As thousands of rangatahi across Aotearoa experience homelessness and housing insecurity, concern is growing that new move-on powers could shift vulnerable people out of sight without addressing why they have nowhere to live.
The Summary Offences (Move-on Orders) Amendment Bill passed its second reading this week and has progressed to the committee stage. It would give Police powers to order adults involved in specified disruptive behaviour to leave an area and stay away for a period of time.
The original Bill explicitly included rough sleeping, begging and behaviour indicating an intention to inhabit a public place among the circumstances in which an order could be issued.
One major change has already been made. The legislation initially applied to people aged 14 and over, but following the select committee process those under 18 were removed from the regime.
However, homelessness advocates remain concerned about the wider impact on vulnerable communities, particularly young adults who may have left state care, unsafe homes or unstable accommodation without somewhere secure to go.
More than 7,000 submissions were made during the parliamentary process, while more than 4,700 people have backed an open letter opposing the legislation. Critics argue housing, mental-health care, addiction treatment and properly resourced social services offer a more effective response to homelessness than repeatedly moving people between public spaces.
The Government says the powers are intended to address disruptive and intimidating behaviour before it escalates and give Police another tool to improve safety in town and city centres.
For Māori and rangatahi, however, the debate raises a much broader question about what happens when homelessness intersects with poverty, mental distress, addiction, state care and an already severe shortage of affordable housing.
Because if someone has nowhere safe to sleep, telling them to move on still leaves one unanswered question — move on to where?
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