Why we need move-on orders to reclaim our streets

Monday, 9 March 2026

A man stands next to his bedding on the footpath outside a central Wellington business.

Paul Goldsmith is the Justice Minister.

OPINION: The opinion piece Criminalising homelessness is plain cruelty (March 5) was plain wrong.

The Government has no policy to criminalise homelessness.

What it does have is a policy to give police the power to issue move-on orders to people displaying disorderly behaviour in public places.

It will mean police can require a person to leave a specified area for up to 24 hours.

Only people who refuse those orders will face prosecution. A move-on order is not a criminal charge.

So why are we doing this?

For too long, our streets and town centres have been blighted by disruption and disturbance. Businesses are declining as some bad behaviour goes unchecked. It needs to stop.

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has been responsible for the introduction of move-on orders to tackle disorderly behaviour on city streets.

Currently, police officers have limited options to respond, particularly when it doesn’t reach the level of offending. It means many disruptive, distressing and potentially harmful acts can occur before officers have any means of intervention.

New Zealanders are fair-minded people and our culture is one where we seek to help those who are in need, but that doesn’t mean we should accept our city centres, particularly our showcase tourist spots, becoming places of intimidation and dysfunction.

You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who lives, works or visits our city centres that hasn’t witnessed disorderly behaviour. That’s why so many people and central city businesses support move-on orders. It would be nice to see some opinion pieces by retail owners who are just trying to make a living, and have to face disruptive people camped outside their store day in day out.

Since day one, we’ve been working tirelessly to restore real consequences for crime, and to place victims back at the heart of the justice system.

We have reformed the sentencing regime so those who cause the most harm are imprisoned for longer, given Police effective tools to deal with gangs, stopped taxpayer funding for the proliferation of cultural reports, made stalking an illegal and jailable offence, given victims of sexual assault the power to determine if offenders are granted name suppression, restored Three Strikes, and much more.

The good news is, we’re making progress. There are now 49,000 fewer victims of serious violent crime than when we came into government. But our work is far from over. We want to keep driving those numbers down and reducing the number of families that have their lives turned upside down each year.

This is about reclaiming our streets and our city centres for the enjoyment of everybody.

Our Government is committed to fixing the basics in law and order, and building a future where shoppers, visitors, residents and their families can feel safe in our communities.