by Jan Logie
October 10th is World Homeless Day, and is being marked in Auckland by a range of events held in Aotea Square.
While official statistics on the number of homeless people in New Zealand do not exist, it is estimated to be in the thousands – this includes not just those living on the street, but also people in drop-in centres, women’s refuges, couch surfing and those in dilapidated dwellings without access to vital utilities such as power and water. It was not until 2009 that Statistics New Zealand developed a definition of homelessness, and while the 2013 Census is expected to provide more data, even then we will not have a full and definitive picture.
As a society, we need to commit to ensuring that everyone has safe and affordable housing. The Green Party has a range of policies which would help to resolve the crisis of unaffordable housing, an important first step in enabling everyone to have access to shelter.
We need to support groups like the Auckland City Mission and others around the country who are doing important work to help provide shelter and services to those who are currently homeless. Meanwhile, groups like the NZ Coalition to End Homelessness are working on longer term plans alongside local and central government, businesses, the tangata whenua community and voluntary sector groups to end homelessness across the country.
Last year my colleague Gareth Hughes supported a call for an inquiry into homelessness in the Social Services Select Committee, however the Government refused to hold the inquiry, a shameful move that only further delayed any possibility for the creation of crucial cross-agency work on this issue.
People without a fixed abode also face difficulty getting support from Work & Income as they need to provide an address in order to get benefits and other assistance. If you don’t have a permanent address, that adds another level of difficulty to get the financial assistance from WINZ that you need in order to be able to find somewhere to live. This catch-22 only further hurts those who need our help to get back on their own feet the most.
Homelessness does immense harm, not only to those living on the streets, but to society as a whole. It costs us financially in increased hospital admissions and crime. It costs us morally, and as long as we continue leave citizens behind, the whole of New Zealand loses out.
Published in Economy, Work, & Welfare by Jan Logie on Wed, October 10th, 2012
on the trolls and those who are unable to keep on topic
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We could solve it by printing lots of money and giving it to them.
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There is no valid reason for any NZer to be “homeless”, period.
I dare you to give a single valid example.
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I wish some trendy socialists would have a look outside of their privileged chattering circles for awhile and get a dose of reality. In New Zealand people are rarely homeless because of plain misfortune. There is a host of acute contributing factors that quite frankly are not, and should not be, anything to do with WINZ. These are very commonly addictions, mental health issues and burnt bridges. I do not consider couch surfing to be homelessness. I have been in this position when I hit hard times overseas and while it is not ideal, it is far better then living under a bridge. I got help from other people during this time because I was doing the right thing and not a liability. Guaranteed the majority of your “poor people sleeping under the bridge” have had plenty of help and breaks by that point and they have s* on their friends. Furthermore, some people choose a transient lifestyle. Some people choose to have no power on. Power is not a life necessity. Lets have this debate honestly and get this out there. It is not a simple matter the government can buy a fix for. Furthermore, a government who claims to fix this issue is a dangerous government indeed.
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“While official statistics on the number of homeless people in New Zealand do not exist, it is estimated to be in the thousands”
who by?
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