Recently, there has been a lot of talk about New Zealand's housing crisis: the high price of houses and the shortage of houses -- especially in Auckland, where the choice has been presented as one of (a) building on fertile farmland on the outskirts, far from job sites (ie. increasing the transport problems), or (b) creating denser and higher buildings near the centre.

On television, I saw Housing Minister, Nick Smith, saying that we couldn't stop Auckland's population growth by preventing people from having babies or building barbed-wire fences, so we had to build more houses.  I have also seen the head of the New Zealand Initiative say that there was only the supply-side option, since no demand-side options were available.  That is completely unimaginative -- or deliberately obtuse!

The fact is that New Zealand (a) does not have an overt population policy, and (b) the Government Matriarchy is deliberately or negligently increasing New Zealand's population, with no regard for the social, environmental, or housing consequences!

1. The Government facilitates and provides 10 days of special leave, 14 weeks of paid parental leave and 52 weeks of unpaid extended leave to birth mothers (including the 14 weeks), and they can transfer up to 14 weeks of paid parental leave and up to 52 weeks of unpaid extended leave (including the 14 weeks) to their partner if they want to.  Quite apart from the fact that that is sexist and discriminatory -- in that it treats the mother as the primary parent and the father as the secondary parent -- it is an obvious incentive for women to keep working outside the home and an incentive for women to have more babies!

2. The Government provides nine-to-50 hours per week of Childcare Subsidy and an Early Childhood Education subsidy.  That is an obvious incentive for women to keep working outside the home and an incentive for women to have more babies!

3. New Zealand appears to have no policy on what the appropriate number of people is for the size and type of country that we want to be!  There seems to be (unlike in China) no one-child policy, no two-child policy, no three-child policy -- no nothing!  Why should we let our environment be destroyed, because we end up overpopulated like Germany, Japan, China, the Netherlands or the United Kingdom?  Lots of our immigrants come here precisely to get away from that overcrowding!  Why should we also not place a cap on immigrant numbers?

4. Non-citizens and non-residents should not be allowed to own residential property.

If you look at these policies (or lack of policy), what you see is that they encourage an increase in New Zealand's population and in the demand for houses.  In addition, they follow the New Zealand Matriarchal principle: "Whatever Women Want is Good!"  Fathers are second-class parents as regards parental leave, abortion decisions and Family Court custody and access decisions -- but they suddenly become equal parents when the Government wants them to pay child-support!

(P.S. Lloyd Gorling, from Canada, has pointed out that "the way the government supports the break-up of families, by encouraging mothers to take the children and receive money from the fathers, also increases the need for additional housing for the separated parents."  That is a good point.  I assume he is also referring to no-fault divorce, which makes divorce easier and more attractive.)