MOVE-ON ORDERS PASS: NEW POLICE POWERS CLEAR PARLIAMENT UNDER URGENCY

The controversial Move-on Orders legislation has passed its third reading under urgency, giving Police new powers to order people involved in specified disruptive behaviour to leave public areas and stay away.

The Summary Offences (Move-on Orders) Amendment Bill was part of a large package of legislation the Government placed under urgency during the final weeks of the parliamentary term. The Government says the new powers are designed to deal with low-level public disorder before behaviour escalates and to improve safety around businesses and public spaces.

The legislation has attracted significant opposition because the original Bill specifically included begging, rough sleeping and behaviour indicating an intention to inhabit a public place among circumstances that could trigger Police intervention.

Police will also have powers to temporarily detain someone to establish their identity. Failing to provide details, providing false details or refusing to comply with a move-on order can become an offence, with non-compliance carrying a maximum penalty of three months in prison or a $2,000 fine.

The legislation was also considered alongside an Attorney-General’s report under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act, adding to debate over whether the powers appropriately balance public safety with individual rights.

For homelessness organisations, the central concern has been whether enforcement risks shifting vulnerable people from one street to another without addressing why they are there in the first place.

That has particular implications for Māori, who are disproportionately represented among people experiencing severe housing deprivation and homelessness. Critics have argued that housing, mental-health care, addiction treatment and social support need to sit alongside any enforcement response.

The Government maintains the legislation is about disruptive behaviour and public safety, particularly around retail and hospitality areas, rather than solving homelessness through the criminal justice system. Parliament’s description of the Bill says its purpose is to prevent disorder escalating while supporting safer urban centres.

With the legislation now through Parliament, attention will shift to how Police use the new powers on the ground — and whether move-on orders make communities safer or simply move some of Aotearoa’s most vulnerable people somewhere else.

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