WAATEA NEWS COLUMN: Homeless figures remain hidden
As of the time of me writing this column, the Associate Housing Minister, Tama Potaka, has still not released a crucial report into homelessness after his very draconian Emergency Housing measures that changed the thresholds to gain Emergency Housing, including a new rule that refuses aid if the person is found to have contributed to their homelessness.
Everyone in the sector have pointed to these new rules and said they have contributed to the explosion in homelessness we are seeing throughout the country.
The Associate Minister, alongside the Prime Minister argue that homelessness is a complex issue, and just because National changed the Emergency Housing rules and threw them onto the street, doesn’t mean they’ve contributed to homelessness, even if in fact that’s exactly what they’ve done.
We are seeing an ongoing pattern from the Government. They invest heavily in some counter productive social policy that feeds the angry needs of their reactionary voters and then hide the results when they predictably backfire.
We have seen it over the new military Boot Camps with the Government now censuring the re-offence rates.
We are seeing it with Charter Schools being told to hide their enrollment numbers in case it’s another failure and we see it with Pay Parity and the Government changing those thresholds for eligibility and then pretend they did nothing wrong.
This Government is doing everything in their power to hide the bitter harvest their angry social policies have borne us while pretending the collateral social damage isn’t really their fault.
If only we were cigarettes or banks or property speculators or semi-automatic guns to this Government, then they would care about us.
We can see why they are desperate to close down statistics department .Too much noting of failure every day .If we dont collect the info how can we fail .
“No Haka Potaka” worst Māori sellout MP for many years.
What do these CoC fuckwits think is going to happen when thousands are made homeless, State House builds cancelled and construction workers sacked?
noble and ignoble savages. but which is which.
Potaka, how about some integrity – which means “the quality of being honest and having a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values”! There, now you know so go practice it. How would you like to be homeless, on the street at -2 degrees? Hard to believe you don’t have any idea of how that would feel. You can’t hide this info as most of us can see the reality on daily basis!
Zelda aka Trevor aka Im right aka Bob the first say it’s Labours fault National won’t release the figures!
Hahahahaha
Is it very much likely that those Reports that Do NOT paint National especially in a Very Good Light are the ones that are Hidden and Never Will See the Light of Day??
For example what was the Outcome of the Uffindell Report? Did it end up getting Shredded because neither Luxon nor anyone else and especially Sam Uffindell want to Read about what Antics he got up to prior to becoming a politician?
Where is the Kuriger Report? Did that get Shredded along with the Uffindell Report???
And now the Homeless Report????!!! Will that be eventually Shredded because it shows up this Government as being completely and deliberately Out of Touch With Reality when it comes to Homeless People????!!
Or is the Report highlighting the fact that Homeless People of No Fixed Abode therefore Cannot Vote at an Election which to me is a Breach of Democratic Rights and an Abuse of Human Rights????!!! And if that is the true outcome of the Homeless Report then how about Maraes around the areas with huge numbers of homeless people let them use the Maraes addresses for signing to be able to vote???!! Even Non-Maori could be allowed to do that with the okay of the Elders.
Knowing the ridiculous and practically Childish Track Record of the NZ National Party I am certain Potaka will blame someone else eg the previous Labour government to the point of Ad Nauseam. Decades of brainwashing probably even from birth has resulted in National constantly Wheeling out and Beating to the Point of Sheer Boredom and Monotony the Out-dated NZ National Party Blame=Game Mantra Drum when caught in a corner of a Question They Do Not Have the Intellect or Where-With-all to be Capable of Answering.
I don’t think National Cares about ANYONE i.e the Poor. They CARE about the Wealthy and To Hell with the Poor.