By Mike Bain\/cvnznews.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Government is pressing ahead with new police \u201cmove\u2011on\u201d powers despite warnings from its own agencies that the policy will not reduce crime and risks criminalising homelessness \u2014 including children as young as 14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both Labour and the Green Party say the legislation reflects a political desire for visible toughness rather than a genuine attempt to address the causes of homelessness. Their criticism lands in a week when officials from Justice, Police, Treasury and Housing all cautioned that the policy is unlikely to work and may increase harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Labour\u2019s housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty says the Government has chosen \u201ca headline\u2011grabbing law\u2011and\u2011order approach\u201d over evidence\u2011based solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMoving people on from Queen Street doesn\u2019t solve homelessness. It just shifts the problem from one street corner to another,\u201d he said. \u201cYou cannot arrest your way out of homelessness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Justice spokesperson Camilla Belich said the bill would allow police to issue move\u2011on orders to homeless teenagers and fine them if they fail to comply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen every major agency warns against your policy and you ignore them all, that tells New Zealanders this is about politics, not public safety,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Green Party co\u2011leader Chl\u00f6e Swarbrick said the policy will have \u201cdisastrous consequences,\u201d arguing that the Government is refusing to invest in the services that actually reduce homelessness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt costs $200,000 a year to put someone in prison. The Government won\u2019t spend a fraction of that on support that would actually help people get back on their feet,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Swarbrick said police have been clear they are not social workers, while social agencies are facing cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cInstead of housing people, the Government is now criminalising them for not having a home,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is punching down on the most vulnerable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Across Scripture, the treatment of the poor, the homeless, and the stranger is not a side issue \u2014 it is a diagnostic test of a nation\u2019s moral health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The biblical pattern is clear: justice is not measured by how a society treats the powerful, but by how it treats those with no power at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Policies that push the vulnerable out of sight may satisfy public frustration, but they do not meet the biblical standard of justice, mercy, or righteousness. Scripture consistently warns against systems that punish people for circumstances they cannot escape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The central issue is not whether antisocial behaviour should be addressed \u2014 it should. The issue is whether the Government is choosing a tool that its own experts say will fail, while ignoring the deeper causes of homelessness: housing shortages, mental health gaps, addiction, and poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Opposition argues that the Government is choosing visibility over effectiveness, enforcement over compassion, and political theatre over long\u2011term solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In biblical terms, it is the difference between managing the crowd and ministering to the broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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