Editorial: The last thing Hawke's Bay needs is rich Aucklanders

Fleeing for Wānaka was a dumb move. But the meltdown has been disproportionate. Photo / NZME

EDITORIAL:

What if I told you that every time you write a social media comment ripping into the Wānaka couple, the cost of buying a house in Hawke's Bay goes up.

The couple, Karaka horse breeder William Willis and his lawyer partner Hannah Rawnsley, have well and truly fallen off their high horses this week.

The couple was dobbed in to police for fleeing locked-down Auckland and flying to a holiday home beside the stunning South Island lake.

It's easy to get angry at them and people sure did, especially when the pair sought name suppression.

Clearly that horse had bolted - a 2017 story that Hawke's Bay Today wrote about Willis' equestrian feats received thousands of views out of the blue on Monday as Kiwis sought details about the couple.

Our collective meltdown in response to their offending was beneath us, and our claims of being a kind and decent country.

It will have an entirely unintended impact.

Aucklanders are now in their fifth week of level 4 lockdown. It's a brutal time for everyone who lives there and there will be many having difficult conversations about their future in the city.

Covid, and particularly Delta, is not going away.

We're still looking at three years before a return to full normality, if things ever go back to normal.

As kids, we did a 40-hour "famine" to raise money for World Vision, not realising we'd be preparing for a 40-month challenge in our adult lives.

So far it's Auckland that's done most of the heavy lifting.

They're the international gateway to NZ and it's clear they're most at risk of future outbreaks and lockdowns, even if this one can be stamped out.

Aucklanders have had to wake up to this in 2021.

And those with power, influence (and holiday homes) will have had both eyes on the social media slam dunks dished out to Willis and Rawnsley.

"Whoever dobbed them in should be knighted," wrote Hilary Barry. The term Wānaka w***ers was a theme. "White privilege" became the catch cry.

For those considering moving permanently, the braying comments could've been the last push they needed to actually do it.

Hawke's Bay's house prices are already soaring. The average property price during the last 12 months to September jumped from $623,000 to $827,000 in the region, according to data from OneRoof-Valocity.

That's an average jump of $23.40 an hour for the entire year - more than what working 24 hours a day on the minimum wage ($20 an hour) would get you.

We're getting dangerously close to being a region with an average house price of $1 million.

The last thing we now need is an influx of rich Aucklanders choosing to come here to give themselves a better chance of free movement in Covid times.

As someone still trying to break into the housing market, I would ask you to calmly read the news about our next lockdown breacher/human sacrifice, whoever they may be.

Feel free to tut-tut at their naughtiness, but before you write a comment, consider putting down your phone and going for a walk.

We might all benefit from that.