The Governmentโs 300 new social housing places will fail to even begin to address the homelessness crisis in Aotearoa, says the Green Party.
โThis barely touches the sides of the homelessness crisis deepened under this Government,โ says the Green Partyโs spokesperson for Housing, Tamatha Paul.
โHousing is a human right, but this Government is treating it like a business where profit comes first and people come second.
โWhile every new Housing First place is valuable, the lease of 300 new places is a drop in the ocean in the context of the current crisis. The latest homelessness report showed there were already nearly 1,000 people waiting to be housed under Housing First.
โThe Government needs to explain where this funding is coming from, and why it wasnโt already being spent to provide housing support for homeless people.
โThe housing crisis in Aotearoa is spiralling out of control amid growing poverty and homelessness. This Government clearly has no plan or interest in fixing it.
โThe Green Party has a plan to build 35,000 new public homes, scrap the restrictions on emergency housing, and increase funding for supported housing services like Housing First by $100m a year – not $10m. Weโll ensure everyone has a warm, healthy home to live in.
โItโs time to empower Kฤinga Ora and community housing providers to build big, and build fast,โ says Tamatha Paul.