Here's another Labour fiasco - Labour & Kiwibuild:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/301...illion-bailout
How a developer held the Government to ransom for a $37.8 million bailout
Quote:
The Government has paid a major developer $37.8 million in a land deal, after it allegedly threatened to openly flout its legal obligations and sell scores of KiwiBuild homes out from underneath anxious buyers.
Documents released to Stuff under the Official Information Act show that developers The Neighbourhood Ormiston told Kāinga Ora (KO) they were on the brink of receivership and would need assistance.
Cabinet ministers allowed the housing agency to pay up against the advice of the Treasury, after being warned of "reputational damages" the debacle could cause to the KiwiBuild programme.
Quote:
“Without some form of intervention, the likelihood is that the developer would either cancel the sale and purchase agreements at the sunset date, and resell the homes on the open market to achieve additional sales revenue, or put the development into receivership,” government staff told ministers.
Ormiston gave the Government a deadline of October 6. This would have breached its contracts with KiwiBuild, but KO was under the impression it would do it anyway.
Quote:
Meanwhile, the Treasury opposed the deal, advising ministers that it could set a precedent.
“If ministers agree to this land acquisition to support a developer facing financial constraints, other KiwiBuild developers may form expectations of additional financial support.”
KO investigated this and found that there were 373 KiwiBuild properties out there with an unconditional contract that had likely been purchased at a price cap that was now lower than market value.
The Treasury also expressed concern with plans to raid the coffers of the KiwiBuild underwrite programme to pay for the deal.
So Robbo's RBNZ sidekick - Arian Awesome also knew about this looming Crisis heading towards the Labour Kiwibuild overseers & ministerial clueless faster than a speeding train immediately before the Election ? ;)
Quote:
In order to enable a speedy purchase, the Cabinet needed to sign off on appropriation of the funds.
Chris Hipkins, Carmel Sepuloni, Grant Robertson, Megan Woods and Kelvin Davis were each named on a document seeking approval.
The Labour Top huddle of 5 were all complicit in approving this to save Kiwibuild's miserable ass too ? ;)
No wonder Megan Housebuilder has kept her trap largely shut on Kiwibuild while the carnage was literally morphing into an even larger potential disaster .. most transparent .. If it had come out earlier, perhaps the landslide would have been worse .. with another Flagstaff Labour initiative - Kiwibuild laying badly in tatters
Quote:
If the government hadn’t stepped in, the 56 buyers would have been left without a home they had been waiting two to three years for.
Would have made for further large festering Crisis immediately before Election - wouldn't it ? :)
There will be further of this sort of hidden dealing being unearthed & aired in months & years to come .. :)