WEBVTT - Tama Potaka: Emergency housing numbers drop by a third

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to the Weekend collective podcast from News talks'd be.

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<v Speaker 2>But where have they gone? What's happened and how what's

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<v Speaker 2>what's the way forward on improving these numbers even further?

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<v Speaker 2>And the Associate Housing Minister, Look, he's minister for lots

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<v Speaker 2>of things, but he's here in his capacity as Minister

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<v Speaker 2>Associate Minister for Housing. Timer Portucker joins me today, thanks.

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<v Speaker 3>Job someone thanks for having me on the show.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, thanks for joining us. Really appreciate your time. Hey,

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<v Speaker 2>look my first reaction thirty two percent in just six months.

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<v Speaker 2>Where have they gone? Have you just turfed them out

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<v Speaker 2>or something?

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<v Speaker 3>No? No, Look, I think we're really focused on making

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<v Speaker 3>sure we get emergency housing and holding generally back on

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<v Speaker 3>strap and as a result, we've had a pretty deliberate

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<v Speaker 3>hand to ensure that those people going into emergency housing

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<v Speaker 3>have got a genuine need for a short term state.

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<v Speaker 3>Those that are in house emergency and I'm not supported

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<v Speaker 3>to get out, and of course the supply issues and

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<v Speaker 3>there has been a little bit more like come on drink.

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<v Speaker 3>So it's a plan is really focused and we really

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<v Speaker 3>want to make come at a gig of funer and

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<v Speaker 3>emergency housing come out as well.

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<v Speaker 2>So basically have those thirty two percent just moved on

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<v Speaker 2>to a more permanent and more acceptable form of housing.

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<v Speaker 3>Yes, basically that is a Storians have gone through social

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<v Speaker 3>housing with buying order, community housing providers or transitional housing,

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<v Speaker 3>and about thirty percent have gone into private housing. Essentially

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<v Speaker 3>of a surprise to many people, that are a lot

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<v Speaker 3>of people that moved out or migrate out of emergency

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<v Speaker 3>of the private market.

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<v Speaker 2>So how do we get it so wrong in the

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<v Speaker 2>last few years.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, I think well, it has been a social, physical,

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<v Speaker 3>and moral catastrophe and I think most of us are

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<v Speaker 3>aware of that, especially in places like Hamilton and Hamilton

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<v Speaker 3>West around the MP and drawn a couple of other

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<v Speaker 3>places where you know there's been a real instancification of BARNO,

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<v Speaker 3>particularly single mums and single fits and households have moved

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<v Speaker 3>into emergency and will let it supplide. So we're really

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<v Speaker 3>focused on making sure that the people are supported are

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<v Speaker 3>supported where they have genuine need to be an emergency

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<v Speaker 3>for a short spent stay, but we don't want it

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<v Speaker 3>to continue as a catastrophe or claimasy. Is what we've

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<v Speaker 3>seen in the last fule of years. We've got a

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<v Speaker 3>target that's to reduce it by seventy percent by twenty

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<v Speaker 3>thirty and blue suits we're down thirty two percent in

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<v Speaker 3>the last eight months.

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<v Speaker 2>So what assurances are those There'll be people who are

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<v Speaker 2>suspicious of these headlines. What assurances can you provide that

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<v Speaker 2>these families haven't been shifted into other precarious housing situations.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, that's certainly not the basic space that we're seeing

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<v Speaker 3>these FINO movements, who most as I've said, either gone

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<v Speaker 3>into social or transitional housing or into private healthing. There

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<v Speaker 3>are some people that we don't have data for because

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<v Speaker 3>there there's no obligation for people to tell us where

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<v Speaker 3>they are going. But the one thing we do know

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<v Speaker 3>they go into place warm, dry, secure homes.

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<v Speaker 2>So you've also got some tough new rules coming in

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<v Speaker 2>which will include tougher eligibility and also a standdown week

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<v Speaker 2>for stand down for thirteen weeks if somebody breaks the rules.

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<v Speaker 2>To Mutter pH the MARI Housing advocacy group, Basically they've said,

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<v Speaker 2>please explain. They think that this is a threatened threatening

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<v Speaker 2>to deepen the housing crisis for vulnerable populations. What do

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<v Speaker 2>you say, Well, I.

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<v Speaker 3>Think it's very reasonable for as as the government to

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<v Speaker 3>establish some transparency and some certainty around the responsibilities that

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<v Speaker 3>go with staying in emergency housing. Potentially have been funded

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<v Speaker 3>by taxpayers and of the government who stay in emergency

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<v Speaker 3>housing that are social housing. And for whilst it's important

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<v Speaker 3>for us who support and staff are those people with

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<v Speaker 3>genuine needs, it's also important for us to allow out

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<v Speaker 3>the expectations of responsibilities that those people have to ensure

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<v Speaker 3>that that doing their best to find or to see

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<v Speaker 3>where they can secure us more stable housing. And we

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<v Speaker 3>will provide that type of wraparound support through housing brokers

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<v Speaker 3>and through some programs to enable those people to be

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<v Speaker 3>in that space. And you know, whilst I know that

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<v Speaker 3>there will be some people that are genuinely concerned that

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<v Speaker 3>will deepen the housing crisis, I think there is a

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<v Speaker 3>little bit of resprosibution that's mpoined in that.

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<v Speaker 2>I guess the question is, because when you're dealing with

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<v Speaker 2>emergency housing, we're sort of last resort. How black and

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<v Speaker 2>white are you going to be following those rules or

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<v Speaker 2>is there is there something in just saying, look, we're

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<v Speaker 2>introducing these panetles penalties as a signal on what we

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<v Speaker 2>expect people to how that we expect people to behave

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<v Speaker 2>with their own obligations.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, I think we know what the characteristics of Fino

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<v Speaker 3>and somebody Ki and others and emergency housing happen to

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<v Speaker 3>be and suddenly rather than us in the seminology around penalty,

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<v Speaker 3>we're sort des privator responsible the step by step sequencing

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<v Speaker 3>of making sure that the government can do it very

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<v Speaker 3>big to support people to migrate to a space that

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<v Speaker 3>can't take on private healthing or move into spatial healthing.

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<v Speaker 3>So again I don't think it's in a space where

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<v Speaker 3>you do something wrong straight away there's a penalty, but

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<v Speaker 3>certainly it is a gradation, and then it's a warning

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<v Speaker 3>system that takes place importantly for us making sure that

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<v Speaker 3>those people that are in genuine need for thoughts and states,

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<v Speaker 3>and there are many people in that space are supported

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<v Speaker 3>but are also supported to go out. And what might

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<v Speaker 3>know is that average day and emergency housing was about

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<v Speaker 3>half a year. That's a long time at two thousand

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<v Speaker 3>dollars a week.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so that drop of thirty two six months is

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<v Speaker 2>pretty dramatic. Can we expect a slightly slower progress on that,

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<v Speaker 2>I guess from now on or what's your prediction?

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<v Speaker 3>Well, yeah, I think it's blue shed. I think it's

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<v Speaker 3>filly days. I don't think that maintaining that because as

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<v Speaker 3>pmitive or a certainty, and it may bounce around a

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<v Speaker 3>little bit. What we're trying to do is make sure

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<v Speaker 3>that instead of a million dollars a day possible emergency housing,

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<v Speaker 3>we can reduce it considerably. And where it started when

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<v Speaker 3>we arrived, there was a million dollars a day, and

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<v Speaker 3>now it's come down to around half a million a day,

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<v Speaker 3>half a million a day less as a result of

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<v Speaker 3>the changes so far.

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<v Speaker 2>And are you confident you've got the support of communities

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<v Speaker 2>and within the housing advocacy groups and other community groups

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<v Speaker 2>on this stuff.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah. I think my observation is that in a community,

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<v Speaker 3>housing providers and community groups are absolutely focused on supporting

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<v Speaker 3>those in genuine need. And that's the same alignment of

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<v Speaker 3>objectives that we have as a government. Importantly, with some

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<v Speaker 3>undertaking some steps recently to encourage more housing provision by

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<v Speaker 3>community housing providers, you would record a fifteen hundred places

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<v Speaker 3>that we're going to support their books by community housing

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<v Speaker 3>providers to enable those that are on the social housing

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<v Speaker 3>They just felt an emergency to migrate from from that

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<v Speaker 3>to extra stage to secure warm home. We've also got

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<v Speaker 3>the changes for the regulatory frameworks that we believe will

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<v Speaker 3>encourage landlords and senates to take up more private accommodations.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I think.

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<v Speaker 3>I don't think. I'd say is that we don't think

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<v Speaker 3>we have all the answers, and we know that we don't.

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<v Speaker 3>So there are some innovations or some different ideas that

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<v Speaker 3>we've got around maybe incentivizing prant landlords or social outcomes

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<v Speaker 3>contracting that we think need a bit more work, but

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<v Speaker 3>we would like to investigate there and maybe come back

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<v Speaker 3>to you later on in the year. Different ways to

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<v Speaker 3>activate community EWI and other providers to wrap around and

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<v Speaker 3>get people out of emergency.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, good stuff. Hey, just one last question. Olympics is over.

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<v Speaker 2>What's been your highlight? Well it's just about over, not

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<v Speaker 2>quite over, but we've got maybe some more golds to come,

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<v Speaker 2>but so far.

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<v Speaker 3>Look, I've absolutely been inspired, as we all are over

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<v Speaker 3>four years by the Olympics, but particularly by our highting

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<v Speaker 3>etpor our superwoman have won many metal across the disciplines.

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<v Speaker 3>I think it really is hypament, not ancident, but also

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<v Speaker 3>the men who are just participating, but also their paro

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<v Speaker 3>for years. Maybe decades for some people have supported them

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<v Speaker 3>to get to that clinical of supporting achievements. So I

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<v Speaker 3>want to shout out not only to their athletes but

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<v Speaker 3>to they're paro and coaches.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah good on you, No fantastic, Thanks for your time

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<v Speaker 2>and staff. Noone really appreciate it.

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<v Speaker 3>Thanks.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm Kaki down Yeah bye bye. That is tam of Portaka,

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<v Speaker 2>the Associate Minister for Housing.

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