The Government is pushing ahead with a doomed-to-fail policy despite being warned it won’t work.

“Instead of investing in solutions that reduce offending and help people turn their lives around, National has chosen a headline-grabbing law enforcement approach that officials warn will fail,” Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said.

“The Government keeps saying this bill is about antisocial behaviour, but they ignored repeated warnings from officials that the legislation would end up criminalising rough sleeping and homelessness.

“More people are sleeping rough because they are struggling under this Government.

“Moving people on from Queen Street does not solve homelessness. It just means people will be sleeping outside the corner dairy in the suburbs instead of the dairy on Queen Street.

“You cannot arrest your way out of homelessness. You solve it by investing in housing, mental health, addiction support, and early intervention, not by pushing vulnerable people from one street corner to another,” Kieran McAnulty said.

“The Ministry of Justice said there was no evidence move-on orders reduce crime. Police opposed criminalising rough sleeping and non-aggressive begging, Treasury said the costs would outweigh the benefits and Housing warned the policy risks criminalising homelessness,” Labour justice spokesperson Camilla Belich said.

“When every major agency is warning against your policy and you ignore them all, that tells New Zealanders this is about politics, not public safety.

“This Bill would allow police to serve a move on order to a homeless 14-year-old and then fine them if they do not comply. This cannot be society’s response to homeless youth.

“This bill is not responding to evidence, it is simply playing politics,” Camilla Belich said.

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