9,000 Turned Away — And Potaka Stands By It
As homelessness rises and access to emergency housing tightens, serious questions are being asked about whether government policy is protecting the most vulnerable — or pushing them further into crisis.
Government Defends Emergency Housing Crackdown
Minister stands by decision to tighten emergency housing criteria despite criticism
The Minister in charge of emergency housing says he stands by decisions to tighten eligibility criteria for those in need, despite an Auditor-General report highlighting the need for more consistency and fairness.
Tama Potaka said he would “get advice” on the reports recommendations, but has yet to speak to the relevant Ministries about improvements.
What the Auditor-General’s Report Found
A report by the Auditor-General looked into how well the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MHUD) work together.
It also looked at how those ministries worked with other organisations to “connect people in immediate need of housing with appropriate housing and wrap-around services”.
It found there were clear ways for people to engage with MSD about housing, but some people “continue to face barriers”.
It also found MSD could provide “clearer guidance to its staff on what constitutes a person unreasonably causing or contributing to their own immediate housing need, and when to ask about this at appointments, to help ensure that decisions are fair and consistent”.
The Policy Change That Shifted Access
In 2024, the government tightened the rules for access to emergency housing.
Part of the change was that MSD staff assessing anyone applying for emergency housing “will increase their scrutiny of whether they have unreasonably contributed to their immediate emergency housing need.”
The Surge in Declined Housing Applications
The report noted the significant increase in declined applications since the change.
Information from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development showed in March 2024 around 1,000 applications had been denied, while in March 2025 that number was around 9,000.
RNZ
From 1,000 to 9,000
declined applications in a year
A Political and Moral Failure
The respect I once had for Tama Potaka has run out.
His spinelessness when it comes to standing up for Māori at Caucus when National deal blow after blow to Māori with cruel social policy has burnt any good will he might have had.
Homelessness as Policy Outcome
The homelessness crisis is surely his greatest failure.
By changing the eligibility for emergency housing, Tama forced huge numbers out onto the streets which generated a housing crisis, the solution for which is to now arrest those homeless.
Criminalising the Consequences
Arresting the very fruits of your bitter harvest so that we aren’t ashamed of our poverty in front of Cruise Ship tourists.
That he now has the audacity after being challenged on his policy to stand by his cruelty while daring to mouth justifications that he fears about the children in this emergency housing is Trumpian in its self-deluded presumptions.
Homelessness has been an enormous social policy failure, for Tama to double down on that and pretend it’s a success is obscene.
He is the most useless Minister for Māori Development this country has had in living memory.
