October 9, 2025 • 19 mins
Today is World Homeless Day – where organisations around the globe shed light on the issue.
Right now, more than 2% of New Zealanders are without a home.
Stats NZ figures show more than 112,000 people are now severely housing deprived across New Zealand.
In Auckland, there’s been a 53 per cent increase in rough sleeping since late last year. Manaaki Rangitahi aims to end youth homelessness in Aotearoa New Zealand.
CEO Bianca Johanson is with us today on The Front Page, to discuss how – as a country – we can make this happen.
Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.
Host: Chelsea Daniels
Editor/Producer: Richard Martin
Producer: Jane Yee
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Kiota.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page, a
daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald. Today is
World Homeless Day, where organizations around the globe shed light
on the issue. Right now, more than two percent of
New Zealanders are without a home. Stats and Z figures
(00:29):
show more than one hundred and twelve thousand people are
now severely housing deprived across the country. In Auckland, there's
been a fifty three percent increase in rough sleeping since
late last year. Manarki Rangatahi aims to end youth homelessness
in Altieroa. New Zealand CEO Bianca Johanson is with us
(00:53):
today on the Front Page to discuss how as a
country we can make this happen. So, Bianka, how bad
is homelessness among our young people?
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Well, we don't have the data and the stats, so
we're always asking the government to help us fund and
research that. So we don't know the massive size of
the problem. We do know that special needs grants back
in twenty three early twenty four were around over five
(01:28):
thousand per year, So that's for emergency housing. Back when
there was emergency housing available. I think it's now down
to the you know, the sort of the hundreds. We
do know that doctor Terry and Clark, who did the
youth two thousand research, she estimated that there was over
one hundred thousand rangatahi and altied or that are facing
(01:50):
housing and security and homelessness. So it's a pretty big
stat because internationally, youth homelesses is often hidden because of
the CouchSurfing and staying at other people's places and you know,
going from place to place looking for somewhere stable to live.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
And that's what people don't realize. Hey, homelessness isn't just
your rough sleepers out in the street that you might
be who are visible to us. What else does it include?
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Oh, look, there's a growing older woman's homelessness in this
country and internationally of course with the recession and the
economic issues that everybody's facing, increasing house prices, et cetera,
and also our coma to acquire our elderly people. But
ford Angitahi, the research is really clear if we start
(02:40):
and preventing and ending youth homelessness will make a massive
difference in the outcomes and the statistics for those that
are older. So the older street is because I used
to work for Life Wise Trust in the Central City
and Tarmaki there and all of them that I've spoken
to that are aroundy plus housing and security and homeless
(03:04):
has started when they were young people and wards of
the state and coming out of care and situations like
that far no breakdowns, abuse of far noo. For many
of them, it started when they were young.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
We've had Matama Davidson on the Greens co leader. We've
spoken to her before about the fact that when you
leave ordering a tamariki or state care, the government isn't
actually legally required to make sure that you go into
you have a safe accommodation, a safe home to go into.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
You would think that the least we can do for
these children who have been in the system and are
coming out of care, young children, that the least we
can do is provide them with that really basic support
for the rest of their lives to be able to flourish.
What we are seeing, however, and hearing right now, is
(03:58):
that young people, even with advocates and support workers, are
being told at every stop, sorry, we cannot help you.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
I suppose this is something that's not news to you.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Yes, not news to me. Around eight hundred to one
thousand young people every year are transitioning out of aut
atomitiicy care and a lot of them run away before
there is sixteen actually, so we've got a lot of
young people. I mean, I could take you around the
Auckland CBD right now and we'll have children and young
people that are hiding out underage, you know, perhaps looking
(04:35):
a bit older, but are actually younger and do have
guardianship and custody orders from Autongtomitiki that are sleeping rough
right now, and Autongtomitiche have no idea where the young
people are. I mean, if you have children, I have children.
My children are older, but when they were children, when
(04:56):
they were twelve and fifteen, I knew where they were.
The state does not know where all of their people
that they have custody and care for actually are. So yeah,
we've got eight hundred to one thousand young people that
are exiting care every year, and they're exiting into nothing.
They're often disconnected from FARNO because there hasn't been a
(05:18):
relationship kept with FARNO. So the trajectory of their lives
and the outcomes that will be their future in terms
of homelessness and housing is pretty dire because they don't
have faro in those natural community supports to go to,
so homelessness can be an inevitability for a vast majority,
(05:38):
especially our Dangatahimori who are overrepresented in the care statistics.
So it's really grim with auto Atomitiki. I know that
they do have youth transitions housing, but there's not enough.
There's not enough in the country for the need that's there.
(06:01):
That's what we've.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Seen when it comes to you said that if you
take me down to Auckland CBD right now, you'd be
able to show me some young people living rough. Yes,
what are some of the stories that you've heard from
the ground.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
From the ground is that young people don't have any
front facing information. So if you're a young person in
alt or tonight, there is nowhere for you to go
and you're homeless. There's no housing there never has been,
and no shelters, not for young people, so you can't
(06:37):
actually have a tendency agreement if you're eighteen and under.
Many of our Angertahi that come into supported youth housing
and youth housing specific are usually under twenty. You know,
that's the vast majority that are looking for support so
young people are saying, look, there's no front facing information,
(06:59):
I can't find where to go. Many of them, if
they go into MSD, are not even able to make
it to the reception receptionist desk to be able to
get the support that they need. And if they do
make it past the receptionist, which is usually quite a
bias and can be a very aggressive and oppressive process
(07:24):
for them to actually get to see somebody about their needs.
But if you're a young person, say you're in Auckland,
you're in Queen Street and there's MSD there on Queen
Street for you to be able to make it into
Queen Street, MISD make it to the receptionist desk, they
will ask you to go to a youth payment provider.
(07:46):
Those are the people that usually pick up young people
who are experiencing their first out of homelessness or housing
and security and they need somewhere to go tonight. So
the nearest youth payment provider to Queen Street is an IPSOM,
so they're expected without any income, without usually an at
(08:10):
hop card or anything like that, having to go all
the way to IPSOM to the nearest youth payment provider
to get that kind of support. So there's a lot
of gaps in the system that ungatahi can fall down.
And this is what we are very very concerned about
as Manarchi Dungatahi, that too many of our young people
fall down the gaps. And while they're falling down the gaps,
(08:32):
they get into really unsafe situations because they are the
most vulnerable out there in that kind of street community
and culture by virtue of their age.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
And even building up the courage to take yourself to
MSD in the first place, and never mind actually getting
past the receptionist and things like that. I mean, it
must be really difficult for these lungatahi. Do they stick
together mostly or building community? What's the community like?
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Are so varied in terms of, you know, how they
do things. We often don't get a lot of our
young men coming into youth housing because they tend to
be quite sort of independent. So you've got all sorts
of stories and experiences happening for people. We've got lgbtqi
plus rang a tahi that are getting kicked out of home,
(09:26):
usually because they have been coming out or because of
their sexuality. So that particular cohort find it really difficult
because there isn't something specific for our rainbow youth to
go to in terms of safe housing, especially if you're transgender,
et cetera. Then we've got our autotamitikidng a tahi that
(09:47):
are transitioning out of care. And then you've got anatahi
who have had some care experience in their lives, like
their lives have been touched by the state in terms
of investigations or things like that, and they have grown older,
the house is overcrowded, they're perhaps encouraged to move on,
or they're leaving unsafe fino situations where you know there's
(10:10):
abuse or addiction issues and they just can't tolerate living
in that situation anymore.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
I was not prepared well to leave care. If I
was prepared well to leave KRE, I would have been
supported to find alternative accommodation. I would have been provided
with financial advisors to be able to make better financial decisions.
They would have supported me to get into the workforce.
Speaker 5 (10:41):
In saying that though I am in the workforce, but
also that took a lot of my own work to
be able to be better equipped to help our most
vulnerable Tamida ge arang Attai and Faro involved with.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
TIMID at the moment, does the government legally have to
make sure that every young person has a place to live?
Speaker 3 (11:09):
No, No, there's no youth strategy the government barely. We
don't even in al tedor have an age that we
say are youth. There's no real definition. I mean sixteen
to twenty four you are considered a young person. But
that's what we've been advocating and hustling for as a
collective where the only youth housing and homeless collective and
(11:31):
ul tedwer and we use that power of collective impact
to advocate for change. We have sat with ministers and said,
you know, we need a youth strategy specific for dungcita
Het because the research internationally is very clear we need
to start with uncita heat if we were going to
have any funds available, which by the way, this government
(11:54):
has actually taken away twenty million dollars of the youth
housing funding an altered wor put it towards ad Angitahi.
Because there is the prevention there. You can make a
massive difference. That's what we're calling on this government and
any other government that comes in the future and previous
(12:15):
to do.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
I mean, because how young are these kids who are
living rough.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
So we have a provider, the Pride Project that are
out in many dwa. They are picking up young people
from the bus stops and other places that are not
wanting to go home, and they're eight or nine years old.
It can vary. There's the whole you know, there's a
whole massive continuum from actual children to young people. But
(12:44):
as I said, you know, most young people are presenting
anywhere from around thirteen years old up to twenty years old.
Of course they can't come into youth housing it's only
for sixteen to twenty. But each youth housing provider has
their own kind of criteria and youth housing is the
place that we advocate for young people to come into
(13:04):
and supported youth housing, not adult transitional housing. So a
sixteen year old being an adult transitional housing. We've got
all sorts of ages, typically mainly men and others. It's
not a safe space d ang tahi to be.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
So let me get this. There's no place if you
were to pick up a thirteen year old in the
middle of Auckland who has been sleeping rough, where would
you take them? There's no where to take them.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Specifically, no that's the role of tapata Key.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
So there's no youth housing situation. No, you must be
so frustrated.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
It is really frustrated because we don't have either a
street outreach really that's looking for these for youth specific
and that's one of the things that we're working with
with HAD of course are responsible for home land business
and you know those that are sleeping rough and altas,
so we have been talking to them about having a
(14:07):
youth street outreach. Earlier this year we went to the
and presented at the first Preventing Youth Homelessness conference ever
in the world. We were the only New Zealand delegates
that went and you know presented there and everywhere has
youth street outreach you know emergency youth facilities. You know
(14:28):
they're tackling and actually acknowledged that there's a problem with
youth homelessness. We have really yet to have this government
or subsequent governments actually acknowledged we have a youth housing problem.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Or even just a conversation about it.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Kilda Kilder, that's right. We did have a Homelessness Minister
that with this government that has been taken away and
that just falls under the portfolio of Tammer Pautucker. When
we have Madame and Davidson in that role, we made
great advances actually, and that's where we were able to
have more youth housing than that's ever been seen in
(15:05):
Old set all. But we still have massive parts of
the country that have no youth housing available. So from
Westokland right up to the top of the North there
is nothing for Angitahi, nothing suitable, nothing specific. We've got
Napier that had massive floods and that really impacted on
(15:25):
the housing situation there. They've got no youth housing. We've
got far no living intents with children with respiratory issues.
We get all sorts of you know, problems and stories
and crisis coming through here. I think what's important to
remember is that Leilani Faja, who is the un housing
that raptur, came here in twenty twenty twenty, I think
(15:49):
it was twenty twenty or twenty one and she announced
that New Zealand is having not a housing crisis but
a human rights crisis. So you can't advance. I mean,
it's very rich for the government to be calling on
young people must work, work, work. It's very hard to
go to work when you don't have safe, warm, dry,
(16:11):
secure housing, to have a good night's sleeping and to
advance yourself.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
If you were to change something tomorrow, no questions asked.
There's a money tree out the back. What would you do?
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Money tree out the back. Actually, I had one of
the ministers say to me, look, if I gave you
thirty million dollars, what would you do. It's not just
about increasing the youth housing supply, because we could build
five thousand more houses tomorrow and that's not going to
do everything. Yes, the housing supply is really important, but
(16:47):
we need to have a strategy as a country. We
need to look at putting funding into prevention. We need
to have research and data. You know, there's a whole
lot of things that we could do and too of
healing for our young people. I mean, I would want
to actually redevelop the whole system and look at all
the drivers of young people into homelessness and how we
(17:11):
can actually prevent and stop that, you know, plug up
the gaps. I mean I talked in a previous interview
that we actually need to devolve a lot of our
state kind of systems that look after young people into
the community into MADI housing specific housing providers and make
it so that it's easy to access support. So it's
(17:35):
I think, yes, we need to put some money towards it,
but we all need to come together, all of the ministries,
all of the ministers and having across party support about
how we're actually going to do something effective about this issue.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
And from the kid's point of view as well. I
actually ask them exactly.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Our angatahi and that ang a tahi that I've spoken
to are very political and very politically astute, and they
have solutions. They have spoken to politicians, some of them
and shared their story, and you know, they want to
prevent other young people going into the streets and experiencing
what they have had to experience. I mean, one night
(18:19):
of rough sleeping. I don't know if you've ever had
to you know, you've been locked out of your house,
or ever had to sleep a little bit rough, will
sleep in your car. It's a terrible, terrible night, one
that most people will never forget. And what we say
is one night is one night too many of having
to sleep rough.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Thanks for joining us, Bianca.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
You're welcome. Thank you for having me Kilda.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You
can Read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage
at nsidherld, dot co, dot MZ. The Front Page is
produced by Jane Ye and Richard Martin, who was also
our editor. I'm Chelsea Daniels. Subscribe to the Front Page
on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts, and tune
(19:08):
in on Monday for another look behind the headlines.
Kiota.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page, a
daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald. Today is
World Homeless Day, where organizations around the globe shed light
on the issue. Right now, more than two percent of
New Zealanders are without a home. Stats and Z figures
(00:29):
show more than one hundred and twelve thousand people are
now severely housing deprived across the country. In Auckland, there's
been a fifty three percent increase in rough sleeping since
late last year. Manarki Rangatahi aims to end youth homelessness
in Altieroa. New Zealand CEO Bianca Johanson is with us
(00:53):
today on the Front Page to discuss how as a
country we can make this happen. So, Bianka, how bad
is homelessness among our young people?
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Well, we don't have the data and the stats, so
we're always asking the government to help us fund and
research that. So we don't know the massive size of
the problem. We do know that special needs grants back
in twenty three early twenty four were around over five
(01:28):
thousand per year, So that's for emergency housing. Back when
there was emergency housing available. I think it's now down
to the you know, the sort of the hundreds. We
do know that doctor Terry and Clark, who did the
youth two thousand research, she estimated that there was over
one hundred thousand rangatahi and altied or that are facing
(01:50):
housing and security and homelessness. So it's a pretty big
stat because internationally, youth homelesses is often hidden because of
the CouchSurfing and staying at other people's places and you know,
going from place to place looking for somewhere stable to live.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
And that's what people don't realize. Hey, homelessness isn't just
your rough sleepers out in the street that you might
be who are visible to us. What else does it include?
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Oh, look, there's a growing older woman's homelessness in this
country and internationally of course with the recession and the
economic issues that everybody's facing, increasing house prices, et cetera,
and also our coma to acquire our elderly people. But
ford Angitahi, the research is really clear if we start
(02:40):
and preventing and ending youth homelessness will make a massive
difference in the outcomes and the statistics for those that
are older. So the older street is because I used
to work for Life Wise Trust in the Central City
and Tarmaki there and all of them that I've spoken
to that are aroundy plus housing and security and homeless
(03:04):
has started when they were young people and wards of
the state and coming out of care and situations like
that far no breakdowns, abuse of far noo. For many
of them, it started when they were young.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
We've had Matama Davidson on the Greens co leader. We've
spoken to her before about the fact that when you
leave ordering a tamariki or state care, the government isn't
actually legally required to make sure that you go into
you have a safe accommodation, a safe home to go into.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
You would think that the least we can do for
these children who have been in the system and are
coming out of care, young children, that the least we
can do is provide them with that really basic support
for the rest of their lives to be able to flourish.
What we are seeing, however, and hearing right now, is
(03:58):
that young people, even with advocates and support workers, are
being told at every stop, sorry, we cannot help you.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
I suppose this is something that's not news to you.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Yes, not news to me. Around eight hundred to one
thousand young people every year are transitioning out of aut
atomitiicy care and a lot of them run away before
there is sixteen actually, so we've got a lot of
young people. I mean, I could take you around the
Auckland CBD right now and we'll have children and young
people that are hiding out underage, you know, perhaps looking
(04:35):
a bit older, but are actually younger and do have
guardianship and custody orders from Autongtomitiki that are sleeping rough
right now, and Autongtomitiche have no idea where the young
people are. I mean, if you have children, I have children.
My children are older, but when they were children, when
(04:56):
they were twelve and fifteen, I knew where they were.
The state does not know where all of their people
that they have custody and care for actually are. So yeah,
we've got eight hundred to one thousand young people that
are exiting care every year, and they're exiting into nothing.
They're often disconnected from FARNO because there hasn't been a
(05:18):
relationship kept with FARNO. So the trajectory of their lives
and the outcomes that will be their future in terms
of homelessness and housing is pretty dire because they don't
have faro in those natural community supports to go to,
so homelessness can be an inevitability for a vast majority,
(05:38):
especially our Dangatahimori who are overrepresented in the care statistics.
So it's really grim with auto Atomitiki. I know that
they do have youth transitions housing, but there's not enough.
There's not enough in the country for the need that's there.
(06:01):
That's what we've.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Seen when it comes to you said that if you
take me down to Auckland CBD right now, you'd be
able to show me some young people living rough. Yes,
what are some of the stories that you've heard from
the ground.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
From the ground is that young people don't have any
front facing information. So if you're a young person in
alt or tonight, there is nowhere for you to go
and you're homeless. There's no housing there never has been,
and no shelters, not for young people, so you can't
(06:37):
actually have a tendency agreement if you're eighteen and under.
Many of our Angertahi that come into supported youth housing
and youth housing specific are usually under twenty. You know,
that's the vast majority that are looking for support so
young people are saying, look, there's no front facing information,
(06:59):
I can't find where to go. Many of them, if
they go into MSD, are not even able to make
it to the reception receptionist desk to be able to
get the support that they need. And if they do
make it past the receptionist, which is usually quite a
bias and can be a very aggressive and oppressive process
(07:24):
for them to actually get to see somebody about their needs.
But if you're a young person, say you're in Auckland,
you're in Queen Street and there's MSD there on Queen
Street for you to be able to make it into
Queen Street, MISD make it to the receptionist desk, they
will ask you to go to a youth payment provider.
(07:46):
Those are the people that usually pick up young people
who are experiencing their first out of homelessness or housing
and security and they need somewhere to go tonight. So
the nearest youth payment provider to Queen Street is an IPSOM,
so they're expected without any income, without usually an at
(08:10):
hop card or anything like that, having to go all
the way to IPSOM to the nearest youth payment provider
to get that kind of support. So there's a lot
of gaps in the system that ungatahi can fall down.
And this is what we are very very concerned about
as Manarchi Dungatahi, that too many of our young people
fall down the gaps. And while they're falling down the gaps,
(08:32):
they get into really unsafe situations because they are the
most vulnerable out there in that kind of street community
and culture by virtue of their age.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
And even building up the courage to take yourself to
MSD in the first place, and never mind actually getting
past the receptionist and things like that. I mean, it
must be really difficult for these lungatahi. Do they stick
together mostly or building community? What's the community like?
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Are so varied in terms of, you know, how they
do things. We often don't get a lot of our
young men coming into youth housing because they tend to
be quite sort of independent. So you've got all sorts
of stories and experiences happening for people. We've got lgbtqi
plus rang a tahi that are getting kicked out of home,
(09:26):
usually because they have been coming out or because of
their sexuality. So that particular cohort find it really difficult
because there isn't something specific for our rainbow youth to
go to in terms of safe housing, especially if you're transgender,
et cetera. Then we've got our autotamitikidng a tahi that
(09:47):
are transitioning out of care. And then you've got anatahi
who have had some care experience in their lives, like
their lives have been touched by the state in terms
of investigations or things like that, and they have grown older,
the house is overcrowded, they're perhaps encouraged to move on,
or they're leaving unsafe fino situations where you know there's
(10:10):
abuse or addiction issues and they just can't tolerate living
in that situation anymore.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
I was not prepared well to leave care. If I
was prepared well to leave KRE, I would have been
supported to find alternative accommodation. I would have been provided
with financial advisors to be able to make better financial decisions.
They would have supported me to get into the workforce.
Speaker 5 (10:41):
In saying that though I am in the workforce, but
also that took a lot of my own work to
be able to be better equipped to help our most
vulnerable Tamida ge arang Attai and Faro involved with.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
TIMID at the moment, does the government legally have to
make sure that every young person has a place to live?
Speaker 3 (11:09):
No, No, there's no youth strategy the government barely. We
don't even in al tedor have an age that we
say are youth. There's no real definition. I mean sixteen
to twenty four you are considered a young person. But
that's what we've been advocating and hustling for as a
collective where the only youth housing and homeless collective and
(11:31):
ul tedwer and we use that power of collective impact
to advocate for change. We have sat with ministers and said,
you know, we need a youth strategy specific for dungcita
Het because the research internationally is very clear we need
to start with uncita heat if we were going to
have any funds available, which by the way, this government
(11:54):
has actually taken away twenty million dollars of the youth
housing funding an altered wor put it towards ad Angitahi.
Because there is the prevention there. You can make a
massive difference. That's what we're calling on this government and
any other government that comes in the future and previous
(12:15):
to do.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
I mean, because how young are these kids who are
living rough.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
So we have a provider, the Pride Project that are
out in many dwa. They are picking up young people
from the bus stops and other places that are not
wanting to go home, and they're eight or nine years old.
It can vary. There's the whole you know, there's a
whole massive continuum from actual children to young people. But
(12:44):
as I said, you know, most young people are presenting
anywhere from around thirteen years old up to twenty years old.
Of course they can't come into youth housing it's only
for sixteen to twenty. But each youth housing provider has
their own kind of criteria and youth housing is the
place that we advocate for young people to come into
(13:04):
and supported youth housing, not adult transitional housing. So a
sixteen year old being an adult transitional housing. We've got
all sorts of ages, typically mainly men and others. It's
not a safe space d ang tahi to be.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
So let me get this. There's no place if you
were to pick up a thirteen year old in the
middle of Auckland who has been sleeping rough, where would
you take them? There's no where to take them.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Specifically, no that's the role of tapata Key.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
So there's no youth housing situation. No, you must be
so frustrated.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
It is really frustrated because we don't have either a
street outreach really that's looking for these for youth specific
and that's one of the things that we're working with
with HAD of course are responsible for home land business
and you know those that are sleeping rough and altas,
so we have been talking to them about having a
(14:07):
youth street outreach. Earlier this year we went to the
and presented at the first Preventing Youth Homelessness conference ever
in the world. We were the only New Zealand delegates
that went and you know presented there and everywhere has
youth street outreach you know emergency youth facilities. You know
(14:28):
they're tackling and actually acknowledged that there's a problem with
youth homelessness. We have really yet to have this government
or subsequent governments actually acknowledged we have a youth housing problem.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Or even just a conversation about it.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Kilda Kilder, that's right. We did have a Homelessness Minister
that with this government that has been taken away and
that just falls under the portfolio of Tammer Pautucker. When
we have Madame and Davidson in that role, we made
great advances actually, and that's where we were able to
have more youth housing than that's ever been seen in
(15:05):
Old set all. But we still have massive parts of
the country that have no youth housing available. So from
Westokland right up to the top of the North there
is nothing for Angitahi, nothing suitable, nothing specific. We've got
Napier that had massive floods and that really impacted on
(15:25):
the housing situation there. They've got no youth housing. We've
got far no living intents with children with respiratory issues.
We get all sorts of you know, problems and stories
and crisis coming through here. I think what's important to
remember is that Leilani Faja, who is the un housing
that raptur, came here in twenty twenty twenty, I think
(15:49):
it was twenty twenty or twenty one and she announced
that New Zealand is having not a housing crisis but
a human rights crisis. So you can't advance. I mean,
it's very rich for the government to be calling on
young people must work, work, work. It's very hard to
go to work when you don't have safe, warm, dry,
(16:11):
secure housing, to have a good night's sleeping and to
advance yourself.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
If you were to change something tomorrow, no questions asked.
There's a money tree out the back. What would you do?
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Money tree out the back. Actually, I had one of
the ministers say to me, look, if I gave you
thirty million dollars, what would you do. It's not just
about increasing the youth housing supply, because we could build
five thousand more houses tomorrow and that's not going to
do everything. Yes, the housing supply is really important, but
(16:47):
we need to have a strategy as a country. We
need to look at putting funding into prevention. We need
to have research and data. You know, there's a whole
lot of things that we could do and too of
healing for our young people. I mean, I would want
to actually redevelop the whole system and look at all
the drivers of young people into homelessness and how we
(17:11):
can actually prevent and stop that, you know, plug up
the gaps. I mean I talked in a previous interview
that we actually need to devolve a lot of our
state kind of systems that look after young people into
the community into MADI housing specific housing providers and make
it so that it's easy to access support. So it's
(17:35):
I think, yes, we need to put some money towards it,
but we all need to come together, all of the ministries,
all of the ministers and having across party support about
how we're actually going to do something effective about this issue.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
And from the kid's point of view as well. I
actually ask them exactly.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Our angatahi and that ang a tahi that I've spoken
to are very political and very politically astute, and they
have solutions. They have spoken to politicians, some of them
and shared their story, and you know, they want to
prevent other young people going into the streets and experiencing
what they have had to experience. I mean, one night
(18:19):
of rough sleeping. I don't know if you've ever had
to you know, you've been locked out of your house,
or ever had to sleep a little bit rough, will
sleep in your car. It's a terrible, terrible night, one
that most people will never forget. And what we say
is one night is one night too many of having
to sleep rough.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Thanks for joining us, Bianca.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
You're welcome. Thank you for having me Kilda.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You
can Read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage
at nsidherld, dot co, dot MZ. The Front Page is
produced by Jane Ye and Richard Martin, who was also
our editor. I'm Chelsea Daniels. Subscribe to the Front Page
on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts, and tune
(19:08):
in on Monday for another look behind the headlines.
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