Harking back to a more rational era

This is from the 1970's,before the era of neo-liberalism, before advocating the national interest or the greater public good was seen as "nationalism" or even "fascism"

Throwback: 1970s National ad warned of immigration's effect on housing

To watch the video GO HERE

Newshub,

10 May, 2017

A 1970s political broadcast by the National Party warned of the "alarming" effect high immigration would have on housing.

Released back in 1975, the ad shows "the horrors of over-population in our cities: violence, lack of housing, poor schooling, unemployment and the dangers of immigration," as described by the Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision archives.

"The cities grew alarmingly, people poured in, not just from the country but from other countries as well," the narrator says over the cartoon ad.

Animated by US company Hanna-Barbera, the ad links unaffordable housing to immigration levels, and then proposes to cut immigration.

"Sixty-two thousand in just two years, nobody could build enough houses so the price went up and nobody could afford one."

"Soon there were not enough schools or hospitals, then one day there weren't enough jobs either, the people became angry and violence broke out."

The party promised to "stop the flood of people into our cities", in sharp contrast with its current pro-immigration policies.

In 1975, National promised to cut immigration from 32,000 to around 5000 people each year.The ad blames an increase in violence on immigrants, saying violence broke out "especially among those who had come from other places expecting great things".

The latest figures from March 2017 show net migration is at about 70,000 per year, and has been steadily increasing since 2012.

National's ad says they'll encourage new and high density housing in cities to stop urban sprawl, "but this doesn't mean high rise apartments, for at all times the environment in which you live will be our first consideration."

Law and order was also a key policy promise, including making sure that police had enough manpower to do their jobs.

"On your way to work tomorrow look around you, and then remember that we have a plan to make our cities nice places to bring up children again," is the ad's parting message. 

Hanna-Barbera also produced one of the country's most notorious political adverts, another National ad from 1975 about superannuation.

This ad takes aim at Labour's compulsory superannuation scheme and includes a man dodging a noose, and dancing Cossacks suggesting that the party was verging on communism.

Part of Labour's 1975 campaign included building more state houses, and helping young people to build homes of their own on sections of their own. 

National won the election with Robert Muldoon becoming Prime Minister and the party taking 47.6 percent of the vote to Labour's 39.6 percent.

Fast forwarding 30 years to 2017, housing and immigration are once again central to the election campaigns.

In the most recent Newshub-Reid research poll, 72 percent of respondents said that Government was not doing enough to control the housing market.

Just 19 percent said they were doing enough.

In the same poll, when asked if the Government should cut immigration 51 percent of people said yes, 39 percent said no, and 10 percent didn't know.

In 2017, it's Labour making promises about cuts to immigration by up to 50,000 a year while National calls that policy Trump-esque and maintain that there's no housing crisis.