2008: Real Estate Authority

February 5, 2025

By AHNZ

The Real Estate Authority was created by Helen Clark’s Labour 5.0 Ministry at the eve of the 2008 General Election. This Crown Entity replaced the old Real Estate Licensing Board.

So, it’s basically a State-sponsored medieval guild organised to facilitate rent-seeking behavior in a lucrative industry. A hangover from Fortress New Zealand. It excludes free people from being able to do anything so hallowed as buying or selling land and buildings as an agent. Instead this is created as a privilege for those inducted into the State’s cult and in good standing with this guild.

Clark lost power to John Key’s National 5.0 and since Ministers Simon Power and Judith Collins were in control we may assume it was changed from ‘Red’ control to ‘Blue.’ In 2018 it changed its name from Real Estate Agents Authority to Real Estate Authority which suggests (as an Anarchist History rule-of-thumb) that Labour 6.0 had re-captured the guild for Team Red.

During Power and Collins’ time of guild control they bestowed upon it the ability to demand indoctrination rituals upon members (“continuing education programme.”) As usual in New Zealand history, National had set a horrible precedent that Labour would go on to follow horrifically.

The REA now had statutory powers to force members to undergo various indoctrination rites and rituals or be cast out. Famously in 2023 it forced political views (“Maori didn’t give sovereignty”) and religious views (“know the Maori gods and how to worship them”) upon members. Janet Dickson found being a REA acolyte clashed with her other faith: Presbyterianism. Dickson challenged the REA in a High Court attempt to overthrow the State’s statutory powers over guild members. Of course this failed but it took many highly paid lawyers (all women, Dixon pointed out as an interesting side-note) 6 months to reach this finding.

“High Court Justice Helen McQueen decided against her, and dismissed her application for a judicial review. Dickson, who was working recently for Harcourts in Howick, Auckland, has had a 30-year career in real estate with no disciplinary action.” – NZ Herald (4/2/2025)

“I downloaded the coursebook so I could see what it was about and it’s saying they [Māori] didn’t give sovereignty when they signed the Treaty, there’s no such thing as equality – it’s called equity, and there’s Māori preference in everything. “This thing says we have to know who the Māori gods are and name them, learn how to pray to them, write prayers to them and learn how to worship them. “And I’m sorry, that is the wrong button to push. I’m a 100 per cent committed Christian and there’s no way I’m going to give any room in my life to any foreign gods.” – Times (4/2/2025)

“I have been brought up amongst Māori, taught in a Māori school, etc., etc. I don’t need it….The Real Estate Authority is a Crown entity, so we’ve got obligations under there. At this point, they’ve got the power to do it, and you know what? In the Act, it doesn’t say they can’t. Nobody ever dreamed that anyone would do this. Our next step is to change the law, Mike. That’s what we’re doing.” – Dixon, Newstalk ZB (4/2/2025)

“I will not sit down and learn how to worship the Māori gods. I’m a 100% committed Christian—sorry, that does not work for me. Nobody can make me do that. If for nothing else, that alone was a no way.” – ibid

“Every established order tends to produce the naturalisation of its own arbitrariness.” – Pierre Bourdieu

National 6.0 have only recently come to power and have not had time yet to re-capture this particular guild and switch it from Red to Blue. Paul Goldsmith is Minister of Justice but he’s no Power or Collins so perhaps we won’t see the re-politicisation of the REA just yet. Goldsmith will look powerless if he even comments before the term of the old Ardern-era REA Directors expires and he can put in new ones. Until the Minister has the ability to enforce anything the government will leave people like Dixon hanging in the wind. Only then will this story come back to life again.

Anarchists roll their eyes. These professional boardroom jockeys (Belinda Moffat and her crew) will scuttle off to find darker places to brood until a Labour Ministry return. Under the new light of National 6.0 some different critters will come out from under their rocks to take up the vacant directors’ chairs. The rites (“continuing education programming”) and perhaps even the logos and titles will change around a bit and we’ll be back to where we started.

A real solution to the problem of something so important as property being mistreated as a political football is to get The State out of it forever. Return this industry to the people instead of handing it over to niche politicians who make sport out of signalling Conspicuous Affiliations with a view to being appointed to them. I doubt many of them really believe in the arcane political viewpoints they Virtue Signal one way or the other but, then again, going Full Boardroom Retard (never go FBR!) would probably favour their success in the competition. Their views are arbitrary, except in the service of gaining and keeping control of a power/money funnel, but as sociologist Pierre Bourdieu said they will ruthlessly demand that their doctrines are right/good/natural.

Human beings have been able to buy and sell things, trade, for thousands of years both for themselves and on behalf of others. There is no valid reason why a State-controlled medieval guild should be given control over any instance of that. Why suppose that this or any industry would be better off being administered by the whims of transient warlords who play a bloody game of corporate warfare against each other to see who is ‘in’ and who is ‘out’?

Let people self-regulate and we’ll simply become less dependent, less self-victimising, versions of humanity as our Colonial ancestors were. We will soon figure out how to buy and sell real estate without Sith-like Masters and sycophantic deluded over-dressed Apprentices. Their clubhouses. The ubiquitous advertising on cars and park benches and roadside berms. Their proprietary arcania. Their huge commission fees. It’s a corrupt influence dragging New Zealand down.

Anarchy or bust.

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Ref. Real Estate Authority, Wiki

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