David Farrar Lies About Homelessness

Once again, David Farrar, the perennial cheerleader for the National Party, has taken to his Kiwiblog platform to peddle distortions about homelessness under the Labour government. His latest post, “Labour increased homelessness,” is a dishonest exercise in selective storytelling, cherry-picking statistics to paint a grim picture of Jacinda Ardern's tenure while glossing over the social devastation wrought by the current government's austerity. Farrar’s tactics are emblematic of a broader right-wing strategy: deflect accountability for the social destruction their policies are causing by weaponising numbers and half-truths against the previous administration.


Yesterday, Kiwiblog posted:

Labour increased homelessness

Do you recall Jacinda promised to solve homelessness? I think she said in four weeks.

Would it surprise anyone to learn that according to the census, it increased 37%?

The Homelessness Insights report shows that the numbers homeless increased from 3,624 in 2018 to 4,965 in 2023. In the previous five years, it dropped 12%. So Key and English saw a 12% decline and Ardern a 37% increase.

So let's dive right in. Farrar claims homelessness surged 37% under Labour, citing the Homelessness Insights Report, which shows an increase in the “without shelter” category from 3,624 in 2018 to 4,965 in 2023. The figure is accurate but deceptively narrow. The broader 2023 Census data reveals severe housing deprivation rose by a more modest 13%, from 99,462 to 112,496 people. By fixating on the most dramatic statistic, Farrar obscures the full context, including improved Census methodologies and statistics gathering for homeless people that better captured the true extent of the problem in 2023, which likely accounts for the 13% increase. This isn’t analysis by the National Party's gnome, it’s sleight of hand, designed to inflame rather than inform.

More egregiously, Farrar fabricates a claim that Jacinda Ardern promised to solve homelessness within four weeks. However, no such pledge exists. It's a complete lie by an irrelevant blogger who should retire. It's true that Ardern’s 2017 campaign focused on addressing the housing crisis and reducing homelessness, with commitments to expand public housing and tackle systemic issues like affordability. But Farrar’s “four weeks” assertion is a baseless caricature, echoing the right’s penchant for trying to rewrite history to discredit progressive leadership. It’s a lazy smear, unsupported by any evidence, yet perfectly aligned with the National Party’s false narrative about Labour’s governance.

David Farrar dressed as Jimmy Saville

This dishonesty isn’t Farrar’s alone. National Party leaders like Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis have similarly leaned on selective data to attack Labour’s record while ignoring their own government’s failures. Since taking office in 2023, the coalition of chaos has tightened emergency housing eligibility, with a 386% spike in rejections by the Ministry of Social Development in 2024, often for vague reasons like applicants, including women trying to escape domestic abuse, “contributing to their own homelessness.”

These changes, championed by Housing Minister Chris Bishop, have pushed vulnerable families out of motels and into precarious situations, with no clear alternative. Labour’s Duncan Webb has warned that such policies risk leaving families “stranded,” a critique echoed in a 24 July 2025 Labour press release noting large increases in homelessness under Luxon’s watch. Farrar and National conveniently omit this, blaming Labour while their own policies intentionally dismantle New Zealand's safety nets.

The right’s hypocrisy is stark. Farrar’s post contrasts a supposed 12% homelessness drop under John Key and Bill English with Labour’s 37% rise, but this comparison is very flawed. The 12% figure likely refers to broader housing deprivation (2013–2018), not the “without shelter” category he cites, and pre-2018 data collection was less rigorous, undercounting rough sleepers by thousands. Meanwhile, National’s current emergency housing restrictions are driving people onto the streets, with no acknowledgment from Farrar.

This mirrors a broader right-wing pattern: implement austerity, cancel state house builds, deregulate housing markets, and then blame progressives when the social fabric frays. Farrar’s distortions aren't just about numbers, they’re about deflecting from the human cost of right-wing governance.

By misrepresenting data and fabricating promises, Farrar and National obscure their own role in deepening inequality, of which Aotearoa ranks within the top third of OECD countries. New Zealanders deserve better than this tired playbook of deception, they deserve a government that faces the housing crisis head-on, not one that spins statistics to dodge accountability.