Thing with politicians is (depending on party) something like 90-100% of them are property owners and 30-70% are also property investors [0] so I just can't see how they would be willingly taking a haircut.

(Cherry on top - most of them couldn't even afford to buy their homes now on MP salary)

0: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/12/the-full-lis...

Somebody has to do this work: it's essential, as well as hard, unglamorous and badly paid, and societies must take their pick from:

- Family members, almost always women, who have to give up paid work.

- Paid labour from less educated parts of their existing/indigenous population.

- Migrant labour, whether temporary or permanent.

The great mistake of Brexit is that the UK has now replaced temporary migrant labour (Poles and so on, who'd mostly come here in their early/mid 20s, stay for ten/fifteen years and then go home to raise families and be closer to their elders) with permanent migrants from much poorer countries who won't want to go back if they can at all avoid it.

Flats tend to be horrible here. Townhouses are ok and are growing, albeit too slow and too far from public transport.

There was some news yesterday about new row of townhouses around Auckland being classified as rural and unable to receive mail (rural mailboxes must be grouped in one spot, not on each house).