Kāinga Ora might not be the problem... / A.J. Hendry
Almost every week it seems like there is another report about "unruly" Kāinga Ora tenants. But, do these stories give an accurate representation of whānau who live in these homes?
Earlier in the year, a large Kāinga Ora housing development in the wealthy Auckland suburb of Millwater which would have provided warm and safe homes for whānau experiencing homelessness and housing instability was halted.
The decision to halt the development came after members of the local community organized against the build, citing concerns that the Kāinga Ora build would change the character of their community, and create social disruption.
Millwater is just one example of a theme which is becoming increasingly common in our public discourse surrounding public housing. It would seem that every week or two, there is another report in the media featuring disgruntled neighbors raising the alarm about Kāinga Ora and their "neighbors from hell".
The way these conversations are often framed within the media raises cause for concern. Mainly, because many reports, lack important context and seem to focus on the fears of housed people, rather than equally featuring the voices of those who will benefit from access to stable housing.
The inference coming from many of these reports surrounding Kāinga Ora tenants is that our whānau in these homes are inherently dangerous and disruptive. This is of course blatantly untrue.
The reality is that no matter where you live, whether you're in a poor community, or a rich one, whether you live amongst home owners or renters, there is always potential to live in a community where some of your neighbors are challenging.
The problem with many of these stories is that they fail to acknowledge that at the core of a lot of these concerns sit community issues. Issues that we as communities need to work together to figure out how to resolve. These stories also build on discriminatory and racist narratives that cast our whānau as villains and build public angst against Kāinga Ora.
Angst which - as in the Millwater case - has resulted in Kāinga Ora builds being delayed, which in a housing crisis, means in a literal sense, that whānau continue to experience homelessness for much longer than they might have needed to otherwise.
The Millwater case specifically sets a concerning precedent. Because if rich, property owners can delay housing being built, if they can dictate who can live where, and what sort of housing can be built and accessed by certain communities, what does that say about the sort of society we are building?
Many of our whānau are in crisis. Housing is a basic human right, and it is concerning that a small group of people can block these homes being provided due to concerns about their "property prices".
Human lives will always be more valuable than any return you could get on your investment
This is why it is so vital that we begin to shift this narrative.
One of the critiques of Kāinga Ora is that they could do a better job of community consultation. I would agree with that critique. A focus on community development, and community engagement, is essential to building strong and thriving communities. And I will acknowledge that in the face of rapid growth and change within our communities, anxiety and fear, is a human response to the world changing around us.
However, in the face of all this, it is absolutely vital that this conversation is given some perspective, allowing our individual concerns to be weighed up against the critical needs of our collective.
The reality is, we are in the midst of a housing crisis. A crisis which is resulting in many of our whānau being deprived of their basic human right to safe, stable housing. This means we have babies who are being born into homelessness. We have whānau living in motel rooms no larger than some people’s bedroom, for years without an end in sight. We have young people growing up in hostels, coach surfing, and sleeping on the street.
Our whānau who live in Kāinga Ora housing are an easy target to focus the collective anxiety of people who find themselves facing the reality of a rapidly changing world.
But, we need to acknowledge that what we are doing is scapegoating a vulnerable community of people.
The world is changing around us. And that can be scary.
But, painting out a huge diverse group of people as the problem, won't fix anything.
We would be far better served by focusing our energy on casting a vision for the world we want to see.
You may not be a fan of the new builds going up around you. Perhaps, you grieve the “way things used to be”, the old homes, the back yards, that old vision of the “kiwi dream”. And yet, these homes are the beginning of a new dream. A step towards building a future where our children don't have to grow up in motels, and our whānau don't have to live in cars. A world where all our people have the housing they need, kai to eat, and one where we as a community are able to figure out again, how to be community towards one another.
For many, these builds will be homes for whānau who desperately need them. They are the seeds of communities. They are the beginning of a new collective imagination.
Of who we are, and who we could be.
A.J. Hendry is a Laidlaw College graduate, and a Youth Development Worker and housing advocate, working in the Youth Housing and Homelessness space. He leads a service supporting rangatahi experiencing homelessness and is also an advocate working collectively to end youth homelessness in Aotearoa. He is also the curator and creator of When Lambs Are Silent.
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