Source: Radio New Zealand
More than 40 opposition politicians, community leaders, and organisations have launched an open letter calling to bin a proposed homelessness ban in Auckland CBD.
Among the signatories are the Citizens Advice Bureau, the Mental Health Foundation, and the Social Workers’ Association.
It comes after the government signalled it’s considering pushing forward a private members’ bill or introducing similar legislation that would give police the power to issue move-on orders, to remove unhoused people from Auckland’s city centre.
The government is considering introducing legislation to remove unhoused people from Auckland’s city centre. Nick Monro
Sharon is not currently homeless, but she spends a lot of time on Queen Street asking for money for essential items. When RNZ spoke to her, she was knitting a cardigan for a homeless kuia on the street.
She was confused about where homeless people were supposed to go if the government forced them to leave the CBD.
“Where else are they gonna go? It’s bad enough they’ve got no roof over their head.”
Sharon is confused about where homeless people are supposed to go if the government forces them to leave the CBD. Nick Monro
It made her angry to see young people, in particular, sleeping rough, and she felt the government had not done enough about it.
“They’re harmless people. They just want somewhere to sleep, keep warm, get food, that’s all.”
Simon had previously slept rough and lived in boarding houses in Auckland, but has been housed for a few years now.
A homeless person’s belongings. Nick Monro
He said people sleeping rough in the CBD were there out of desperation.
“I would say that’s quite a strong move to ban homeless people from Auckland city. They don’t have many options. If they haven’t been housed, there aren’t many places they can go.
“I can definitely relate to the street people. I know a lot of them by name, and not everyone did get housed, or people that got housed in motels then had to leave, and the new government does not want another motel generation, as they put it. So it’s just getting more and more difficult for homeless people.”
He said many tourists coming in would be used to seeing homeless people in their own cities, and the issue wasn not unique to Auckland.
Simon says many tourists would be used to seeing homeless people in their own cities. Nick Monro
Auckland Central MP and Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick and Labour MPs Helen White and Phil Twyford joined community advocates at Myers Park near Karangahape Road on Monday morning to launch the open letter.
Labour MPs Arena Williams and Kieran McAnulty also signed it.
Government ministers were invited to receive the letter at the launch, but did not attend.
MPs joined community advocates to launch the open letter. Nick Monro
Speaking at the launch, the director of the Youth and Justice Coalition, Awatea Tuhura Mita, was critical of removing people from public spaces.
“If we want to end youth homelessness, we must end the conditions that create it, not the visibility of the people living through it.”
She warned that the impact of move-on orders on Māori youth would be devastating.
“The ban creates new pathways for police to intervene in their lives, more criminalisation, rangatahi Māori who cannot comply with police orders end up with warrants, warrants lead to arrests, arrests lead to records, and records lead to even less access to housing and jobs. This is not a ban on homelessness, this is a conveyor belt from the streets to a criminal record.”
The open letter. Nick Monro
Aaron Hendry’s youth development organisation, Kick Back, regularly responds to homelessness in the area.
“People and children come to the city centre when they’re experiencing homelessness, and they always have. We have an opportunity to connect with them quickly and get them the support they need, and that’s what we do.”
He said pushing those who needed support out of the city would mean they experienced homelessness for a longer time, as they would be further away from services.
He said there were plenty of solutions the government could introduce to eliminate rough sleeping.
“They could implement duty to assist legislation, which would clarify the state’s obligation to ensure that people who need support get it when they go into Work and Income.
“They could invest in crisis response services and immediate housing services so when a young person or a whānau needs somewhere to sleep, they get that immediately and get wrap-around support.
“They could invest in outreach services that build relationships with our communities and provide them with the support they need.
“And building public housing so all people can be housed.”
Aaron Hendry. Nick Monro
Chlöe Swarbrick said removing visible homelessness from the CBD would just move the crisis elsewhere.
“When people are presenting themselves in places like the city centre to these services, that should be a prompt for us to deal with that if we had a responsible government.
“Unfortunately, the government just wants to move that issue along and to sweep it under the rug.”
Swarbrick was handed the letter to present to the Prime Minister and government ministers at Parliament.
Speaking to media on Monday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said move-on orders were still a possibility, despite pleas from community advocates.
“We obviously can’t just have move-on orders and move people around the city to different places, we actually have to solve the problem.
“We are going to solve the problem. We’re determined that we need the downtown Auckland CBD to be safer, less intimidating, and we will consider move-on orders.”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Minister for Auckland Simeon Brown pointed to the government funding an additional 300 social homes for housing provider Housing First for rough sleepers in September.
“We’re very focused on ensuring we get housing for those people.
“Our expectation is that those providers who have been contracted work incredibly fast and are focused on providing homes for those people.
He said Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith was receiving advice on a range of enforcement measures.
“Eight percent of our national GDP is generated out of Auckland CBD, it is of national importance that it’s a safe place for people to work, live, and visit.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
