Mike's Minute: Again, get housing out of fast-track

As an extension to the 5% first home buyer deposit policy the National Party has released and the Labour Party is backing, can we possibly learn from its practicality and apply it to areas that are increasingly fraught?

I cite fast-track.

Fast-rack is an excellent idea. It gets things done better than what we had previously. Just ask the Tauranga Port; they spent seven years going nowhere under old rules while under fast-track it took five months to be sorted.

But on housing we have trouble.

I've raised this with the Prime Minister, but he doesn’t get it or want to get it.

The key to successful election campaigns is offering simple, practical solutions to what voters perceive as problems. It's called retail politics.

A 5% deposit for a young person is material and it's practical.

Fast-track housing developments have turned into exactly what I said they would – trouble. Angsty, edgy, piss-people-off trouble.

The Auckland Council is now considering refusing services to new developments. This is just the start.

Any number of fury-filled meetings have been held, from Central Otago to Northland, to Auckland and to Christchurch over large-scale, 1000+ housing developments that are using fast-track to get the tick of approval.

This will cost the Government votes.

All the esoteric nonsense like bank buybacks and AI centre funding and breaking up supermarkets is beltway wonkery. Getting your backyard upended is real.