WE'VE NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD!

Living in a garage in the middle of a Christchurch winter is positive, says Gerry Brownlee!

For months the Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee has been denying there is a housing crisis in Christchurch and, specifically, the eastern suburbs.  But as  the crisis has deepened Brownlee's claims that there is nothing  fundamentally wrong have become increasingly shrill and ridiculous.

But Brownlee's credibility has sunk even further - if that could be possible. When confronted with even more evidence of a deepening housing crisis, he has absurdly claimed that it is 'positive' for Christchurch!

According to new Trade Me figures rents climbed  26 percent in the second quarter of 2012. And demand for housing rose 47 percent while supply  actually fell by 34 percent. If anything, these figures underestimate the  scale of the crisis.

Trade Me commented that the skyrocketing rents  was 'grim' for  Christchurch tenants  compared to the rest of the country.

So increasing rents are driving more and   people into  poverty while bloodsucking  landlords have been given a free hand to  exploit the situation.

But according  to Brownlee: "I see these figures as being a huge positive for the future of this city. This is a very, very positive story for Christchurch."

Unbelievable

Only Brownlee could see anything positive' in the reality of people living in garages and cars. Of course since this clown  never spends more than one day a week in Christchurch, he has never actually been into the eastern suburbs to see what people have to deal with everyday.

According to  Brownlee its 'very encouraging' to have more and more  people searching for less and less affordable housing. This man is an idiot.

Of course if he was to  front up and admit there was a crisis that  would put the onus on the Government to intervene to ito ameliorate the worst excesses of the crisis.  Instead the Government has abandoned the eastern suburbs  to the hyenas of 'the market'.

If Christchurch  had a mayor who  was doing his job, he would be right now publicly chastising Brownlee for insulting the people of Christchurch and be  demanding that the Government decisively  intervene in the crisis.  But Mayor Sideshow Bob is the  ineffectual toady of Brownlee's and he'll keep his mouth shut. Anyway Bob has more important priorities - like how to wangle  a ratepayer-funded  overseas trip for himself and the wife.