Tama Potaka Hides Homelessness Report as Crisis Deepens

In a move that reeks of political obfuscation, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka has sat on a critical homelessness insights report for over a month, refusing to make it public while claiming he’s still “seeking official advice” on its contents. This delay isn't just bureaucratic dawdling; it’s a calculated attempt to bury inconvenient truths about the National-led government’s role in exacerbating New Zealand’s homelessness crisis.

On Wednesday, Stuff reported:

Labour pushes for Potaka to release homelessness briefing amid concerns over rising numbers

Labour is demanding the release of a government briefing on homelessness, warning it may confirm that record-level homelessness has worsened under the National-led coalition’s watch.

“Everyone is saying that homelessness is going up at unprecedented levels,” Labour’s housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. “Given that he [Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka] is the only one - alongside the prime minister and the minister of housing - that is denying homelessness is going up, I’m not surprised he’s pretty reluctant to release the report.”

Potaka received the latest homelessness insights report from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) last month, part of a regular six-monthly series monitoring the effects of government housing policy to reduce the number of people living in emergency housing through toughening the entry criteria.

But he has yet to make the document public, saying he is still seeking official advice on its contents, although he has acknowledged anecdotal evidence pointed to a rising trend.

 

As the streets of Auckland and Wellington swell with those left without shelter, the government’s refusal to release this data speaks volumes about it prioritising optics over people.

The Coalition of Chaos' policies have systematically dismantled the safety nets that once offered hope to the most vulnerable. Their aggressive push to slash emergency housing numbers, celebrated by them as a 75% reduction in households living in motels (from 3,141 in December 2023 to 591 by January 2025), masks a grim reality.

While Tama Potaka trumpets that 2,124 children have moved from motels to “homes,” the government admits it doesn’t track where 20% of these families, roughly 510 households, have ended up. The evidence points to a spike in rough sleeping, with Auckland Council reporting a 53% rise in people living on the streets between September 2024 and January 2025. Wellington’s Downtown Community Ministry also noted a 33% increase in rough sleepers from October to December 2024.

Changes to emergency housing eligibility have tightened the screws on those already at breaking point. Stricter criteria mean applicants are increasingly declined or deemed ineligible, with some turned away because their decision to flee domestic violence was seen as “contributing” to their homelessness, a grotesque misinterpretation that Potaka has publicly disavowed but still persists.
 

On June 16, Stuff reported:

Tama Potaka denies blame on homelessness, as Women’s Refuge raises alarm

Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka is denying his policies are to blame for reports of increased homelessness or domestic violence victims being denied emergency housing.

...

Women’s Refuge says access to emergency housing an issue

Potaka was also questioned about reports the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) had denied emergency housing to women attempting to escape domestic violence.

Last week, Stuff heard from charities across the country that raised concerns about difficulties accessing emergency housing for people leaving violent homes.

The Ministry of Social Development’s scrapping of the first phase of its “early interventions” programme, meant to prevent homelessness, was ludicrously justified by an overwhelming workload tied to Jobseeker benefit changes, leaving vulnerable Kiwis to fend for themselves. These policies, coupled with the government’s refusal to reinstate a legal obligation for MSD to grant emergency housing, have created a revolving door of hardship.

Compounding this crisis is National’s gutting of state housing. Thousands of planned public housing builds, with Kāinga Ora halting the development of 212 housing projects that would have delivered 3479 new homes, have been cancelled, with funding for community housing providers slashed to a measly 750 new places annually. This is a far cry from the ambitious programmes under the previous government, which, while not perfect, recognised the need for a robust public housing stock to address the 112,496 people (2.3% of the population) estimated to be severely housing deprived in the 2023 Census.

#BHN Is the Govt hiding homeless numbers | Cost of living gets worse | Seymour wants karakia gone https://t.co/HW9RyR409y

— Pat Brittenden (@patbrittenden) July 17, 2025

National’s preference for private sector solutions and community housing providers, while starving Kāinga Ora of resources, has left a gaping hole in the housing safety net. Mainstream media, with few exceptions, have been complicit in this silence, generally failing to hold Potaka and the government to account for withholding this report.

This lack of scrutiny allows National to manipulate the narrative, presenting their emergency housing cuts as a success while ignoring the human cost. Worse, the government’s broader pattern of dismantling statistical transparency, evident in their lax tracking of where families go post-emergency housing and cancelling of future Censuses, suggests a deliberate strategy to obscure data as homelessness and other social conditions worsen.

New Zealand deserves better. Potaka’s refusal to release this report isn't just a failure of transparency; it’s a betrayal of the approximately 100,000 Kiwis, including 60,000 Māori, grappling with homelessness. The government’s policies, stricter emergency housing rules, cancelled state house builds, and a punitive welfare system, are driving people to the streets. It’s time for accountability, not obfuscation. But we are unlikely to see any change for the better while National is in power.

The Dangerous Lie That Homelessness is a Choice

The callous rhetoric emerging from this Government's housing ministers reveals a profound disconnect from the harsh realities facing thousands of New Zealanders. When politicians like Mark Mitchell and Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell suggest that homelessness is somehow a matter of personal choice, they perpetuate a dangerous myth that absolves the state of its fundamental responsibility to provide adequate housing for all citizens.

Yesterday, Stuff reported:

 

Mayor says police minister ‘well informed’ in saying 'sleeping rough is a lifestyle choice here'

The mayor of Rotorua says the police minister was “well informed” with comments about rough sleeping as a “lifestyle choice” there.

There was a group of about 12 to 15 homeless people in Rotorua who were choosing to sleep on footpaths in the city centre, Mayor Tania Tapsell said.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell, at an event on Thursday to launch a “beat team” to patrol the city centre on foot, said many rough sleepers chose to be on the street.

Asked on Thursday how the new team of five constables and a sergeant would help with the issue, Mitchell said the officers knew most of the people, and their circumstances.

“A lot of rough sleepers have got somewhere they can go and sleep, but that's a lifestyle choice they choose to come out onto the street,” Mitchell said.

“There's a whole lot of reasons for that. Might be mental health reasons, or they just feel a sense of community when they come together.”

“I can't comment for every rough sleeper, but from my own experience, rough sleepers have got somewhere to go,” Mitchell said.

Tapsell said the minister’s comments were “well informed”, and based on what they’d been hearing on the ground in Rotorua.

Council staff had for three months been trying to support those people into housing, but they’d told her, local organisations, and media, that they were choosing to, or preferred to, sleep on the streets.

“Some also do have accommodation to go to,” Tapsell said.

This narrative isn't merely tone-deaf, it's actively harmful. The assertion that people "choose" to sleep rough ignores the complex web of circumstances that force individuals and families into homelessness: job losses, family breakdown, mental health crises, and most critically, the systematic dismantling of social safety nets that once provided a pathway to stable housing.

The Government's approach to emergency housing provides a stark illustration of their ideological blindness. Rather than addressing the root causes of homelessness, officials have focused obsessively on reducing numbers through administrative sleight of hand. The target has been achieved early with the 3141 households in emergency housing in December 2023 reduced to just 591 a year later. This dramatic reduction sounds impressive until one examines the methodology: The rate of applications being declined has also almost tripled from 3% a month in the 2023 calendar year to 10% for August 2024.

The strategy is brutally simple: make it harder to access emergency housing, and the statistics improve. They've more than halved in the last year: in July 2024 there were 3,330 people in emergency housing, down from 7,554 in July 2023. 

Emergency housing applications have plummeted from an average of 8,660 applications per month last year to under 4,000 per month now, a clear indication that people are being actively discouraged from seeking help. 

The Ministry of Social Development is now declining more than 90 emergency housing applications monthly because people have apparently "caused or contributed to their immediate need," a subjective criterion that places blame on vulnerable individuals, including women trying to escape domestic violence, rather than addressing systemic failures and a lack of investment. 

But where have these people gone? The answer is grimly predictable: into cars, onto the streets, and into increasingly precarious arrangements that render them invisible to official statistics.

In Rotorua, the Government's flagship intervention has been equally callous. Rotorua is a focus for the government, who is cutting the number of motels contracted to provide emergency housing from 13 down to seven. They also plan to reduce this further to just four motels by mid-2025. This isn't housing policy; it's social cleansing dressed up as administrative efficiency.

The human cost of this approach became starkly apparent during "Operation Trolley," when police targeted homeless individuals using shopping trolleys to transport their possessions. Waiariki MP Rawiri Waititi's response to this operation captured the fundamental issue: homelessness represents governmental failure, not personal deficiency.

Meanwhile, the Government's housing construction programme has stagnated. According to Stats NZ, new dwelling consents nationwide in 2024 were down 9.8% on 2023. This decline comes precisely when New Zealand faces its most severe housing crisis in decades. The nation's housing stock has failed to keep pace with population growth, and the Government's response has been to reduce both public housing targets and support for private construction.

The economic environment has compounded these policy failures. Rising interest rates and construction costs have driven private developers from the market, while the Government has simultaneously reduced its own building commitments. This dual contraction has created a perfect storm of reduced supply precisely when demand remains acute.

The social implications extend far beyond individual hardship. When governments normalise homelessness through rhetoric about "choice," they erode the fundamental social contract that underpins democratic society. The suggestion that people voluntarily embrace destitution is not merely factually incorrect, it is morally reprehensible.

New Zealand once prided itself on being a nation where hard work and fair play guaranteed basic security. That promise has been systematically undermined by policies that prioritise fiscal austerity over human dignity. The current Government's approach represents ideological extremism dressed up as economic necessity.

The path forward requires acknowledging that housing is a human right, not a commodity to be rationed according to market whims. This means substantial investment in public housing, regulation of speculation that drives prices beyond the reach of ordinary families.

Until politicians abandon the cruel fiction that homelessness represents personal choice rather than policy failure, New Zealand will continue its descent from egalitarian society to stratified oligarchy. The question isn't whether we can afford to house all New Zealanders...it is whether we can afford not to.

Chris Luxon's Numerous Comms Disasters

Christopher Luxon’s neoliberal government is lurching from one communications disaster to another, making a complete mockery of their promise to govern with transparency and competence. The PM’s incessant bleating about “turbocharging the economy” is laughably detached from reality, while Ministers such as Brooke van Velden and Tama Potaka trip over their own rhetoric, trying to ignore the damage done by their regressive policies. From Auckland to Invercargill, this government’s ineptitude is on full display.

Let’s start with Luxon, the self-anointed economic guru, banging on about his coalition’s supposed turbocharge of New Zealand’s economy. Whether he’s in Wellington or Waikato, the man’s spruiking growth like a used-car salesman flogging a lemon. Yet Business NZ’s latest stats, covering regions from Canterbury to Northland, paint a grim picture: business confidence is in the gutter, activity’s stagnating, and employers are again bracing for tougher times.

Last Friday, Business NZ reported: 

 

Back in the red

New Zealand’s manufacturing sector fell back into contraction during May, according to the latest BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI).

The seasonally adjusted PMI for May was 47.5 (a PMI reading above 50.0 indicates that manufacturing is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining). This was down from 53.3 in April and a return to contraction after four consecutive months of expansion. The survey was also well below the average of 52.5 since it began.

On Monday, Business NZ also reported:

Service with a slump

New Zealand’s services sector continued to show further decline in activity during May, according to the BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI).

The PSI for May was 44.0 (A PSI reading above 50.0 indicates that the service sector is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining). This was down 4.1 points from April and well below the average of 53.0 over the history of the survey.

…

BNZ’s Senior Economist Doug Steel said that “the fall in the PSI follows the sharp decline in the Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) from 53.3 to 47.5. Together, they are consistent with the economy returning to recession. We’re a long way from forecasting this, but the data are a reminder of just how vulnerable the economy currently is”.

Even babbling fools like right-wing propagandists Duncan Garner, Ryan Bridge and Mike Hosking have noticed and are starting to grumble. Luxon’s rhetoric isn’t anywhere near the reality of what people are seeing on the ground.

Luxon’s either willfully blind or genuinely out of his depth, and neither bodes well for a bloke who sold himself as New Zealand's corporate saviour. This isn’t just spin; it’s a delusion that insults every Kiwi who is currently struggling to pay the bills.

literally four days ago, he was saying the economy is booming https://t.co/xvPZIrciD2 pic.twitter.com/ZVPwSdJRuH

— Clint Smith (@ClintVSmith) June 16, 2025

Then there’s the sick leave debacle. Luxon, shooting himself in the foot, claimed that the government was looking at halving sick leave from 10 days to five, an optically terrible move given they'd just gutted Pay Equity Claims, which will disproportionately effect women's pay packets.

After some fallout, enter Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden, stage left, frantically insisting there’s “no intention” to do any such thing. So, Brooke, is your boss making it up, or are you papering over a policy that’d impact low income women workers again?

Brooke van Velden's attempt to pivot to “pro-rated sick leave” for part-timers only muddies the waters further, leaving businesses equally baffled at the government’s mixed messages. This isn’t leadership; it’s a comedy sketch, and the punchline’s on us.

On Monday, 1 News reported:

No plan to halve sick leave, minister says after Luxon's comments

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was asked during an interview with Morning Report whether his Government was looking at reducing the number of leave days from 10 to five.

"That's something that I know [Workplace Relations and Safety Minister] Brooke van Velden is looking into. She looks at a whole raft of workplace relations," Luxon replied.

"It's a bit premature for now."

But van Velden told RNZ it was not something she was looking into.

Over in housing, it's another comms mess, as Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka peddles denialism so brazen it’d make an oil executive blush. Homelessness is surging, RNZ reporting a 58% spike in Auckland, with similar trends in Rotorua and Nelson. But the deluded Potaka claims his government’s policies aren’t to blame. Really? Slashing emergency housing access and tightening eligibility criteria for state houses have left frontline providers in Christchurch and Gisborne struggling to cope, with even domestic violence survivors being turned away from safe and secure emergency housing.

The increased number of homeless people in New Zealand isn’t easy for the public to ignore, and the government is desperate to blame anything other than their socially destructive policies.

Taking over from Chris Bishop, whose credibility is currently in the gutter after his drunken and racist outburst at the AMA, Tama Potaka is dodging responsibility by pointing to “market pressures” and lying about “rental shortages” as if National’s austerity obsession hasn’t caused the housing crises to considerably worsen. Potaka’s refusal to own this crisis is a gut-punch to the vulnerable, and will not be easily ignored by voters come election time.

 

Yesterday, RNZ reported:

Homelessness increase not necessarily due to government policy changes - minister

The minister in charge of emergency housing has been unable to say whether homelessness has increased under this government, saying frontline providers have made "a variety" of comments to him.

Providers and advocates have told RNZ they have been seeing a spike in homelessness, with some blaming changes the government has made to emergency housing access.

But Tama Potaka told a committee of MPs there were "a lot of other contributing factors," such as the state of the economy and the supply of rentals.

How is a Minister of the Crown even able to be completely ignorant of the fact that the number of rental listings is up 25% nationwide, largely due to overpricing and everybody moving to Australia?

The government has dismissed concerns that stricter emergency housing criteria has led to an increase in homelessness.

However, Auckland Council's Community Committee recorded a 53 percent rise in people sleeping rough, from 426 people last September to 653 people in January, while data from Wellington's Downtown Community Ministry showed an increase in the number of people rough sleeping from October to December 2024, by about a third in comparison to the year before.

…

As part of the gateway changes, MSD staff have been assessing whether an applicant has "unreasonably contributed" to their situation, or whether they had taken "reasonable efforts" to find other options.

Some advocates have told RNZ it has led to survivors of sexual or domestic violence being turned away from emergency housing because their decision to leave their situation was seen as "contributing" to their homelessness.

National’s emergency and state housing charade is a disgrace! Potaka crowing about new builds in Rotorua, Hamilton, and Porirua, conveniently forgetting these were funded by Labour’s budget, isn't just stupid, it's so opaque it's practically glass.

Potaka’s press releases might dupe the odd brainless punter, but anyone with a pulse knows this is Labour’s legacy, not National’s largesse, especially as homelessness climbs under their watch.

On Sunday, 1 News reported:

Nearly 200 new homes for Rotorua in affordable housing push

Nearly 200 new affordable homes will be developed in Rotorua by mid-2027 under a community-led housing initiative backed by the Government, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka announced.

Of the 189 homes, up to 150 would be social housing to be delivered by June 2027 by the Rotorua Lakes Council, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, and community housing providers.

…

The 150 social homes would be funded through $140 million allocated in Budget 2024 for 1500 new homes across the country.

Please correct your propaganda, @1NewsNZ. It’s 1,500 new social housing PLACES (paid for by @nzlabour) nationwide over four years, not 1500 new state houses. National has cancelled 1019, demolished 700 and sold 800. Another 672 are under review. #nzpolhttps://t.co/PKZXJQzpy5

— Jackal (@Jackalblog) June 15, 2025

This government’s communications strategy, if you can call a trainwreck a strategy, is a complete disaster. Luxon, van Velden, and Potaka aren’t just failing to communicate; they’re failing to govern by any stretch of the imagination. Contradictions, lies, and denial are eroding trust. Kiwis, from Kaitaia to Bluff, deserve better than this shambolic circus. Chris Luxon’s government needs to shape up, or ship out.

Dunedin Mayor Calls On Government To Help Homeless

Last week, a fire tore through a homeless camp at Dunedin’s Oval, destroying tents and makeshift shelters in a stark reminder of New Zealand’s soul-destroying housing crisis. This isn’t just a tragedy, it’s a predictable outcome of the Coalition of Chaos’s reckless policies, which have gutted funding for emergency accommodation and homelessness initiatives while leaving vulnerable Kiwis to fend for themselves.

Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich lamented the blaze, pointing the finger at the government’s failure to fund proper housing solutions. He’s right of course, but let’s not kid ourselves: this is a crisis engineered by National and its mates, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop leading the charge in dismantling the state’s role in providing safe and affordable housing for all New Zealanders.


On Friday, Scoop reported:

 

Mayor: Govt Funding Needed To Help Tackle Homelessness

Mayor of Dunedin Jules Radich says a fire which burnt through homeless people’s shelters at the Oval sportsground underscores the urgent need for government action.

The fire swept through tents and a temporary wooden structure at the edge of the Oval this morning, and it was just fortunate there were no serious injuries or deaths, Mayor Radich says.

“We could have been waking up to news of a fatality, and I’m extremely relieved that isn’t the case, but this morning’s fire should put the government on notice that action is needed.

“Winter is coming, and with it the cold temperatures that will only make a bad situation worse for our homeless community.”

Radich called for government funding to support facilities like the proposed Aaron Lodge hub, a plan torpedoed by Bishop himself, who dismissed it as “not viable.” This is the same Bishop who’s overseen the dismantling of state house builds, in Dunedin especially, while the city’s homeless population balloons to over 3,200. 11 state houses over three years is evidently not enough. Meanwhile, Bishop’s crowing about “efficiency” and “market solutions” as he slashes Kāinga Ora’s budget and prioritises making private developers even richer.

The result of the National led government essentially breaking the social contract? A housing crisis that’s pushing people onto the streets and into tents to live in unsanitary and unsafe conditions. It’s not just incompetence; it’s a deliberate choice to abandon those most in need and ignore the substantial evidence that market solutions haven’t and aren’t going to work to fix New Zealand’s housing crisis.

The Coalition’s tightened eligibility for emergency housing has already been linked to a surge in rough sleeping, with frontline workers and Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni warning that families are being kicked out of motels with nowhere to go. The Salvation Army’s damning report earlier this year pinned rising street homelessness squarely on the governments callous cuts. Yet Bishop has the gall to claim homelessness hasn’t risen, based on nothing more than “anecdotal reports” and the fact that the government doesn’t gather official stats.

This is a government that’s not just out of touch with reality, it’s actively making things worse. By strangling funding for emergency accommodation and social housing, they’re ensuring more people end up in dangerous, makeshift camps like the one at the Oval. When propane tanks are exploding and tents are burning, it’s only a matter of time before we’re mourning lives lost.

Make no bones about it, the housing crisis is about life and death. The OECD ranks New Zealand among the worst developed nations for homelessness, and that was before Bishop’s wrecking ball hit social and emergency housing. In effect, the Coalition of Chaos’ obsession with austerity and market dogma is a death sentence for the vulnerable.

We need urgent action: a massive boost in state house construction, restored funding for emergency housing, and real support for councils like Dunedin’s to build transitional facilities without any further delays. Anything less is complicity in a crisis that’s already claiming lives from exposure and despair. Bishop and his Coalition of Chaos cronies need to wake up before more Kiwis pay the ultimate price for the government’s numerous housing failures.

Luxon Turns A Blind Eye to Homelessness

New Zealand’s housing crisis is a sad indictment on the failures of right wing neoliberalism, and the National Party, under Chris Luxon’s shaky leadership, is trying to simply ignore it. The numbers don’t lie: Census data from 2023 revealed 112,496 Kiwis were severely housing deprived...couch-surfing, car-sleeping, or roughing it on the streets. That’s a national disgrace, and National’s response? Deny and deflect. Luxon’s government is failing to address homelessness, and their housing policies are a shambles that’s pushing vulnerable New Zealanders further into the margins.

National needs to face the music. Housing Minister Chris Bishop’s grand “turnaround plan” for Kāinga Ora involves cancelling thousands of new builds and flogging off 900 social homes a year to his wealthy mates while claiming it’ll "refocus" the agency on being a landlord. Meanwhile, building consents for new homes dropped 24% in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to Statistics New Zealand. So, fewer homes are being built while Bishop sells the silverware. That’s not a plan; it’s a complete surrender to the housing crisis.

The Salvation Army has sounded the alarm, linking tightened emergency housing criteria to a 53% spike in rough sleeping in Auckland. Yet Luxon, in a March 2025 RNZ interview, had the gall to reject any connection between his government’s policies and rising homelessness, saying, “We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.” But instead of working to help Kiwis, National is busy working to dismantle the safety net.

 

Today, the Post reported:

PM avoids talk about homeless numbers in New Plymouth

The Government has been severely criticised by New Plymouth mayor Neil Holdom about a lack of involvement or willingness to find or fund a solution when it came to the growing number of rough sleepers in the central business district and related antisocial behaviour.

A lack of action has led the council to put $800,000 towards a homeless shelter at New Plymouth’s YMCA in an attempt to ease the situation.

When asked about the Government’s position, Luxon handed the problem over to New Plymouth MP David MacLeod to speak about it.

“I am aware of it,” Luxon said after an invite-only Taranaki Chamber of Commerce event at the Plymouth Hotel.

Instead, Luxon spoke about the Government’s housing record, which he said meant rental prices had not increased during the term.

 

Luxon’s corporate polish can’t mask his disconnect. This is a man who, in 2020, rallied against a 54-home development in Howick, whining about preserving single-dwelling zones. Now he’s PM, and that NIMBY streak hasn’t faded…he’s just outsourced it to a party that’s gutting social housing while pretending it’s reform. His coalition’s obsession with deregulation and privatization, as seen in their push for wealthy foreign investors to buy up Aotearoa, reeks of prioritizing the elite over everyday hardworking Kiwis.

The human cost is gut-wrenching. Ihi Research found four out of five homeless women in Aotearoa are Māori, some as young as 15. Auckland City Mission reports over 200 women over 55 are waiting for social housing...and they're the lucky ones who were allowed onto the wait list. Under National, most housing deprived people get turned away. These aren’t just stats...they’re lives unraveling while Luxon plays at a CEO whose too important to give a damn, dodging accountability while waffling on about how wonderful everything is. He's all talk. His claim that it’s “unacceptable” for kids to grow up in motels rings hollow when National's policies are kicking families onto the street and offering them tents.

Luxon’s stupidly banking on Kiwis not noticing all those new homeless people out there. His March 2025 dismissal of polls showing Labour’s Chris Hipkins overtaking him as preferred PM...where he shrugged, “I’m focused on Kiwis, not polls”...is a tired old worn out dodge. Focused on Kiwis? Tell that to the tens of thousands of homeless Kiwis doing it tough. This isn’t leadership; it’s willful ignorance.

National’s housing failures are a betrayal of the most vulnerable, and Luxon’s refusal to own it is a stain on his hopefully short tenure. Time to wake up, Chris, before more Kiwis pay the price for your apathy and disdain for the poor.

It’s time to improve squatter’s rights in New Zealand

 

There is something that most Kiwis have in common. We usually care about each other and want to see everyone have a chance at a successful life. One of the exceptions to this rule is of course landlords, who more often than not will bleed their tenant’s dry, or simply evict them out of spite.

As I’m sure you’re aware, the Labour government recently implemented their Healthy Homes Standards, which became law on 1 July 2019. Many slumlords were so outraged about these improved standards, that instead of adhering to the affordable requirements to provide a warm and dry place for people to reside in, they simply evicted their tenants.

This has inevitably increased the number of homeless people in New Zealand, including those who now live in vehicles.

Yesterday, 1 News reported:

Number of children listed as living in cars more than 200

The number of children living in cars has gone up dramatically since the Government came to power.

Those on the ground are blaming rent prices and are pleading with the Government to do more.

The number of children listed as living in cars has gone from 51 at the end of 2017, to 228 in June this year.

The numbers are pulled when people apply for help from the Ministry of Social Development. People are asked where they're living and if they have children.

The number of people living in tents also climbed, with 21 at the end of 2017, up to 84 this June.

One of the solutions to this growing problem would be to increase squatter’s rights in New Zealand. We have lots of empty houses, many of them becoming derelict because of disuse and vandalism, and we have lots of homeless people who cannot afford to rent a house because the welfare system doesn’t provide enough money to those without an address for service.

Prior to 2013, taking possession of an abandoned house used to be legal in places like England and Wales. This meant in times of crisis, such as after the Second World War, people could still find accommodation and survive. But unfortunately the real estate industry has achieved too much influence over our politicians. The door was shut on the homeless in Great Britain, even though allowing people to occupy unused dwellings so they don’t become exposed to the elements is entirely the right thing to do.

The alternative is to have rough sleeping and more children living in vehicles, whereby they will struggle to attain an education and sustain their well-being, which will have lasting negative effects for them and society in general.

$4 million worth of mansion in Oriental Bay sits abandoned.

 

Similar to the Tories in England, unfortunately the National Party in New Zealand isn’t proposing any solutions to this growing problem. In fact their policies would make things worse. Along with proposing harsher sanctions on disabled beneficiaries, which would assuredly increase the number of people who cannot afford to pay their rent, the blue "teams" current leader, Christopher Luxon, is only interested in throwing stones at Jacinda Ardern.

Along with providing homeless people with more resources to attain a roof over their heads through improved squatter's rights, the Government should also implement an Empty House Levy to ensure property owners who aren’t utilising their assets properly are penalized appropriately. We don’t want lots of homeless people on the streets while perfectly good houses remain empty…and we don’t want Kiwi kids living in cars either.

Is Labour in denial about the housing crisis?

There’s no escaping the fact that New Zealand has the least affordable housing in the world. Not only are young Kiwi families being locked out of home ownership, because wages are low in comparison to our white hot housing market, but renters are also feeling the pinch as speculators increase rents to invest in even more properties and offset future costs.

It’s a dire scenario that’s resulting in not just housing unaffordability, but also increased homelessness, which will ensure New Zealand continues to rank as one of the most unequal countries in the world. The end result of course is a decrease in owner occupied buildings, which studies have shown is the bedrock of any functioning society.

So what’s the Government doing about it? Well not a hell of a lot if the numbers are anything to go by. Sure, Labour extended the bright-line test and made some changes to investor tax rules. They've also built around 8645 houses since June 2018. But this has had little to no effect on housing affordability and, it appears, a detrimental effect on the rental housing market.

On March 23, Stuff reported:

Rents hit new highs in the provinces as Covid-19 increases popularity of remote working

Rents surged to new highs in the provinces in February as more people turned to remote working since Covid-19.

The national median weekly rent increased 1.9 per cent to $530 from February last year, with gains in all regions, according to the latest Trade Me Rental Price Index. The biggest gains were in Manawatu/Whanganui, up 16 per cent, Hawke’s Bay, up 15 per cent, and Taranaki, up 13 per cent.

Meanwhile the accommodation supplement hasn’t increased at all.

A shortage of housing has pushed up house prices and increased demand for rental properties, which has pushed up prices in that market. Increases in rents have outstripped gains in income, prompting concern about what level of increase is reasonable, and spurred demand for rent controls.

It's pretty evident that realtors and speculators have by and large made good on their threat to evict tenants en masse because the Government implemented its healthy homes standards. The net result of course is an increase in homeless people right across New Zealand.

On Saturday, the NZ Herald reported:

Housing crisis: Whangārei pair living in park trespassed as homelessness skyrockets

Whangārei rough sleepers are facing trespass notices amid a rapid rise in homelessness.

This week, RNZ revealed new figures showing the city's homeless population had increased from 21 people in 2018 to 293 in 2020.

The figures were part of a Northland District Health Board report released this week.

It said "a very high proportion" of homeless were Māori and that was "reinforcing and extending existing inequities" but it was "unlikely there is sufficient transitional housing in Northland to meet the need".

It was obvious to everyone but the Government that if realtors and investors were given any leeway to squeeze more money out of housing, they would. An increase in homelessness likely wasn’t a concern to them at all. In fact this works in their favour because people who’re caught in the rental poverty trap are less likely to come forward about their substandard rentals or abusive landlords for fear of becoming homeless.

It’s a catch twenty-two situation being that the Government is relying on tenants to inform them about any failure to comply with the healthy homes standards as well, which basically renders the policy toothless! Obviously there needs to be inspectors to ensure compliance, because the industry simply won’t regulate itself to any degree that's required.

So not only are rental properties going to be left vacant or dilapidated, which will cause an increase in poverty related crime and ill-health, the Government also loses out because tenants are effectively investing more money into non-productive assets on behalf of their landlords. This is the exact opposite of what the Labour Party apparently intended before it came to power, and despite the facts piling up, they’re still only willing to tinker around the edges.

Last week, Stuff reported:

Investor tax rule changes: Government 'will take action' if rents spike, Grant Robertson says

The Government “will take action if necessary” should investors hike rents to offset the effect of tax rule changes.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson issued the warning after introducing interest deductibility rule changes on March 23, which take away investors’ ability to offset home loan interest costs against rental income.

…

Robertson would not comment on whether he would consider national or targetted rental increase caps if landlords did hike prices.

He said for the year to February 2021, Stats NZ recorded rental price increases of 3 percent.

“We will be monitoring the impact on the rental market closely and we will take action if necessary.

“Tenants can also go to the Tenancy Tribunal if they think their rent is too expensive and not in line with the market to request a rent reduction.

So we’re back to the Government expecting tenants to piss their landlords off and potentially end up on the street. I mean doesn’t Robertson know that all the real estate agencies now keep a database of personal information on renters, which is likely being used to penalise anybody who tries to stand up for their rights?

“It is also worth noting that the changes to interest deductibility rules for current landlords are being phased in over a four-year period so any substantial price increases would not be justifiable in any event.”

It might not be justified, but it is happening. Grant Robertson’s language here clearly shows that he’s in denial about what's occurring in the rental housing market. It’s not a question of “if landlords hike prices” because they already have and will continue to do so well above anything that is justifiable.

We saw a similar blasé approach from the Prime Minister when she claimed that the banks were just speculating about rents increasing substantially due to a backlash because of the changes to investor tax rules.

Jacinda Ardern might claim to be watching the numbers closely in terms of rents compared to wage growth, but it’s clear that her eye has gone off the ball. With rents increasing in some areas by a whopping 16 percent, while wage growth is at 2.6 percent, the only recourse the Government logically has is a cap on rental increases. The longer they delay, the worse things will get not just in terms of quality of life for tenants, but also in terms of homelessness and the housing crisis in general.

Labour can simply kiss any benefits from their poverty reduction policies goodbye if they don't get housing right.

The Government should go even further to implement an Empty House Levy to penalise those speculators who've made their tenants homeless instead of fixing their substandard properties. This would also likely reduce the some 200,000 empty houses that are gathering dust in New Zealand at the moment. Otherwise Labour risks the housing crisis becoming its Achilles heel at the next election, even though they’re slowly inching forward in the right direction.

National lacks credibility on housing

National MP Nicola Willis

Housing, which I would argue is a fundamental human right, has long been a problem in New Zealand. Not only do we have some of the most overpriced houses in the entire world, much of the housing stock is substandard and therefore affects not just people’s health and our standard of living, but also our productivity and subsequently the economy as well.

So what can be done about it? Well despite the National Party’s repeated claims, the Coalition Government has in fact been doing a lot to try and fix the housing crisis. Has it been enough? No! But we’re talking about a problem that has been decades in the making. For the right wing to argue that it should’ve been fixed in just one term of a Labour led Government is slightly absurd to say the least.

Through their own ineptitude, the National Party has little to no credibility on important issues like housing, and therefore are unable to effectively critique the current Government, which is a serious problem for political discourse at the moment. In fact much of the right wings criticism is for problems they ignored or largely created while in power, which makes their disapproval of the current administrations progress, albeit incremental, all a bit ridiculous!


Today, NZ Stuff reported:

National Party admits it sold too many state houses

National’s new housing spokesperson has admitted the party was wrong to sell and convert more state houses than it built when it was last in office.

Nicola Willis, who took the housing portfolio in a recent reshuffle, told RNZ the net reduction in state houses under the last National government showed that governments needed to continue increasing the number of state houses.

Willis said National sold or converted “a couple of thousand” state homes.

“I think what we can see from that is yes, the Government needs to build state houses,” she said.

Willis accepted there was net loss of state houses under National.

Now if only National would stop denying reality on all those other important issues as well.

Willis said National acknowledged government building was part of the solution to the housing crisis, but it had to be supplemented by things like reform of the Resource Management Act (RMA) and rental regulations, which were discouraging investment.

A large part of the problem is that many politicians view housing as a commodity and not as an essential service. It therefore doesn’t matter if the Resource Management Act gets repealed or if there’s a promise to build more state houses, because the crucial cause of housing being scarce and unaffordable will remain unless there is a fundamental change to how those in positions of power view their investments. That’s because the housing market isn’t governed by supply and demand, it’s currently governed by rich and powerful people’s greed.

There are 200,000 empty houses in New Zealand, many of them perfectly suited as places of residence. They sit vacant while various political factions endlessly argue about who has failed the most on housing. Invariably those assets will continue to gather dust while the often idle owner’s paper wealth increases. Unless a large chunk of those properties are reintroduced into the housing market, the problem of unaffordability, homelessness and a dilapidated rental stock will remain very strong handbrakes to any economic recovery post COVID-19.

The other problem is that the current Government, Banks and RBNZ have done everything they can to ensure the housing market remains over-inflated. A two-tier welfare system, mortgage holidays, business subsidies and an incredibly low OCR are all designed to stop the housing bubble from bursting. That’s because many politicians and public officials have investments that would be negatively affected if the market properly corrected itself. Nicola Willis for instance has pecuniary interests in at least four properties, meaning she, like most politicians, will never implement any policy that might decrease the excessive wealth tied up in property.

She said that National’s record on housing would have been better if it had been allowed to stay in power for longer, as many better, well-insulated houses were under construction when the party left government after the 2017 election.

This is just rubbish! There was no evidence that National was going to build anywhere near the number of state houses that New Zealand requires. In fact they spent most of their time in power denying there was a housing crisis at all.

The current government was also having difficulty defending its own record on housing. Its flagship KiwiBuild housing programme was meant to build thousands of homes a year, but to date, fewer than 400 have been completed.

It was so far behind that it would take more than 400 years to reach its ten-year goal of building 100,000 houses.

It had a far better record on state housing, adding thousands of houses to the stock, although this had not been enough to keep up with a skyrocketing housing wait list.
Willis said the latest figures were “an indictment on the Government”.

Unfortunately for political reporter Thomas Coughlan and the National Party's housing spokesperson, as of May 2020, 575 houses had been built and sold under the KiwiBuild scheme, with another 321 awaiting sale. By using out-dated figures, you’ve got to ask if Nicola Willis is suitable to be a Member of Parliament at all, let alone promoted into Todd Muller’s shadow cabinet? I mean where exactly is the merit in having a dishonest idiot at the table?

It’s one thing to finally admit that John Key oversaw a net reduction of state houses, but to then ignore that her own government used unfair criteria to remove thousands of people from the state housing waiting list is incredibly dishonest! There's no question that the current Government’s removal of those restrictions is why there’s a large increase in people on the list. To ignore this fact and claim a system that now better recognises the true depth of need in our communities is extremely deceitful, even by National Party standards.

You would have to be exceptionally biased to believe that the state housing mess that National created over nine long years could be fixed in just one term. But I guess delusion, plus a good amount of self-interest, is what still drives the National Party these days. It certainly appears to motivate Nicola Willis’ wilful ignorance of her own party’s woeful track record on housing.

Nothing positive about homelessness

The National party doesn’t seem to have their stories straight when it comes to the growing homelessness problem in New Zealand.

First they spent a couple of terms in government denying that there’s an issue at all… a problem they helped cause by selling off and demolishing state houses. Then they finally acknowledged that there is a housing crisis, and have rushed to re-announce policy that won’t actually address the shortage.

Now, after many years of reports showing the problem was getting progressively worse, National have once again changed their tune because of the election.

Today, Newshub reported:

Homelessness the downside of 'positive' immigration story - Paula Bennett

Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett has admitted there are more people homeless in New Zealand than there was when National took office.

But she says the reasons for that tell a "positive story".

Speaking to The AM Show on Friday, Ms Bennett said New Zealand's quick recovery from the global financial crisis (GFC) and the growing threat of terrorism overseas has seen people flock to our shores.

Despite this admission, the National party is still criticising Labour for their immigration policy.

"New Zealanders decided they wanted to come back to New Zealand and stay here, so as a consequence we've had more people in this country pretty much in a really short period of time, and that has put pressure on the housing market - there's no two ways about it," she said.

Clearly Bennett has run off at the mouth without checking the facts.

But Statistics New Zealand data shows in the last 40 years, there has not been a single year in which more Kiwis came home than left.

The exodus peaked in 2012, which saw a net 39,507 New Zealanders depart. It's since recovered to a net outflow of 1284 Kiwis. On a net basis, most immigrants in 2017 have been from China, India, the UK and the Philippines.

At least Bennett has kind of acknowledged that housing pressure comes from having too many people and not enough houses to go around, even if she did blame the wrong cohort.

Obviously Bennett’s belief that returning Kiwis are to blame for homelessness is entirely wrong! However what about National’s other excuses, like the one where homeless people actually want to sleep rough?

Today, the NZ Herald reported:

English shares memory of relative who insisted on sleeping rough

The NZ Herald changed the online headline.

Prime Minister Bill English has revealed one of his own relatives had slept on the streets, giving him personal experience in the difficulties of resolving chronic homelessness.

Nothing like a bit of anecdotal evidence in an election campaign.

Setting out the homelessness announcement, English said his goal was to completely eliminate "rough sleeping" - but he knew from personal experience that this was challenging.

National hasn’t got any real intention of developing policy that will actually reduce homelessness, because homelessness puts pressure on the housing market and keeps the bubble artificially inflated.

There are now over 40,000 homeless Kiwis specifically because National's policy, or lack thereof, has helped cause the housing crisis.

He said one of his own relatives had been a rough sleeper. "No one was able to keep him in a house, despite many efforts.

"I've had the personal experience of dealing with some of the conditions of homelessness. It's a very difficult problem to solve."

That doesn’t give English personal experience in the difficulties of resolving chronic homelessness; it just makes English think that all homeless people are to blame for their own predicaments.

Perhaps this is the reason why the National led government has been so woeful in its response to the homelessness problem… the experience of Bill English who thinks that people actually choose to live on the streets.

This really comes down to the National party believing that the people who are homeless are somehow inferior and deserve to be homeless.

Even though the National party has put some homeless people up in motels, at great expense to the taxpayer, after nine long years in government the National party is still unable to develop policy to reduce the growing number of Kiwis sleeping rough.

Becoming homeless is not a choice anybody would make if there were affordable homes and it’s not a sign of a successful economy or society.

Bill English and Paula Bennett need to stop making stupid excuses and accept that Labour’s policy will work and should be adopted in the unlikely event that National gain a fourth term in government.

National’s neoliberal experiment has failed

Just in case you needed anymore proof, have a look at the ever increasing numbers of homeless people in New Zealand to see that National’s neoliberal experiment has utterly failed.

Yesterday, Radio NZ reported:

Urgent housing need 'big concern going into winter'

The number of people registered as urgently needing housing has doubled in the past two years.

The Ministry of Social Development's Housing Register shows people in the at-risk category with severe and persistent housing needs have risen from a low of 1641 in June 2015 to a new high of 3422 in March this year, the latest available figure.

A further 1433 on the Priority B list have serious housing needs.

Emergency housing providers and support groups say government measures to tackle the problem have fallen short.

While the government can claim they’re putting more dollars into the health sector, all they’re really doing is wasting that money by putting more Kiwi’s into hospitals because they’re sick from living in cars or cold and damp houses.

'I think it's got worse'

The Council of Christian Social Services' Paul Barber said the people on the Priority A list were only a small fraction of those in severe housing deprivation.

"Their housing situation's regarded as unsafe or secure and unhealthy."

Some may be on the street, others were often in emergency housing, living in garages or severely overcrowded housing, Mr Barber said.

Clearly the National led government is just going to muddle along stealing a few policies here and there while the rental stock continues to decline and more Kiwi’s become homeless.

Thanks to a lack of proper policy and a government with their heads firmly buried in the sand we can expect increased social decay that will translate directly into a prison system that’s bursting at the seems. That's a good indication of a failing system that needs to change.

Despite the reality that there simply aren’t enough houses to go around, Bill English isn’t going to do anything about slowing immigration numbers either... mainly because National is relying on a false economy that has forgotten its moral values.

At what point will the people of this great country say enough is enough?

Give homeless basic human rights

We should all know by now that the government doesn't much like poor people. In fact much of National's first and second terms in power were dedicated to persecuting the poor, who for obvious reasons cannot easily defend themselves.

The consequences of the government's war on the poor are more homeless people on our streets, inequality and let's face it suffering. That's the result of the National parties neoliberal agenda, a country divided and consequently weakened.

Today, Radio NZ provided yet another example of National's heartlessness:

Homeless banned from gathering

People sleeping rough in abandoned buildings in Christchurch are being ordered to stay away from the people they were caught with.

Up to 10 homeless people were arrested over the weekend for being unlawfully in an abandoned building and were issued with non-association orders by the Christchurch District Court.

The homeless people say they know they're breaking the law but when bad weather hits, there's no where else to go.

Not only is the government failing these people by not having any facilities available to properly house them, they're trying to ensure that they aren't even allowed to find shelter themselves. That's not the New Zealand I grew up in, and it certainly isn't the New Zealand we should be accepting as the new normal.

The abandoned houses these homeless people are using have no other function. So why not designate some of them as homeless shelters once any safety precautions are taken? It's not as if these homeless people have the funds to compete in the terribly expensive Christchurch rental market, so there really should be no objection.

Every Tuesday lunchtime and Thursday night the city's homeless gather to receive food, blankets and clothing from charities and volunteer groups.

But those issued with non-association orders, say it makes these gatherings hard because they are at risk of breaching the order and being arrested.

Police say the non-association order is to stop people committing crimes with the same group.

If it were obeyed, the non-association order would also stop people gaining nourishment, which makes the court's decision and the Police's enforcement of it incomprehensibly stupid! Has New Zealand become such a cold and heartless country that the state would try to put a halt to people even accessing food?

It's bad enough that the Police are impeding people from accessing shelter or having friends, but when orders are made to inhibit struggling people from sustaining themselves with the help of charities, then the state has gone way too far.

Unfortunately I doubt that things will improve anytime soon either, being that the National party has no moral compass to speak of. Their core supporters seem to even enjoy watching the suffering of others, which makes them look rather unpatriotic to say the very least.

It would be great if the National party pulled their heads out of the sand and actually did something about the housing crisis in New Zealand instead of actively making it worse and then persecuting those caught up by the government's social policy failure.

No help for homeless

Nearly six years after National won the 2008 election it's becoming increasingly apparent that the neoliberal agenda they've forced upon this great country is causing some serious social and economic problems, especially for people on fix and low incomes.

While John Key is happy to cherry pick statistics that make his governance seem balanced, the real story of how National has failed New Zealand is clearly outlined in headlines like this one:

On Saturday, the NZ Herald reported:

Newborn spends first days living in car

A young mother and her newborn baby lived in a car for two days after finding themselves homeless when they were discharged from hospital.

The woman contacted the Salvation Army who has provided her with counseling and emergency housing in South Auckland over the past two weeks.

On Friday, Radio NZ also reported:

Homelessness on the rise in Auckland 

An Auckland organisation working with homeless people says the number of people coming to them for help has almost doubled in the past six months - and is continuing to climb.

Please take the time to listen to this report:



Clearly the increasing numbers of homeless people in New Zealand is becoming a serious issue. In my opinion, this type of social dysfunction should be reported on more frequently and therefore made harder for the government to ignore.

Only the most heartless person could pretend the misery that many homeless people live in doesn't matter. This travesty is made all the worse when you consider that with the right policies in place nobody in New Zealand would need to be living it rough at all.

But it's not the only problem that's getting worse under this failure of a government.

Despite the Prime Ministers claims that things are getting better under his leadership, New Zealand has experienced the fastest growth in inequality of any country in the OECD. Other socially damaging things John Key is desperate to ignore like childhood poverty have also become a lot worse since 2008.

Include stagnate wage growth and a broken social housing program and it's no wonder more Kiwis are becoming homeless. Contrary to the right wings propaganda the dysfunction outlined above has a knock on effect for the rest of country as well.

These are things that even the most ideologically blinded National supporter will be having a hard time ignoring. Even with the unrelenting propaganda of #TeamKey and their media lackeys, I suspect many people who voted for National at the last election will be changing their minds in September 2014.