It’s not an uncommon story. The machinery of emergency housing held 622 Wellington households in its gears at last count. The people in those households are signed on to short-term contracts with emergency housing providers, funded through grants provided by the Ministry of Social Development, one week at a time. But those contracts aren’t protected by the Residential Tenancies Act, giving people in emergency housing a shaky claim on the title “tenant”, and no certainty of shelter beyond seven days. On the other hand, the contracts sometimes roll over indefinitely – in some cases for years – because the actual social housing wait list now exceeds 22,000 people.
The list MP says the capital city "doesn't feel like the Wellington I grew up in" due to an increase in social disorder and the presence of patched gang members.
Nicola Willis challenges MPs to walk the streets of Wellington to see if they feel safe
16 Mar, 2021 01:10 AM
4 minutes to read
Nicola Willis doesn t think the city is safe anymore. Photo / Mark Tantrum I don t feel safe.
Wellington National list MP Nicola Willis has issued a challenge for MPs after violence continues to escalate in the capital city. I encourage any minister to walk down Courtenay Place, to walk through Manners Mall on any day of the week, at any time, and tell me they feel safe and if they don t feel safe, they need to be doing more to ensure others can.