Letters: Fines for the homeless and housing allowances for property-owning MPs

Where are the advisers?

Christopher Luxon says he didn’t know there were no shelters for the homeless in Auckland but with Mark Mitchell’s support went ahead with the move-on orders bill anyhow.

Where are the Government’s Public Service advisers on legislation or the Prime Minister’s office staff making sure he is across this sort of detail?

Hopefully, some common sense will apply now and the move-on orders will be halted until shelters for Auckland’s homeless are built in an suitable adjacent spot like Myers Park, and wardens, not police, are entrusted with the solution.

Gary Carter, Gulf Harbour.

A lazy solution

Faced with questions about thorny issues, such as the problem of rough sleepers, the Prime Minister’s response is too often “I’m unaware of it” or “I’m comfortable with what the Government is doing”.

To suggest a solution to the problem such as simply moving these people on is lazy at best. And to suggest fining homeless people $2000 if they fail to comply would simply make them laugh - they have no money!

Anne Martin, Helensville.

Social services gap

It will not only be the Prime Minister who is surprised to learn that Auckland provides no overnight sanctuary for its street people.

“We” - the Council funded by its ratepayers - should immediately move to rectify this yawning gap in our social services networks.

Larry Mitchell, Rothesay Bay.

Dismissive behaviour

To say one is perplexed at the contrarian views of this Government is an understatement. Almost daily this paper uncovers situations exacerbated to an unpalatable level.

The Government’s views are that targets must be achieved regardless of social implications. The current revelations on social housing where MSD employees are under constant observation to achieve targets will not solve the real problem which is a lack of housing.

Then there are the homeless who, if the proposed policy is confirmed, will either end up sleeping in the bush or in prison.

Then, of course, there has been the talk of slashing the Public Service.

All of these stringent policies affect people who just want to live a reasonable life.

The Prime Minister, when asked to comment, invariably comes up with his favourite quote which is he is “comfortable” with their actions. This is dismissive behaviour at its worst as it is indifferent to the sufferings of others and brushes off reality as if it’s not happening.

Reg Dempster, Albany.

Security Council failures

Your correspondent Dana Paterson (June 30) correctly calls for government action on the United Nations report about the human rights violations in Gaza.

But we should also be calling for reform of the United Nations Security Council so it can effectively promote justice, and the first step is to remove the power of Veto!

New Zealand is in a unique position to be able to call for the removal of this World War II remnant which causes so much death and destruction as it leads to the failure of the UN Security Council to prevent or at least mitigate the effects of war or conflict.

In this election year, we can all call on our political parties to take action or at least state their position on UN Security Council reform as anthropogenic climate change cannot be adequately addressed while nations waste so many resources on war.

Dennis Worley, Birkenhead.

Reasons to celebrate

When the dust settles, it is likely that the 2026 test series between New Zealand and England in the country of cricket’s origin will be remembered most for the retirement of two cricketing greats – Ben Stokes of England and Kane Williamson of New Zealand.

Both, in their distinct contrasting styles, will be fondly remembered for decades to come for lighting up cricket in its many formats.

That being said, that should not detract from the outstanding performances of the current Black Caps team who have outperformed England in most aspects of the game and had a true test wicket been produced at Lord’s, it is likely they would have won the series 3-0 to go with the 2-0 whitewash of England in New Zealand in 2025.

New Zealand Cricket is in a very healthy position, as is New Zealand Football for that matter, as exemplified by the entertaining football the All Whites have played at the 2026 Football World Cup over the past two weeks.

As with the passing of the shortest day of the year, these are truly reasons to be cheerful and celebrate.

Richard Vernall, Greenlane.