We already have a solution to end rough sleeping - it’s housing!
Homelessness is a problem we can solve but if we are going to do so we need to stop attacking unhoused people, and start making different political choices.
The Government has confirmed that they are considering introducing a ban on rough sleeping in our major city Centre’s.
If such a ban is introduced, it will be amongst some of the most dangerous legislation this Government has put forward to date.
The impact will be immediate, people who have nowhere else to go will be driven from the city centre and forced to take shelter in more dangerous and unsafe environments, or risk being criminalized for having no access to housing. Our rangatahi, tamariki our wahine and our takatapui and rainbow whānau specifically will be at increased risk of abuse, sexual violence, assault and exploitation.
People who have been denied access to shelter come to the city centre because visibility and community is a form of safety and protection. They are often there because they have no where safe to go, because they have reached out for help and been denied support. For the young people we serve at Kick Back (the youth homelessness service I lead) they have often been let down and harmed by multiple Government agencies and adults in their lives before they end up in a position where they are being forced to sleep rough on Queen Street.
The question proponents of this ban need to answer is where do they expect people to go? Despite the Government’s assurances that they are doing everything they can to respond to the Homelessness crisis which is escalating across this country, the truth of the matter is revealed through the very clear political decisions the Government has been making since they came into power.
It is critical that the public understand that the reason we are seeing more of our people sleeping outside on our streets is because this Government made the decision to increase barriers to Emergency Housing, they decided to stall and stop Public Housing build projects across the country and have put pressure on Kāinga Ora to increase evictions. They’ve cut millions tagged to housing rangatahi experiencing homelessness and gutted the Homelessness action plan while also weakening renters rights and strengthening landlords power to evict whānau without cause.
It is these decisions, the Government’s decisions, which have increased homelessness and resulted in the very problem the Government now say they want to solve by criminalizing the victims of political decisions they themselves have made.
Our whānau experiencing homelessness are not the problem, the problem is created by those with the power to end this injustice yet choose not to!
Too often we view homelessness as a sad and unfortunate accident, as opposed to what it is. The result of intentional, informed and political choices that place a higher value on the financial interests of people who own houses than on the lives of those who need to live in them.
We need to be clear that there is already a solution to prevent rough sleeping in our major city centres. It is for the Government to protect and uphold our people’s most basic right to housing.
If the Government wanted to ensure none of our people were forced to sleep outside on our city streets they could roll back their Emergency Housing reforms and implement Duty to Assist legislation to ensure that anyone reaching out to Work & Income in need of shelter got it. They could invest in building a robust crisis response and Immediate Housing system to ensure that when people have nowhere to go and need shelter, they can access the support they need when they need it. They could commit to building more Public Housing, strengthening renter’s rights, and rolling back No Cause Evictions.
They could make the decision to imbed the Right to Housing in our bill of rights and commit themselves to investing in ensuring all our people can access safe, stable and affordable housing.
If the Government go ahead with this ban they will be making the decision to criminalize whānau for sleeping on our streets as a result of THEIR OWN decisions!
Homelessness is a problem we can solve but if we are going to do so we need to stop attacking unhoused people, and start making different political choices. Choices that show value for people over profit.
Choices that are pragmatic, practical and actually respond to the reality of what is happening to our people and in our communities, instead of punishing people for political decisions which are outside of their own control.
Homelessness is a political choice. We can - and must- begin making different ones.
#BinTheBan
Thank you. I already have a paid subscription however, if you added a kofi or koha link I would pay into that too. Your work is invaluable. How about a link to a fund that will help most and fastest. Thank you again. Barb. 70. Taupo