Fletcher to build 237 homes on Crown land at Hornby in Christchurch

As revealed yesterday, the current re-elected government is enabling un-controlled migration which has a consequence of pushing down local wages, but when it comes to allowing overseas construction firms into the tendering process it's a closed shop - a protection racket - protected species

Chris-M are you aware of the fight to open up competition for food products in Britain in the 1840s? There was legislation called the Corn Laws preventing Britons importing cheap grain. What this did was give local monopolies to the local landlowners -the aristocrats. The newly developing industrialists (productive capital) such as Richard Cobden did not like this because all his productivity was going to crony capitalists -the aristocrats in the form of high wages to pay for their workers food costs. Unions (productive labour), in particular in Shefield were part of a widespread campaign that lead to the repeal of the Corn laws in 1846. 

Wiki Corn Laws for further information.

Do you notice similar battled lines forming today?

Japan is incredibly interesting. The government compulsorily acquired the sites for all subway-oriented development decades ago. They operate as a landlord in conjunction with running the subway system and no subsidies are required from the taxpayer for either.

There are no issues with zero-sum gains to private property owners from subsidies to the public transport system - unlike Auckland.

If the government wants to intensify its developments at those sites, it just gets on and does it, and no added site rent is captured by private owners - unlike Auckland.

No NIMBY rights of objection delay and add costs to the intensifications - unlike Auckland.

The government operates as a socially consciencious landlord, with affordability as a primary objective - unlike the landlords in Auckland who own all the CBD sites where upzoning and heavy public transport investments are being made.

This actually creates a significant competitor in the whole urban economy, in the form of the "public transport oriented" sector of the urban economy being operated on a cost-plus basis, with initial site costs anchored decades in the past - unlike the government sector landlords in Hong Kong who follow the market upwards as "rent extractors", and unlike the private sector landlords in Auckland, who ensure the non-competitiveness of their own location at the expense of ratepayers and taxpayers everywhere else, and at the expense of motorists; all of whom pay their own way relating to the costs of the largely-dispersed "rest of the economy in Auckland".

I am an economic libertarian, but there is no way I am going to regard the Japanese approach as Communism by stealth. I possibly hate crony, rentier capitalism slightly more than I hate Communists. Of course the rest of the urban economy in Japan (outside the government owned and operated public transport oriented parts) is surprisingly lightly regulated, giving them the best of both worlds. 

Fletcher Building is starting to look like an expensive reincarnation of the Ministry of Works and Development. They are starting to look like the in-house builder.

In this case presumably they'll sub out civil works . But they do seem to have put up a comprehensive development proposal.

Fulton Hogan is a short bicycle ride away. Given that it's taxpayers money involved why not top-shelf all round.