Labour leader Chris Hipkins on Rotorua's Eat Streat. Photo / Kelly Makiha
Labour leader Chris Hipkins on Rotorua's Eat Streat. Photo / Kelly Makiha
Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins speaks to senior journalist Kelly Makiha about homelessness, housing and how he thinks the left can win back the Rotorua and Waiariki seats.
Chris Hipkins said he looked out of his Novotel Rotorua hotel room window at the newly developed lakefront andfelt proud of what his Government achieved while in power.
Funding partnerships saw the transformation of the lakefront, including the building of Wai Ariki Hot Springs and Spa, and several new housing developments.
But can Labour be proud of everything it did in Rotorua? What about those who said Labour failed Rotorua with its emergency housing policy and proliferation of homeless people living in motels?
Hipkins, in Rotorua last week as a guest at a local conference, told the Rotorua Daily Post no one expected living in emergency housing motels to be a long-term solution.
“I think we obviously got bad advice because we were asking (if out-of-town homeless were coming to Rotorua). The whole Cabinet was asking questions about that because it was in the media. It (the advice) was from the agencies concerned who were giving us the information that there weren’t people from out of town in there.”
So what could Labour have done differently?
“It would have been better if we could have built more houses faster. But failure was a long time coming. If the previous Government had built state houses at the same rate we were building them, there would have been no homelessness in the first place.”
Labour's then Housing Minister Megan Woods and other officials at the Malfroy Rd and Ranolf St development opening in 2022. Photo / Kelly Makiha
Hipkins said Labour built 13,000 new state houses in the six years it was in power, which he said was a record in living memory.
He said new builds were again going to be an issue with National slashing Kāinga Ora’s funding. Locally, he said that meant 56 new homes planned for Rotorua were cancelled.
Hipkins said the Government had stopped some people getting emergency housing, creating more rough sleepers.
“If you talk to the downtown community ministries in Wellington and Auckland, they will tell you there are more people living rough on the streets because of a lack of emergency accommodation.”
Suitcases (owned by homeless) stacked up outside Pukuatua St businesses.
So what does he think Rotorua should do about its current problem of rough sleepers refusing to leave the CBD streets?
“It is a big challenge because for the individuals concerned it would have been a very long journey that has led them to the point they are in now. It has to involve intensive support.”
He said ministries working with the homeless in Wellington did “amazing work” to get people to a point where they could sustain living with roofs over their heads.
“It seems to me that that’s what’s required here, a very intensive approach to working with the people living rough on the street.”
When will Labour dominate locally again?
It’s been many years since Labour had the upper hand at the Rotorua and Waiariki polling booths.
Rotorua MP Todd McClay has held the seat since 2008, when he beat Labour’s Steve Chadwick. The Waiariki seat has been held by Te Pāti Māori’s Rawiri Waititi since 2020 after Labour’s Tāmati Coffey briefly enjoyed a one-term victory, taking the seat from Te Pāti Māori’s Te Ururoa Flavell in 2017.
Hipkins said winning back Rotorua came down to Labour’s policies of jobs, health and homes - three major areas impacting Rotorua.
“At the last election, one of the things we heard from people very clearly was that people didn’t think we were focused on the stuff that mattered to them. So I have said that our next campaign and our next government will be focused on jobs, health and homes.”
He said in Rotorua, Labour needed to focus on where future jobs would come from.
“Tourism is huge for Rotorua … but we also need to think about the changing nature of the primary sector, manufacturing, forestry and make sure we are not going to end up with regions like Rotorua being left behind as the result of huge technological change.”
But he agreed having the right candidates mattered too.
“We have a nice problem in that regard … We have got an influx of new people who want to stand for us.”
He hinted some strong candidates were lining up for the Rotorua and Waiariki seats.
“We are expecting there will be a pretty vigorous selection process … We will end up with a good contest and really good candidates.”
Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.
