Criminalising homelessness is not compassion – it’s cruelty
Thursday, 5 March 2026
Jack McDonald is a campaigner and political commentator who has worked for Te Pāti Māori and the Green Party.
OPINION: The Government’s proposed amendment to the Summary Offences Act is one of the most heartless examples of public policy in recent New Zealand history.
The “move-on orders” will give police the power to require a person to leave an area for up to 24 hours if they are causing “public disruption”. That disruption could just be begging, rough sleeping, or “indicating that they intend to inhabit a public place”.
People who breach those orders could receive a fine of up to $2000 or be sentenced to a term of up to three months in prison.
Designing a policy that criminalises people for being homeless is the height of cruelty. It will do nothing to prevent homelessness and will result in more people being forced into unsafe situations.
Obviously, the notion that people who are homeless or begging could afford to pay a $2000 fine is ludicrous. The policy will therefore trap some of society’s most vulnerable people in the criminal justice system.
Read more:
Government pushed ahead with move‑on orders despite officials’ warnings
Andrew Little: Move-on orders kicking the Wellington problem 'down the road'
The National Party would rather taxpayers’ money goes towards keeping homeless people in prison than getting them a house and access to social services – anything that ensures they are out of sight and out of mind of the middle-class professionals and shoppers on Queen St and Lambton Quay.
There are already laws in place that enable police to deal with genuine intimidatory behaviour. But if people are intimidated simply by the existence of people who are begging, then that says more about them.
Seeing the ever-rising number of people who are rough sleeping is confronting. As it should be. It is a stark reminder of the unjust economic system that, as citizens, we collectively condone.
We should not turn our faces away from people who society has left out in the cold. Walking past and ignoring them is something that I am too often guilty of. But supporting policies that seek to make them invisible by throwing them in prison is unconscionable.
We should respond with compassion and care, not punishment and scorn. There but for the grace of God go I.
A wide range of advocates are raising the alarm that the move-on orders apply to children as young as 14. It’s not difficult to imagine how many young people – especially young brown people – will be victims of this policy. Teenagers who are considered a nuisance in public spaces will be targeted.
Criminalising at-risk youth is not just a breach of their human rights, but will lead to even more people trapped in lifelong cycles of deprivation. It is a recipe for disaster.
Homelessness will continue to exist in our society until such time as most people are willing to accept that we are living under a failed economic system and vote accordingly.
The scale of investment that is required in income support, social housing and intensive wrap-around health services is incompatible with the neoliberal paradigm.
But we can take immediate action to at least stop the problem getting worse by scaling up support for proven community-led solutions like Housing First and undertaking a mass building programme for state and community housing.
It is shocking that Chris Hipkins has said it’s unlikely that Labour would repeal the new law, saying that he would “rather prioritise fixing the underlying problem”.
By refusing to repeal legislation that his party ostensibly opposes, he is wanting to appear focused on the big issues, not on simply reversing everything the previous government did.
But you can’t claim a moral high ground and then not scrap this morally bankrupt policy.
The response is emblematic of Hipkins’ timid approach. Instead of coming across as sensible, he is demonstrating weakness. He hasn’t put forward a compelling policy agenda of his own, and so he can’t point to tangible solutions.
New Zealand desperately needs values-driven leadership. Heading into this year’s general election, many people are looking for a clear alternative to the status quo that successive governments have overseen. Chris Hipkins would be wise to provide it.