Week in Politics: Govt under fire after motel expose goes to air

By Peter Wilson*

Analysis: A shocking expose of emergency housing conditions in Rotorua draws intense criticism and calls for an inquiry, the police are to be given new powers to seize gang assets and there's a strong expectation the government is about to scrap the Covid traffic light system.

A powerful expose of appalling emergency housing conditions in Rotorua set the agenda this week as opposition parties criticised the government for spending vast amounts of money on putting homeless people into shoddy motels.

TVNZ's investigation titled Golden Mile aired on Sunday and it's still up on the network's website.

It reported the plight of tenants in what was a street of motels which in the past were filled with tourists and are now given over mostly to people waiting for state houses.

Locals were at their wits end, there were gangs, drugs and fires in Fenton St, TVNZ reported.

It was dangerous for both long-time residents and those in motels, exorbitant rents were being charged and there were allegations of intimidation, sexual misconduct and abuse of power against the largest provider.

Political analyst and commentator Bryce Edwards drew on it to write a scathing article published in the Herald titled 'Labour's motel housing shame'.

He said the government had now spent more than $1.2 billion on housing people in motels and emergency facilities.

"What's more, the staggering $1 million spent each day on emergency housing has also been a social disaster, the scale of which is becoming too apparent for the government to ignore," he said.

"This is quite rightly turning into the biggest political story of the week - Labour has adopted the policy of the last National government and simply pushed the homeless into motels."

Edwards said until Covid struck the homelessness problem had been a "growing social crisis" but when the pandemic arrived it became a potential health crisis as well, so the government decided to make use of all the empty motels that were no longer required in lockdown.

"Moving rough sleepers into motels on a large scale was celebrated as a significant achievement," he said.

"But what was meant to be a temporary solution - a band-aid at most - was then leaned on by Labour as an almost-permanent way to deal with the crisis.

"Labour wasn't willing to develop any other solutions for the most vulnerable, and so has left those in motels to rot."

Edwards said the government was generally paying well above market rates for the motels which had been a "gigantic boon" for owners. One company had so far received $60 million in emergency housing payments.

"In private lettings these properties these properties would be rented for $1400 a month. When the government arrived with its chequebook, the landlords would ask for $2900 and get it. The rent would more than double."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern faced questions about it at her post-cabinet press conference on Monday.

She said Rotorua's population had been growing while at the same time there were fewer public houses until Labour came to power in 2017.

Ardern said a QC had been brought in to look at the complaints process. Housing Minister Megan Woods had been aware of complaints in the past and had followed up on them, gaining assurances from other agencies including the police that clients were being kept safe.

That demonstrated the issues were being taken very seriously, she said.

National's deputy leader Nicola Willis, who was the party's housing spokesperson in 2020, admitted on Morning Report at the time there was a net loss of state houses because of her party's actions, RNZ reported.

However, party leader Christopher Luxon told Morning Report the government had had enough time to deal with housing problems overall.

Asked if National's actions had caused a supply problem with state homes he said: "That's a load of rubbish. Here's the deal - 6000 people were on a waiting list when we left power, now we're up over 26,000, a four-fold increase."

National's current housing spokesperson Chris Bishop said he was asking the auditor-general to hold an inquiry into the way government money was being spent on motels for homeless people.

Bishop had previously criticised the motel situation in Rotorua, saying there were "appalling scenes of intimidation, violence, misery and crime".

Maori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi said it was "an absolute train wreck" and called for an independent investigation into Rotorua's emergency housing, saying millions had been spent but people were living in fear.

He said he had personally lived in one of the motels and had witnessed the "dysfunction" tenants and neighbours spoke of.

"We just have to start doing something about this," he said. "It's been three years now and there's been millions and millions of dollars spent - where is the end of the tunnel for these people?"

The prime minister promised on Monday there would be an announcement next week on traffic light settings, and on Thursday the Herald seemed to know what it would be, or might be.

'Covid-19: Gone by Wednesday? Government set to decide on scrapping traffic light system', its headline said.

"The Herald understands Cabinet on Monday will be deciding on a recommendation to scrap the traffic light system altogether rather than tweaking the settings or moving to green," the report said.

"If it goes ahead, it would come into effect as soon as next Wednesday - when the main legal instrument under which the Covid-19 orders are issued will expire if cabinet decides not to renew it."

It has been renewed every three months since it was put in place in March 2020.

The Herald was quickly followed by Stuff. "Cabinet is expected to decide not just on moving from orange to green, but the future of the whole system on Monday," its report said.

This week there was a Covid-19 briefing, when Deputy Director-General of Health Dr Andrew Old reported the lowest daily case rate since February and said the pandemic was entering a new phase.

He wouldn't comment on what the government might do, but he was explaining circumstances it would obviously take into account.

Justice Minister Kiri Allan and Ardern this week announced a series of law changes targeting gangs.

The changes will allow the police to seize assets from people who have proven association with a criminal group.

Property - including real estate, cash and vehicles - can be seized if a court is satisfied on the balance of probabilities that it has come from significant criminal activity.

Allan said criminals structured the affairs to avoid their illicit assets being forfeited by "creating a distance between themselves and the assets by putting property into associates' names".

When the changes had been passed into law those associates will be targeted, and Allan said an additional $25 million a year would be gained for the Proceeds of Crime Fund.

Police Minister Chris Hipkins and Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced expanded programmes for young people at risk of being caught up in a cycle of crime.

They were part of a suite the government hoped would curb a spate of ram raids, RNZ reported.

The ministers said children under 14 caught doing the raids would be given intensive support to steer them away from a life of crime.

Luxon said it was just window dressing and there needed to be more serious consequences for serious repeat offenders.

"We see a lot of family conferences - we think there should be a lot less of that," he said.

"There's a lot of opportunity around home detention, around community services and frankly for the most serious repeat offenders - at least 25 percent of ram raids are done by repeat offenders - we've got youth residential facilities as well."

ACT leader David Seymour suggested young offenders should be monitored with ankle bracelets.

That would keep tabs on their location, show whether they were attending school and ensure that could not break a curfew, he said.

In an odd incident this week Ardern faced questions about a Head Hunters gang member who had urged his followers not to vote National.

He shared a post from National on social media, which detailed how National planned to crack down on gangs, and said "If you vote or are considering voting for these f****** please remove yourself from my friends list," the Herald reported.

That played into National's hands and gave the party another opportunity to claim Labour was soft on crime.

Police spokesman Mark Mitchell said calls for gang members not to vote National would help the party's election campaign, and he was probably right.

"They don't want us to come in as government. They know we'll be much tougher than the current government," he said.

Questioned on Newshub's AM Show, Ardern said she would "push back very hard" against the idea that Labour was "the party of favour" for gangs.

*Peter Wilson is a life member of Parliament's press gallery, 22 years as NZPA's political editor and seven as parliamentary bureau chief for NZ Newswire.