Haehaetu Barrett: Lifewise chief executive disagrees with Government claims about homelessness stats in New Zealand

A housing advocate says New Zealand's homelessness is the worst she's seen in 20 years. 

The Government's celebrating one-year of its Priority One policy - which moves families out of motel rooms into secure housing. 

Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka doesn't believe any increase in rough sleeping is due to Government policy. 

Lifewise chief executive Haehaetu Barrett says she disagrees. 

"We didn't have appropriate pipelining happening for people coming out of the motels who had been stuck there for more than two years - and a lot of the habits we've been seeing on the streets today actually started in the motels."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Either duplice Ellen, I want to know what you think.
Nine two nine two is the text number. Standard text
fees apply.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Now.

Speaker 1 (00:06):
There is a disagreement between the government and housing providers
over the state of homelessness. Advocates say homelessness has reached
a crisis point, but Associate Minister Housing Minister Tama Pautucke
today admitted yep, rough sleeping has become more common in
some areas, but he reckons the government's policies are not
contributing to the situation. Now, Hi Hai hutu Hi To

(00:27):
Barrett is the CEO of Life Wise and is with
us now, High Hidulder, how are you? I'm very very well,
thank you. What is the state of homelessness?

Speaker 2 (00:37):
State of homelessness? So well, it's very visual right now
of our rough sleepers across we're looking at absolute probably
ten years ago rough sleeping, but this time it's on steroids,
and we're looking at a crisis around alcohol and drug
mental health and distress on our streets.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
It morome we've ever seen.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
It's in my years and that's like nearly twenty years now.
Work in front facing were Fano. This is the worst
I've ever seen it.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
And can we blame government policies for this?

Speaker 2 (01:13):
We can definitely blame decisions that have been made from
the current government. We're looking at EH when it was
shut down, we didn't have appropriate pipelining happening for people
coming out of the motel space who had been stuck
there for more than two years. In a lot of
the habits that we've seen on the streets today actually
started in the motel so that means supports services were

(01:35):
really minimal because they're very under resource.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
So are you saying that these people who are sleeping
out on the streets at the minute of people who
were sleeping in motels a couple of years.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yes, they've been through motels, they've been through transitional housing,
they've been through permanent housing. But the cohort that I've
been observing, particularly in Little toua community, they're very upfront
that they've been through all of it, quite a network
of housing and here they are back on the streets.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
Okay, Now, why aren't they with family or friends or
being looked after somewhere?

Speaker 2 (02:11):
In their view, they are with family and friends that
that is their final connection on the streets. Yeah, with
the one that they've been with for a number of
years that they deem themselves as far no or brother,
anything like that. But disconnect from their immediate fino usually

(02:32):
is attributed from a lot of the trauma that has
happened from childhood and they just haven't returned from going
to the streets at a young age. Most of them
have been on the streets from teenage to in their twenties.
So their idea of faro and connection and is the streets.

Speaker 1 (02:53):
Are they actively choosing to be on the streets like
if they had the option, because obviously everybody somewhere in
their life is going to have a family member or
a friend with a house. But are they actually choosing
to sleep out on the streets?

Speaker 2 (03:03):
Yes, they are. Do you think you stay out on
the street?

Speaker 1 (03:05):
Can we actually blame the government all that? If this
is their own.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
Choice, we know that they're out on the streets. But
what I understand affordable housing. I do understand those initiatives,
but the crisis that we've seen and that we need
to respond to these people will not get even near
affordable housing. It's mental health and addictions. And so the
ones that have come out of making less decisions to

(03:29):
stay out here is because a lot of their addictions
haven't been addressed. And I've been putting this across to
health for a long time. In the housing space. This
is not just housing. Yeah, this is a health issue.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
Is the solution here of those homeless shelters.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
Homeless shelters from when ross sleeping first started. We're not
appropriately resourced with the expertise that those require. So if
we're looking at the shelter environment again, we must at
people in this old school that are able to work
alongside practitioners of it's aod or social workers, but people

(04:07):
who understand that they're there to provide a safe space
for the street finer to come in, but also not
to take any bullshit. So we see in what I've
seen and to do again, I'll use that as an
example with what that's making myf on the side of
the road. They're doing all these you know, outrageous activities

(04:27):
on the side of the road, a lot of crime,
lot of violences and stopping you know, families going into town,
which is of course affecting the economy. But because are
so condensed, it's all in one area. That certainly happens
in the biggest cities like Tarmaqe Wellington and christ but
they're more spread out so it's quite convinent.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
Thanks for talking us through it. I really appreciate it.
That's HIGHI to Barrett, who's the life y cees. For
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