One of the biggest gripes every election in New Zealand is the cost of living. Food. School. Transport/Fuel and the list goes on. No one should reasonably expect zero cost of living, but does that mean we should break our weekly/fortnightly income before it even arrives in the bank account? In this article I look at some of the biggest costs of living in New Zealand and some surprisingly simple – if any political party had the courage to implement them – solutions.
EDUCATION
This had not been on my radar until last year when it was announced that my old high school was going to make all students wear a new uniform, and that there would be no second hand option. Ouch. I took a look at their uniform price list and imagined what I assumed would be the minimum student’s needs – 3x fitted long sleeve shirts; 2x shorts; 2x trousers; 1x jersey; 1x jacket; P.E. top and shorts and a tie.
Not difficult to see how that would blow through someone’s budget. Add a second student with same/similar needs, and that would be the equivalent of maybe $23 a week. This is before we even start to consider stationery and event costs, and any associated equipment or support. Burnside High is a school with 2400 students, so one can only imagine the problems with ensuring supply for all of that.
I think therefore, it is pretty logical that schools should be required to have a second hand uniform option. Because of school regulations – who remembers reading through the school regulations to look for a way out of a minor misdemeanour – this and stationery costs are probably the primary cause of students not being able to come to school. Fear of being looked down upon might not help either.
FOOD
How much food waste does the average New Zealander generate a year? According to information provided by Wellington City Council, the average household sends 79kg of edible food to landfill’s a year including 20 million loaves of bread. Statistics N.Z. say around 2 million households exist in New Zealand as of 2023, which would suggest each household ditches a loaf about every five weeks.
For their part, in 2019, supermarkets were estimated to have created nearly 160,000 tons of food waste through unsold product.
Fortunately the 2014 legislation that amends food safety laws, came with a Good Samaritan clause that enables unsold product to be given to charity provided that the products are in a safe condition. Whilst this is great, it would be encouraging if an investigation were to be conducted into how small businesses such as bakeries and cafes could participate without getting penalized.
If any changes can be made it would be to look at ways to expand the Government supported meals in schools programme. Despite the A.C.T. Party Leader David Seymour claiming it is unsatisfactory in its efficiency, the very vast majority of meals donated actually do reach students stomachs.
RENT
Many of you will have heard of excessive rents being charged by landlords. You might have been charged a hefty rent yourself. The Tenancy Tribunal says that if you are being charged rent at a significantly greater rate than nearby properties, one can ask the landlord to reduce the rent. This is problematic for several reasons:
- The landlord and you might have diametrically different ideas on what constitutes excessive
- How much do most tenants know about acceptable rents in their area – my guess is possibly not that many (and how would one find out)
- Everyone has to live, which means being able to afford food and other necessities – something that cannot be done if all of ones pay is going on rent
Among others.
In this instance I consider excessive rent to be greater than 50% of after tax income per week.
I propose a rent cap. The rent cap should ideally be 50%, and definitely no more than 66% of ones weekly after tax income. If for example one is on $600 a week after tax, then rent should not cost more than $300p/w. The tenant would be required to file evidence of any significant pay rise (more than $1/hr) and the date it took effect, with the landlord in 5 working days, who must then in writing advise of any amendment and when it takes effect within 5 working days.
TRANSPORT/FUEL
We all grumble about the cost of fuel at some point or another. And for good reason in many cases – the major fuel companies make revenue each year that is often bigger than the G.D.P. of several small African nations put together. We grumble about transport as well because as an isolated nation, there are some uncomfortable realities that fuel and transport are proverbial elephants in the room and we as New Zealanders are playing a delicate game of dodging them.
To cut the cost of transport though, we need to have a fundamental rethink on how we view it. Right now we are a very road heavy nation that views roads and planes as king’s and everything else as peasants. Do we really hate electrics so much that the Minister of Transport has stopped all government support for them? Do we really hate railways so much that the right wing view them as nice to have rather than an investment item? Sadly, it seems to me that the answer to both questions is yes.
One of the best things we can do is reopen Marsden Point refinery. It is not that I love petrol and diesel vehicles, but a lot of people have not grasped a simple fact. Marsden was about more than just petrol and diesel. It also created aviation gas, kerosene, marine diesel and bitumens. All of the diesel and petroleum that comes here has to be refined somewhere else. That means additional refinery costs before it even hits New Zealand shores. Also reopening the refinery creates jobs in several sectors.
BUILDING COSTS
This is one that has been on my mind off and on since I was talking to my brother’s father in law a few years ago, and he was telling Dad and I about his house building business in Minnesota. His business is in house design and construction. He told us that there are some differences in their techniques, not least, much of the construction involves prefabricated materials that are already made and just need to be transported to the building site and assembled. Looking at the testimonials, some of the builds are finished in just a few months.
A second thing that interests me is the idea of ring fencing building materials by law to guarantee supply to the N.Z. market before supplying the overseas market. In the case of timber, it may take some time as the forestry industry would need to figure out how to adjust its practices.
I am not sure what constraints – if any – prevent New Zealand builders employing similar methods here, but these two ideas could be a significant benefit to the cost of living by reducing building costs. The shorter timeframe of the construction period, and the increased certainty that building materials are available when needed will help reduce the likelihood of unanticipated costs or delays.
CONCLUSIONS
We have seen just several areas where government policy changes without amending taxation can be introduced, which would go some way towards assisting hundreds of thousands of people across the country. I have attempted to describe a few – but not an exhaustive list – ideas that can be introduced relatively quickly and hopefully start having an impact before the end of the next financial year (31 March 2025).
With the exception of the oil refinery idea, I am not aware of others being considered by this government. Hopefully they will as few, if any, will require significant additional expenditure on the taxpayers part as well.
Leftist Kiwi Writes 