Ryan Bridge: What's cruel versus fair in the social housing debate

Early Edition with Ryan Bridge · May 21, 2026 · 2m · transcript

Nicola Willis' Lotto comment yesterday was clumsy, but in the end, much ado about nothing.

The politics of this housing thing are pretty simple. You've got 80,000 social housing tenants who probably weren't going to vote National, who now definitely won't vote National.

You've got 110,000 better-off voters who might soften to you. You've got a frothy media and opposition who will use this as a stick to beat the Government with until November.

But here are the facts. If you're a voter worried about rent, they're now materially cheaper than they were under the last lot. The average is down $30…