Spare a thought for the homeless tonight

20 comments on “Spare a thought for the homeless tonight ”

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1. Crunchy 1

   1 July 2017 at 9:56 am

   Seems a shame to be importing foreign Labour Election Campaign Workers taking up accommodation when kiwis don’t have a roof over their heads.
   • marty mars 1.1

     1 July 2017 at 10:31 am

     Crunchy you is idiot.
   • Heather Grimwood 1.2

     1 July 2017 at 10:47 am

     To Crunchy: Please check your statements which you present as fact.

     To the thread: why on earth when the needy are being paid for in these motels by government money, should they be thrown out ? I can only think that it is to allow exorbitant prices to be charged to rugby fans.
     I can not see how this abuse could be at all legal, unless of course the rooms were actually booked long ago in which case alternative accomodation for these hapless folk should also have been organised. .
     • AsleepWhileWalking 1.2.1

       2 July 2017 at 7:07 am

       MSD makes people apply week to week meaning the subsequent weeks can of course be booked by tourists.

       The issue here is not the motel, but the ridiculous policy by MSD that continues to presuppose this situation (not per client but increasing homelessness and therefore motel demand) is temporary when it is in fact a mathematical impossibility that this situation doesn’t get worse.
     • Crunchy 1.2.2

       2 July 2017 at 8:32 am

       Obviously I hit a sensitive spot with my comments being deleted.
       Very lame, and someone feeling guilty perhaps.
   • Ed 1.3

     1 July 2017 at 11:58 am

     Troll
2. RedLogix 2

   1 July 2017 at 9:58 am

   Not sure if the SBS docos will play in NZ, but we got a lot out of watching these last night:

   http://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/article/2017/06/26/tiny-homes-homeless

   Warning: some events depicted are downright infuriating.
   • ianmac 2.1

     1 July 2017 at 10:20 am

     Sobering Redlogix. In NZ a small space and toilets would give some a tiny patch to call home.
     • RedLogix 2.1.1

       1 July 2017 at 11:45 am

       Watching this right now as well.

       https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jun/27/filthy-rich-and-homeless-sbs-reality-television-show

       Yes as a narrative it has it’s limitations, but it’s still way better than silence.
   • AsleepWhileWalking 2.2

     2 July 2017 at 8:19 am

     It cost $7K USD to build what amounts to little more than a shed?
3. savenz 3

   1 July 2017 at 10:53 am

   Motels are not state houses. It should be obvious but clearly not to the National party. Not being picked up by the MSM either, a lot about malls and supermarkets in granny today. My what a news rag / cash for content / no wonder they have to give their subscriptions away now.
   • millsy 3.1

     1 July 2017 at 12:06 pm

     Hotel owners vote National. Having an endless supply of homeless people lessen surplus capacity.

     It will not be long before motel owners start catering solely to WINZ clients.
4. jcuknz 4

   1 July 2017 at 1:11 pm

   to Redlogix
   It was done in NZ in a way as I remember my step-father lived at Trentham mens’ huts while working for the local electricity station. With facilities adjacent it gives a person a base than is their own at reasonable cost ….as I did when I bought an old school bus,converted it with bed, TV , kitchenette and used a motor-camp toilet and shower. I shared it with my wife until impending arrival of our son indicated a house was needed.

   The Kiwi pre-occupation with a quarter acre section and three bedrooms and the standards imposed on this is a major problem standing in the way of solving the housing crisis we and the world’s cities face.

   My pet policy, formed earlier when renting, is that everyone should have a state house to match their basic needs with rent a % of income so as they progressed and/or became dis-satisfied with the basics appropriate for them they moved into the private sector.

   While I am wary of TOPS tax proposals for me personally I think I have yet to read anything wrong coming from them and certainly better than voting NZF or ACT in protest at our two/three left wing parties. [L-G-Nat]
   • RedLogix 4.1

     1 July 2017 at 7:18 pm

     @jcuknz

     Totally agree. I’ve often made the case that we should conceptually divide housing into three broad categories; a state provided/sponsored social net; a better regulated private sector rental market, and more diverse options around private/group/collective ownership.

     The underlying point of state involvement in housing is to provide a decent floor on the market below which no private sector operator could fall and remain in business. There will always be around 10 -20% of people who for one reason or another will never be able to own or rent privately. This kind of housing must be warm, safe and sound … and modest in size. The past decade or so has seen many intelligent, smart compact design principles emerge in the area, and the state sector is very well placed to explore them.

     The private rental sector naturally caters for another 10 -20% of people who are simply either not ready or not interested in owning their own home. Much firmer regulation around quality and security of tenure can be achieved for tenants, IF at the same time landlords very real concerns around risk are also addressed.

     And finally the single owner occupier model we have in NZ is terribly narrow. I agree the classic section with one nuclear household model should be kicked to touch. Housing associations, group eco-villages and the like provide plenty of alternatives that can easily be encouraged.

     I’ve probably openly expressed more interest in TOP than any other regular commenter here. But I try not to shove this into people’s faces either, aware that a TOP vote, not only threatens to eat some of the Greens lunch, but if it falls below 5% represents a terrible risk. But I would very much like to imagine Gareth Morgan taking a great big chunk out of NZF; that not only feels possible, but would please me a lot.

     https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/94113225/gareth-morgans-new-breed-of-evidencebased-populism
5. adam 5

   1 July 2017 at 9:17 pm

   Last night a man forced out of accommodation whilst struggling with cancer, drank enough to fall asleep, then died in the local park.

   Gotta love liberalism as an ideology, just brings the best in everyone.
   • RedLogix 5.1

     1 July 2017 at 10:11 pm

     It’s way too easy to look at homeless people and ask “what is wrong with them?” But the right question is to ask “what is wrong with us that we choose not to end homelessness?”

     Oh and many cities have tens of thousands of empty houses.
     • Poission 5.1.1

       1 July 2017 at 10:28 pm

       https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/21417/single-mens-huts-gracefield

       prefab by rail
       • RedLogix 5.1.1.1

         1 July 2017 at 10:34 pm

         I think I recognise those; one of them finished up in the backyard of my first home as a toolshed. Actually quite well built and solid.

         It’s not solutions we lack, it’s compassion.
6. Warren Doney 6

   1 July 2017 at 9:29 pm

   I’m really angry there is no night shelter in Auckland. Imagine being out in this.

   I’m starting to wonder if the reason behind it is a kind of neo-Victorian notion of the deserving poor being pushed by Lifewise, and perhaps the Sallies and City Mission as well.

   I doubt it will ever happen, but what I would love to see is the homeless occupy the cloud. It’s time Auckland woke up to what is happening.

   Exchange with Lifewise on Phil’s post:

   https://www.facebook.com/phil.goff.akld/photos/a.119911564730874.25329.118228171565880/1330358967019455/?type=3
7. Jan Rivers 7

   2 July 2017 at 7:50 pm

   Slightly tangential to the topic but Scoop is holding a consultation on making housing affordable using the HiveMind platform – a modern civics application that supports text analysis of different viewpoints and uses smart machine learning. When you have taken part you can see where your views fit compared with others. It’s anonymous unless you use a social media account but you see yourself represented as a small blue circle that moves around as you vote. New perspectives can also be added.

   There is plenty of information on the page but essentially we have sourced ideas from across the political spectrum from – NZ initiative, Renters United, Community Housing Aotearoa, government policy, party manifestos, research articles and so on. We have contacted hundreds of people interested in the area – people involved in public housing, rental campaigns, property companies, estate agents, builders and developers as well as Scoop’s readership.

   If you are able I’d be delighted if you can take part. The output will be a report on the diversity of views proposed and analysis of approaches that seem to have wide endorsement. The thinking behind HiveMind is that traditional media is unidirectional, social Media can create echo chambers and pointless beatups but when you respond to ideas and not positions there is an opportunity to find common ground. Actually perhaps people are far better at finding common ground that people who are defending interests and positions.

   The consultation is here http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1706/S00034/making-housing-affordable-lets-crack-it.htm and it got a nice write up on last week’s Media Watch http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/201848483/getting-engaged-with-the-audience and is open till next Sunday 9 July

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