getting Real About Renting – a renters’ forum” being held in Wellington on Wednesday and organised by one of the Left’s favourite economists; Mr Shamubeel ‘Tax-is-Love’ Eaqub, along with Labour widget Cr Brian Dawson and various other socialist all-sorts. I doubt that the timing was merely coincidental to the KiwiBuild wake.
In Tuesday’s story Mr ‘Tax-is-Love’ proposed government, local and national, should “use their balance-sheets” to build more homes, whatever that means. So fond of his obscure “balance-sheets” phrase is Mr ‘Tax-is-Love’, he repeats it four times in the little screed. He seems to be proposing that taxpayers and ratepayers should underwrite, subsidise (or both) commercial property investment with very long-term low-cost ground leases and risky commercial building refits for residential purposes.
There are holes in Eaqub’s proposal big enough, well, big enough to drive an Edsel through, in fact. But just because an idea is meritless, pointless and stupid doesn’t mean that this particular government hasn’t already bought it, especially if it’s only taxpayer’s money. Maybe we will see Megan test-driving Eaquab’s Edsel-Built idea today. Who knows what innovation her ten years of gender-studies at university ignited in her.
