Posts Tagged ‘homeless crisis’

A couple of morning cartoons

Written By: - Date published: 10:57 am, July 30th, 2017 - 9 comments

Beneficiary reduction targets, homelessness and suicide

Written By: - Date published: 7:01 am, July 26th, 2017 - 41 comments

Most people would be shocked to learn that each WINZ case manager is assigned the target of getting a certain number of people off the benefit every month. This is one of the reasons why we have such a punitive and aggressive welfare system. Fewer than half of those removed from the benefit go to jobs. The Nats neither know nor care what happens to the rest, but links to the rising number of homeless and our shocking suicide statistics should be investigated.

Government admits it has “no idea” on homeless

Written By: - Date published: 9:54 am, July 21st, 2017 - 61 comments

Today in news that makes you want to scream: “Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett has admitted “in hindsight” the Government’s response to the housing crisis has been too slow.”

Bravo Clare Curran

Written By: - Date published: 7:33 am, July 21st, 2017 - 48 comments

Labour MP Clare Curran has been camping in Dunedin’s Octagon to protest against the MSD’s treatment of two homeless mothers. Bravo Clare for putting yourself on the line to draw attention to this issue!

Flavell has “no idea” how homelessness got so bad

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, July 19th, 2017 - 173 comments

Could it have anything to do with the government of the last nine years, and the policies that you and your party have been supporting?

Spare a thought for the homeless tonight

Written By: - Date published: 9:49 am, July 1st, 2017 - 20 comments

Not just because it’s winter, and the weather is lousy, but also because of this…

Fuck the homeless

Written By: - Date published: 7:11 am, May 6th, 2017 - 187 comments

Those compassionate conservatives of the National Party have a message for the increasing number of homeless who occupy our Brighter Future.

A tin shed and a cup of cold Milo

Written By: - Date published: 11:10 am, April 24th, 2017 - 14 comments

Funny how the Nats can always find millions for vanity projects – and sweet FA for the homeless.

Motels are full of homeless so now what?

Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, April 11th, 2017 - 83 comments

Ordinary people are priced out of home ownership and increasingly out of renting, the state-housing safety net has been deliberately run down, and now the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff is full. National leaps into action – by asking the Salvation Army for ideas…

Motels are not state houses

Written By: - Date published: 9:22 am, March 28th, 2017 - 39 comments

It’s almost as if deliberately running down state housing stock doesn’t make the need for homes magically go away – who could possibly have predicted that?

Homeless crisis hidden in plain sight

Written By: - Date published: 8:11 am, February 28th, 2017 - 10 comments

Bill blames the blowout in emergency housing grants on the “hidden homeless”. Hidden only from those who will not see. Hidden only from a government that deliberately chooses for political reasons not to collect the relevant data.

The shame of homelessness

Written By: - Date published: 8:04 am, January 18th, 2017 - 54 comments

A rich old white idiot, who would only be amused at our anger, has vented about the homeless, in a piece that shouldn’t be rewarded with our clicks.

What Paula is proud of

Written By: - Date published: 8:36 am, December 17th, 2016 - 76 comments

Apparently it’s “getting homeless people into homes”. Given the ongoing explosion of homelessness, just think how much scope she has to make herself proud next year…

I see a poverty of ideas and a poverty of Government responsibility

Written By: - Date published: 7:35 am, October 13th, 2016 - 210 comments

Judith Collins yesterday said that child poverty is the fault of parents and not the fault of her Government.

Government announces watered down version of Labour’s Kiwibuild policy

Written By: - Date published: 10:04 am, October 12th, 2016 - 82 comments

National is borrowing another Labour-Green policy and has announced a lite version of Labour’s Kiwibuild policy.

The crime spike

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, October 12th, 2016 - 24 comments

Who would have thought that a surge in homelessness would result in a spike in crime, and that a dramatic increase in the number of people with no or compromised housing situations would cause an increase in burglaries, robberies and assaults.

Cross-Party Inquiry into Homelessness releases report – Government must act

Written By: - Date published: 12:11 pm, October 10th, 2016 - 82 comments

Labour, the Green Party and the Māori Party are have released their Ending Homelessness in New Zealand report and are calling on the Government to immediately adopt the 20 recommendations.

Phil Twyford: the Housing Crisis

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, October 5th, 2016 - 148 comments

Phil Twyford argues housing will be the defining challenge for the next Labour-led Government, and sets out Labour’s reform agenda.

Stand Up for Housing: Protest today in Aotea Square

Written By: - Date published: 6:38 pm, September 23rd, 2016 - 45 comments

Young people, union members, and other Aucklanders will meet in Aotea Square today to make some noise about the devastating Auckland housing crisis.  Stand Up Youth Union Movement and Unions Auckland are hosting the Monopoly-themed event, which will highlight the damaging effects of the crisis and call on local and central government to do a lot more to fix the housing market.

Paula Bennett improves supply of housing, or does she?

Written By: - Date published: 4:02 pm, September 19th, 2016 - 74 comments

National’s latest plan to do something about the housing crisis is to buy a Motel and kick families who stay there out on the street.

Government seeking to remove property buy back rights under urgency

Written By: - Date published: 4:38 pm, September 6th, 2016 - 13 comments

Nick Smith has introduced a bill into Parliament which he wants to be passed under urgency without select committee oversight.  The bill takes away the right of any prior owner of land taken under the Public Works Act to have housing land offered back to them.  To do this under urgency is banana republic stuff.

Key finally admits there is a housing crisis but says it is all Labour’s fault

Written By: - Date published: 8:35 am, August 30th, 2016 - 32 comments

John Key has used some very dodgy figures to claim that the housing crisis was worse under Labour than it is now.

Toby Morris: TA’s Story

Written By: - Date published: 11:12 am, August 28th, 2016 - 10 comments

Illustrator and commentator Toby Morris has animated TA’s story: “What do you want most in the world,” John Campbell asks TA, who has been living in a van with her family since February. “A library.”

Homeless crisis – Nats in full denial

Written By: - Date published: 7:01 am, August 26th, 2016 - 82 comments

New research on homelessness from Otago University sheds light on the depth and breadth of the problem. Naturally Paula Bennett says she doesn’t believe it, and that she won’t read it. Because of course.

The cross-party inquiry into homelessness is under way

Written By: - Date published: 1:04 pm, August 22nd, 2016 - 48 comments

After National blocked a proposed official inquiry into homelessness, Labour, The Greens and The Maori Party went ahead with their own. It will no doubt come up with useful recommendations. But to see them implemented we will need to change the government.

On #Planetkey everyone owns a home

Written By: - Date published: 7:39 am, August 10th, 2016 - 163 comments

In Parliament yesterday John Key showed a clear lack of understanding of what being poor in New Zealand entails.

Al Jazeera on NZ homeless – watch it and weep

Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, August 6th, 2016 - 291 comments

Al Jazeera: Once a pioneer of the social welfare state, New Zealand now has over 40,000 people who are homeless, forced to live in their cars and in garages as a result of rapid house price and rent rises and a shortage of social housing. Al Jazeera … charts the country’s fall from and egalitarian society to one with deep divisions of wealth

Labour plans to crack down on negative gearing

Written By: - Date published: 8:31 am, August 5th, 2016 - 130 comments

Labour has announced that it will review tax exemptions for landlords achieved through negative gearing.

WINZ sends families to live in garages

Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, July 21st, 2016 - 204 comments

The government is demolishing and selling state house while WINZ sends families to live in garages. This is New Zealand in the Eighth Year of the Brighter Future.

Submit to the Cross-Party Homelessness Inquiry

Written By: - Date published: 4:41 pm, July 20th, 2016 - 1 comment

homeless-enquiry

We truly are being run by a bunch of clowns

Written By: - Date published: 8:55 am, July 13th, 2016 - 29 comments

National is flailing around attempting to divert attention from its failure to do anything meaningful about the homeless crisis.

The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.