Everyone loses in homeless crisis
It was a “gotcha” moment for Rotorua National MP Todd Mcclay. After raising concerns about Rotorua becoming a dumping ground for out-of-town homeless for the better part of a year — and having those fears dismissed by the Ministry of Social Development — he could feel vindicated.
Mcclay has steadfastly dismissed the Ministry’s line that out-of-towners made up only a small percentage of the homeless living in motels. And last week, in a moment he surely relished, he was able to say: “We told you so.”
It came after a new sample survey showed 21 per cent of those living in Rotorua’s emergency housing were not from Rotorua. It differed from one carried out last year which showed less than 7 per cent were from out of town.
For Mcclay, the Government’s claims Rotorua was not being used as a dumping ground no longer stacks up. “Those people dumped in Rotorua motels are languishing without their support networks. They should be helped where they come from so Rotorua can focus on its homelessness problem and not the whole country’s.”
Rotorua-based list MP Tamati Coffey points out that both surveys show most people in Rotorua emergency housing are from Rotorua and accuses the National Party of “relentless privileged negativity against these families”.
Regardless of whose argument you side with, it’s clear housing the homeless in motels raises serious issues.
This has been confirmed by official documents obtained by RNZ which show ministers were warned about the “risks to public safety” in Rotorua a year ago, and that week-by-week motel accommodation is not so suitable for families, or those with high needs.
Perhaps the most serious of these issues is the welfare of children staying there for lengthy periods of time.
Wha¯ nau Ora North Island agency commissioning chairwoman and Rotorua councillor Merepeka Raukawatait says what was designed to be short-term housing is stretching into months. She says children need safe places to play and spend time outside, in view and watched by adults at all times. Far better to move the families into permanent housing as soon as possible. And that’s the crux of this issue. We desperately need more social housing to accommodate families in need. The fact there is an obvious lack of housing now reflects a failure by successive governments to cater for this need — and children, along with their families, are paying the price.
And — because it has an abundance of motels that can be used for emergency accommodation — so, it seems, is Rotorua.