Wellington City sends salvo to Beehive over ‘stupid’ move-on orders
Wednesday, 24 June 2026
Wellington City Council opposition to Government move-on orders has been delivered with a fiery rebuke from the mayor and a pledge to defy the Beehive.
A council vote on Wednesday to send a submission to the Government passed with only councillors Diane Calvert, Ray Chung, Tony Randle and Karl Tiefenbacher opposed. Tiefenbacher said move-on orders were “all about adding an extra bow into the police ability”. Councillor Andrea Compton did not vote.
The submission opposes the policy on multiple fronts.
Mayor Andrew Little slammed the government policy as the “antithesis of a solution”.
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The move-on legislation is currently working its way through parliament with submissions soon closing. If enacted, it will allow police to order people, such as beggars, to move location even if they are not committing a crime. Failure to obey can become a criminal offence.
Critics say it simply moves a problem elsewhere instead of addressing core issues behind rough sleeping and homelessness. Little left no doubt that he was among their numbers.
Wellington had a major problem which needed to be addressed but move-on orders “just kicks the problem down the road or to another part of the city”, he said.
The council was already working to address the societal issues around homelessness and he pledged to continue “in defiance of the law this Government is passing”. His office confirmed he was referring to continuing city safety initiatives that the current Government would regard as non-core council services.
“We should continue to strive to address the social harm that goes with homelessness and causes rough sleeping because it is the right thing for our community to do. But we can only do it meaningfully and seriously if we provide genuine solutions such as a roof over people’s heads, such as wraparound support”.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith told The Post he was not surprised that Little, a former senior Government Minister with Labour, didn’t support move-on orders as Labour presided over a rise in crime and public safety concerns.
“We've made real progress in the last 2½ years and Andrew Little was part of the old guard that created all the problems that we're dealing with,” Goldsmith said.
Little’s deputy, Ben McNulty, was no-less punchy as he labelled the move-on orders “stupid”.
“This Government loves to pass a law and tell us the problem is fixed. Look at Local Water Done Well and Tiaki Wai to see how that approach is working out,” he said.
McNulty said the Government needed to “wake up” to the issue, warning it would become its problem once rates caps and a focus on core services left councils unable to support vulnerable people.
Councillor Nicola Young, who broke from the council’s right-bloc to supportthe submission, later said she did so because the council was already doing a “hell of a [good] job” in addressing the issues.
Young, who lives in Mount Victoria, said she regularly walked down Courtenay Place, where there was a lot of homelessness and rough sleeping. Council initiatives were starting to work, she said.