Ryan Bridge: The Government should go all in on Auckland

There’s a very good reason National’s talking about a revamping the major events fund - or as the PM said on Monday, stuffing the pipeline with more events.  It’s the same reason you’re seeing them announce just half an hour ago they’re creating a new business investor visa - foreigners will get a fast-track to residency for chucking $2m into a Kiwi business.  It’s the same reason they’ll announce in a few weeks that some wealthy investors will be able to buy expensive houses here. From November, they're trialling visa-free holidays for the Chinese coming here via Australia. Expect to see more where this came from. The reason is to boost growth, but specifically, they hope, in our largest city. It’s all about Auckland. It’s the giant missing piece of the puzzle. Their runway for sorting the economy by election time hinges on them throwing the kitchen sink at the Jaffas. It’s 40% of our GDP but a sort of economic malaise has set in. Not everywhere and not in every industry, but the two speed recovery is real, the vibe’s off, and the numbers back it up. I asked the PM about this on Monday, he says they’re basically looking at everything and anything for Auckland. I reckon they'll campaign on a bed tax and announce they intend to that late this year or early next.  To win the next election, you don’t need to win all of Auckland, but if you lose Auckland, you're stuffed. Ask Chippy - Labour scored 29% of the party vote in Auckland.  This is increasingly a city of migrants, and these policies are aimed at them, their families, and their businesses.  42% of Aucklanders were born overseas. Along with Otago, it's where most of the expensive houses are that wealthy investors will be able to buy. To boost this economy in a short to medium term window the government’s clearly targeting migration, foreign investment (which often comes through existing connections to this city), foreign students, Chinese tourists, and big events. The question is how quickly they can give this city the tickle up in needs and whether they’ve left enough runway to turn things around. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.