The primary goal seems to be to make New Zealand as enticing as possible in order to outshine other countries. Essentially, the aim is to have an impressive marketing strategy that attracts overseas workers without properly conveying the high likelihood of lower pay, the exorbitant cost of living, and the limited prospects for securing adequate accommodation.

A scenario like this provides further evidence that Queenstown is a walking neoliberal experiment, where the State prioritizes and defends an aggressive economic system rather than working to establish stronger regulations for companies such as Skyline Enterprises, Airbnb, and a luxury development market that is leaving a significant number of local workers and families behind.

Once there was a little town, rich cafes abound,

Yet homeless workers wander, nowhere to be found.

Cafes adorned with luxury, and fake displays. 

In this little town, it’s the worker who pays.

“Before the law sits a gatekeeper. To this gatekeeper comes a man from the country who asks to gain entry into the law. But the gatekeeper says that he cannot grant him entry at the moment… The gatekeeper gives him a stool and allows him to sit down at the side in front of the gate. There he sits for days and years” Before the Law. Franz Kafka.