How do we stop the growth of begging on our streets?

Tuesday, 27 November 2018

A new by-law to ban begging in Tauranga is the result of a few 'bad apples', says Kai Aroha Tauranga director Tania Lewis-Rickard. The by-law comes into effect in April 2019.

What is the best way to deal with the growth of begging almost every New Zealand town is seeing? An MP from each side of the house shares their opinion.

**Priyanca Radhakrishnan

Labour List MP based in Auckland's Maungakiekie**

The phenomena of begging and homelessness have exploded over the last few years. Prior to that, the visible homeless were few and far between. Today, mattresses, cardboard signs and shopping trolleys filled with their life's possessions are a common sight in the cities.

Finance Minister and Wellington Central MP Hon. Grant Robertson hit the nail on the head when he said that 'increasing poverty in New Zealand and a lack of social housing are the root causes of people begging on our streets. Begging is merely the shop window of a series of social issues we are not dealing with as a country.'

**READ MORE:

Tauranga City Council bans begging

Revitalising small town NZ a key to helping ease Auckland pressure**

Organisations that work in this space – and my own experience talking to beggars and the homeless – tell us that the majority of those on the streets are homeless, suffering from mental health or addiction issues or family violence, struggling to reintegrate into society post-prison and just generally struggling to pay the bills. It can take just a few major life events for things to turn rough.

The only sustainable way to deal with the issues of begging and homelessness is to assist those currently on the streets – into suitable housing and the wraparound services they need – and to fix our social fabric to prevent others from being forced to beg or sleep rough. Short-term measures like banning begging from specific spaces will only shift the problem, not address it.

'No begging' signs displayed by a business.

This government has made it a priority to address poverty, lower the cost of living, fix the housing crisis and invest in our health, including mental health, education and justice systems. We are also overhauling the welfare system so that everyone can live with dignity and participate meaningfully in their communities.

Housing is integral to getting people off the streets. That's why this Government is expanding programmes like Housing First, where homeless people are first helped into a home and then supported to address the issues that led to their homelessness.

There's a lot to fix and while we've made a strong start, it cannot all be done in one Budget. Issues like begging and homelessness are complex societal issues that have grown dramatically in recent times. Populist measures like banning them may sound good to some but won't achieve any sustainable change. We have to address the underlying causes of these issues if we are serious about dealing with them. It is both the right thing to do, and it's what works.

**Stuart Smith

National MP for Kaikoura**

Begging on the streets is not something we see a great deal of, if at all, in the Kaikoura Electorate, or in many other regional centres.

For those trying to run a business in cities where people set up outside their doorways to beg, it must be hard to stomach when such activity is actively turning customers away.This is especially true when we see evidence that some people choose begging as a lifestyle. In these cases, I can understand why city councils like Tauranga and Nelson's have implemented bylaws to try and stop this from happening.

Of course, in many cases begging is a symptom of serious underlying issues, and that for those genuinely pushed to such desperate measures, it's not always a case of simply not being able to find a job.

But at the same time, we can't ignore the fact that some of our provinces are reaching a labour shortage crisis point.

Marlborough is a prime example. It has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, but a rapidly growing wine industry. The viticulture labour market survey predicts its total worker numbers will increase by 24 per cent from almost 8,500 to more than 10,000 by 2019/20. That includes not just seasonal labour, which is partially filled through the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme, but permanent positions from machine operators to managers.

Other industries struggling desperately to find workers include Hanmer Springs' tourist industry and even the local abattoir in Cheviot.

To the south, Ashburton has a staggering 500 job vacancies with nobody to fill them. These are just a few of many examples, and all are looking overseas to source labour.

There are those who say that these businesses should be hiring Kiwis. The fact is, they're trying very hard to do that. All jobs are advertised equally, and any RSE-approved employer must first prove they have made genuine attempts to fill positions with New Zealanders. In fact, for every two RSE workers, one permanent position is created.

And so we come back to the problem of begging in our city streets and how to solve it – for those who genuinely want to work but can't find a job in our largest centres, is the answer as simple as crossing a provincial border?

Come to the regions – there's plenty of jobs, but you'll be expected to work for a living.