It shows how badly National needs to move on housing, that a government previously obsessed with bringing down debt, is now taking on $1 billion of it.

But something had to be done. Homelessness is on the rise, as is inequality, however much the government tried to bat away the statistics proving the problem was getting worse.

Until now there’s been a lot of spin, and a few band-aids. The spin was in the form of senior National MPs repeatedly saying the housing crisis was a good problem to have, the type of problem other countries would like. That it came from our booming economy, and the increased immigration that supplied more willing workers.

What was never mentioned in that spin was that the record house prices were regularly rated by both Treasury and the Reserve Bank as the biggest threat to derailing our economy. Meanwhile, Labour made hay at the Government’s expense, warning the nation’s young people were on track to becoming Generation Rent.

Then came the band-aids. Building consents were issued in increasing numbers, but still not fast enough to meet population growth. Pop-up temporary housing was suggested for Auckland, to at least put a roof over the head of the increasing numbers of homeless people.

So finally, at the party’s annual conference this weekend, they brought out the big guns with the infrastructure spend. $1 billion is not to be sneezed at, and infrastructure is a good place to put it. It makes it easier to build the extra houses that are desperately needed, and the bidding process lets National put more pressure on councils, to cut the red tape getting in the way.

But the Government is borrowing to get that cash, and the whole country is paying the interest on that loan, rather than just the cities where there’s a housing shortage. The regions are sensitive to feeling like they pay for Auckland’s problems, and in this case, they certainly are.

Only time will tell if it’s a compromise voters will stomach in order to get the houses they’ve been crying out for.