The Tairāwhiti Māori Warden team, from left, City Watch patroller Shelly Brown, regional chair Irene Paenga, deputy regional chair Raewyn Chaffey, regional coordinator Liz Albert with dog Cleo, and City Watch patroller Tina Wilson. Photo / Zita Campbell
The Tairāwhiti Māori Warden team, from left, City Watch patroller Shelly Brown, regional chair Irene Paenga, deputy regional chair Raewyn Chaffey, regional coordinator Liz Albert with dog Cleo, and City Watch patroller Tina Wilson. Photo / Zita Campbell
As the Government takes action to enable police with powers to issue move-on orders for rough sleepers and acts of public disruption, Gisborne’s Māori Wardens warn that this will not resolve the issue.
“I don’t think they have thought it through,” says Māori Warden regional co-ordinator Liz Albert.
Police will soon have the power to require a person, aged 14 or older, to leave an area for up to 24 hours if they are causing public disruption, as part of the Government’s proposed amendment to the Summary Offences Act.
The orders can be used if people are displaying disruptive, threatening or intimidating behaviour, obstructing someone from entering a business, breaching the peace, begging, rough sleeping or indicating that they intend to inhabit a public place.
Breaching the orders could result in serving a term of up to three months’ imprisonment, or a fine of up to $2000.
In a joint statement released this week, Minister of Justice Paul Goldsmith and Minister of Police Mark Mitchell said the orders were about public safety and providing police with more enforcement tools.
People would be required to move a reasonable distance away from the area, as specified by the constable.
Police officers were familiar with the locations they worked and had strong networks and partnerships with social and housing services, and were expected to work closely with them, Mitchell said.
However, Albert, along with the Tairāwhiti Māori Warden team, feared this would move the issue “from one area to another, without a solution”.
There were quite a few rough sleepers who wanted to get off the streets, “they just don’t have the means or the knowledge”.
The problems were wide-ranging and included mental health, whānau issues, addiction, high rent and lack of support, Albert said.
Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz also said this would not solve the issue.
The region had grappled with rough sleepers for decades, and there was “no simple answer”.
There had been several collaborative attempts between council, police, health, iwi and others to address this issue, but it was “quite complex”.
She knew that people wanted the CBD to be welcoming and friendly, but the community also wanted the most vulnerable looked after, and the challenge was balancing the two.
“These are our people, and we need to support them.”
Several “wonderful” organisations were doing “a lot of good work”.
“I am sure between us all, we can come up with an answer to this very complex problem.”
Contracted by the council, Tairāwhiti Māori Wardens employ two City Watch patrols to monitor the CBD’s streets and work with retailers. They are equipped with police and council radios and body cameras.
City Watch patrollers, Tina Wilson and Shelly Brown, had built up relationships with the city’s rough sleepers since they began in their roles last September.
Wilson had observed that people often came from their houses to drink with the rough sleepers in town, and people thought they were homeless, but they weren’t.
Oasis Community Church & Shelter manager Lizz Crawford wondered how the police would tell the difference between housed and rough sleepers.
“Does this also apply to housed persons who may wish to relax on a bench in town or by the gardens at the public library with their music playing?”
The shelter is a men’s-only shelter that houses up to 10 men; however, capacity often exceeds that.
Oasis Community Church & Shelter is a men’s-only shelter that houses up to 10 men; however, capacity often exceeds that. Photo / Zita Campbell
When asked how Minister of Housing Chris Bishop planned on addressing the region’s complex issue of rough sleeping, his office responded with examples of housing support coming to the region.
As part of the Government’s $200 million investment to accelerate Māori housing, between now and 2027, Gisborne would receive 160-plus more social homes, including 150 affordable rentals approved and to be delivered by Toitu Tairāwhiti.
Additionally, from mid-2027 onwards, Gisborne would receive another 100-plus social homes to be delivered by Community Housing Providers.
“We’ll have more to say on those in due course,” Bishop’s office said.
In a statement to Local Democracy Reporting, Bishop acknowledged New Zealand’s housing crisis and homelessness in cities and regions.
The Government had a comprehensive plan to fix the fundamentals of the housing system and address the root cause of all these issues.
“We are making progress, but there is a lot more to do. We have continued to invest in thousands more social homes and have established a new housing ‘flexible fund’ to build the right houses in the right place for the right people with the right support.”
Police said the legislation was still progressing through Parliament, and operational guidance was yet to be developed.
“Police remain focused on keeping communities safe through visible presence, prevention and targeted initiatives. ”
