Ministers and National Party MPs are pushing for a new law that would ban begging and rough sleeping in city centres, but details about how the proposed policy would work remain uncertain.
According to a report by Stuff, Police Minister Mark Mitchell and Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith confirmed on Wednesday that work is underway to give police, or potentially other law enforcement agencies, powers to “move on” beggars and rough sleepers from urban areas.
Their statements followed Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s hesitant response in Parliament on Tuesday, when Labour leader Chris Hipkins pressed him three times to clarify whether the Government was considering a law change to ban homeless people from central business districts. Luxon declined to provide a direct answer, saying only that “there have been no Cabinet decisions or discussion on that topic,” Stuff reported.
However, Mitchell’s comments the following day effectively confirmed that discussions are indeed underway. He revealed that Goldsmith was working with an advisory group and the Ministry of Justice to draft a bill enabling law enforcement officers to ask homeless individuals to vacate public areas.
Mitchell expressed support for the move, arguing that homeless individuals in city centres were creating safety and social concerns. “At the moment, there are no powers to be able to move people on who come in and create social issues and intimidate people. They're at risk themselves,” he said, as quoted by Stuff.
National MP Ryan Hamilton had previously proposed a similar measure through a private member’s bill, which is not official Government policy. Mitchell, however, called it “a really good bill” and said he hoped it would be adopted by the Government.
Prime Minister Luxon defended the proposal as part of an effort to improve urban environments, particularly Auckland’s CBD. “Move-on orders would be one of the things you’d want to consider,” he said, adding that “the right support structures” must also be in place for affected individuals, Stuff reported.
Opposition leader Hipkins criticised the move, calling it a misguided approach to a complex social issue. “Making it illegal to be homeless doesn’t make someone not-homeless. Pushing them out of a CBD into a suburban area does not make them not-homeless,” he said.
This is not the first time Goldsmith has supported such an idea. In 2008, while serving on the Auckland Council, he advocated for measures allowing the council to stop people from lying or sleeping on city streets. Goldsmith, however, downplayed that history, saying, “2008? I don’t even remember 2008,” reported Stuff.
He said the current proposal emerged from concerns raised by residents, retailers, and business groups. “A lot of people are concerned about the sad state of affairs in the CBD of Auckland. We can do better,” Goldsmith said.
The advisory group working with the Ministry of Justice includes dairy owners’ lobbyist Sunny Kaushal, Michael Hill Jewellers manager Michael Bell, liquor store operator Ash Parmar, supermarket manager Lindsay Rowles, and Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young. Mitchell added that social service organisations such as the Māori Wardens and Auckland City Mission are also part of the discussions.
While the proposal has yet to reach Cabinet, its confirmation has already sparked a heated debate over whether homelessness should be treated as a criminal issue or a matter for social policy.
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