As my colleague Grant Robertson posted earlier, Labour is hoping to establish an inquiry into homelessness at the social services select committee meeting tomorrow. The Government holds the majority on this committee so it’s entirely up to them whether or not this goes ahead. I’m open on the terms of reference so that the select committee can complement any work the Government may be doing, but all indications are that it will be voted down.
I’ve been doing many visits across all aspects of the housing portfolio since picking it up earlier this year. I wish I was one of those politicians who could just fire on all cylinders without gathering information but I’m not. I like to see things for myself, talk to as many people as possible, and read as much research as possible. In doing so, I think it’s fair to say that in this area of homelessness I’ve been haunted by what I’ve seen. I’ve spoken to people sleeping rough, visited emergency accomodation, and been given a rare insight into some of the most squalid boarding houses you could imagine. I’m struggling to find a description, but without being flippant I think the university flat in the TV series ’The Young Ones’ is the closest parallel I can find and even that doesn’t fully describe it.
I suspect the Minister’s response will be the response he gives to everything – “well why didnt Labour fix it?” Well I’m proud of Labour’s record in Housing, but thats not to say more can’t be done. If we’d won another term we wouldn’t have downed tools because we thought we’d already fixed every problem. And the bottom line is that he is the Minister and in a position to endorse this inquiry or to reject it, regardless of what Labour may or may not have done in Government.
This isn’t a trap or an attempt to embarrass the Minister of Housing. If his political advisers are reading this, please make sure he understands that. I honestly believe a select committee inquiry could be of great benefit to him and Labour members would be more than happy to discuss terms of reference to ensure maximum value possible to the Minister.
Also, the social services select committee is looking for inquiry topics, so it’s not a case of the committee not having the time to do it.
My hopes arent high, but I also wont be giving up. The sector is calling for such an inquiry and I believe there is real potential for doing so in a non-partisan cross-party way. National members on the committee were originally quite keen on the idea and now seem less so. Clearly I need to work on the Minister.
Good on you for doing this – I remember earlier in the year Wellington City Mission came to talk to our school about homelessness in Wellington. One of the things they raised was a wish that politicians woudl pay more specific attention to the issue.
Something I am concerned about- is that Maryan Street was making moves to reform tenancy law to give rights to people living in boarding houses. And there was some stuff about tenancy insurance. I also think law needs to be developed around people living in caravan parks and in motels- those people deserve protection. All those protections she had gone out and consulted on have been put on hold haven’t they? Such a shame that all that work has been held up.
@principessa – The National Government picked up the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill which Maryan introduced but have watered it down significantly. It still extends the law to now cover boarding houses and caravan parks etc (which is good), but they have removed the insurance stuff and other provisions such as allowing tenants to have advocates in the tenancy tribunal. The bill was reported back from select committee ages ago so I’m not sure what the hold up is given all the (in my opinion) less important measures they’ve forced through under urgency.
Ah so that’s where it’s at. Some tenancy advocates I was talking to a few weeks ago gave me the impression that the Nats had put it all on hold- I now see that they meant the bill was stuck in the house. So it will get there eventually. Disappointed about the drop off of tenancy insurance though, and leaving out advocates from the tribunal. Tribunal is a daunting process.
I think the description you’re looking for is a squalid, run down, hovel.
Argh that’s terrible 
I’m pleased you’re looking into this
That there are families with small children living 16 to a cold damp two bedroom house with absentee landlords in our first world country is grounds for an inquiry I would have thought.
@principessa – actually I can’t work out why it hasn’t been brought back to the House given all parties supported the first reading so it shouldnt be hard to get the numbers. So maybe it has been put on hold. We will put up SOPs in committee stage to restore a number of these measures but doubt we’ll get the numbers
@spud – thats exactly the words I was looking for!
Maybe be worth listening to Professor Jim Flynn from Otago University, he has been giving a series of speeches on the issue of housing and the recession.
Homelessness and the quality of the housing stock are major problems for NZ and so is the fact that thousands of New Zealanders are struggling with their mortgages.
@Hilary – absolutely but if we fail tomorrow we’ll keep trying
@Andrew – thanks for that. Its true what you say, an increase in mortgagee sales flows through the entire sector reducing access to rental and social housing which further displaces people. These things dont occur in silos.