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The government has been in discussions this past week over a bill adding English to the list of New Zealand’s official languages. Currently, the list comprises only te reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language. The bill has been criticised as “pointless” and a “waste of time” by opposition MPs, while its main supporter NZ First leader Winston Peters suggests it is “common sense”. 

Also this past week has seen Housing Minister Chris Bishop announcing changes to housing plans PC120. While the plans had previously proposed a minimum housing capacity of 2 million for Tāmaki Makaurau, the quota has been lowered to 1.6 million. The change follows criticisms of the plan from some who say intensification could harm the character of their suburbs, especially wealthier areas around central Auckland. 

For our weekly catchup with ACT’s Simon Court News and Editorial Director asked about each of these issues, beginning with English as an official language.

In the later half of 2023, the University of Auckland announced rent increases of more than 8% at their halls of residence. The University justified this as a necessary measure, caused by the impacts of inflation

However, students bearing the full brunt of the rent increase said the University’s decision to increase rent and subsequent explanation were unacceptable, pointing out that inflation rates only increased by 5.6%, and that the increases would make the cost of living unaffordable for a large number of students living at the halls of residence. 

This prompted a number of students to form a “Students for Fair Rent”, a group advocating for rental rates at the University of Auckland to be made more affordable by matching rental rates to inflation rates and the average cost of housing in Central Auckland. 

In August last year, Students for Fair Rent organised a petition on change.org that received 1500 signatures, urging the University of Auckland to lower the cost of living which the University of Auckland reportedly ignored.

Last week, on the 19th of April, Students for Fair Rent held a rally on Campus calling for a rent strike as a last resort protest against the cost of living at the halls and the University’s dismissal. 

95bFM News Reporters, Shane and Oto, went down to the rally and spoke to Matthew Lee, the founder of Students for Fair Rent, as well as Green Party Co-Leader Chloe Swarbrick, to discuss call for a rent strike.

Last week Auckland mayor Phil Goff announced he is setting up a special task force to look into Auckland's housing shortage. Goff says the task force aims to get the most up-to-date information from the key players in the sector in order to address problems such as unaffordable homes, high rents and homelessness. He says local and central government must work together to address Auckland's housing crisis otherwise the issues associated with it will get worse. Reporter Sam Smith spoke to Goff about the new task force.

Producer Laura speaks with CEO of Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, Bindi Norwell, about the housing market and things that need to be done to allow for young New Zealand buyers to get into the property market. The Kelly talks with Bryan Bruce on how immigration is impacting the housing market and what government needs to do to fix our current housing crisis.