Government pushed ahead with move‑on orders despite officials’ warnings
Tuesday, 3 March 2026
The Government ignored official advice opposing its announced “move-on” orders for homelessness, with Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith saying it was not their decision to make.
The changes give police the power to order people as young as 14 to leave public spaces if they are rough sleeping, begging, or likely to begin rough sleeping — and to fine or jail them if they refuse.
The advice from public servants on the matter has not been presented to Parliament yet and the Ministry of Justice refused to tell The Post if it had supported the change or not.
But on Tuesday Goldsmith confirmed the official advice had opposed the orders.
Goldsmith said that was a stance taken for a raft of other changes the Government had pushed through in the law-and-order space, such as gang patch bans and tougher sentencing.
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While the changes had not been “enthusiastically embraced”, the Government was pressing ahead anyway, saying it was a question of understanding issues on the ground facing New Zealanders who wanted to feel safe going about their business.
He said the Government had considered officials’ advice in the light of information presented by the Government's ministerial advisory group for retail crime victims.
Housing Minister Chris Bishop revealed that officials from Housing and Urban Development had also opposed the move-on orders.
“But ultimately, officials provide their views, and Government takes the advice and makes decisions.”
He refused to say if he had supported the orders saying that would breach Cabinet confidentiality.
Labour: Focus will be on fix, not repeal
Meanwhile, Labour leader Chris Hipkins stated his party, although not agreeing with the move, would likely not reverse the ban once it was in place. His preference was to focus on fixing homelessness rather than changing laws.
“Whether we repeal a law that's already in place versus prioritising actually fixing the underlying problem, I'd rather prioritise fixing the underlying problem,” Hipkins said.
Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka said his focus was on making sure rough sleepers were given adequate support, with his Housing First policy helping more than 300 homeless people into homes since it was announced in September.
He anticipated there was “a little bit of water to go under the bridge” around how the move-on orders would be deployed in practice, and his expectation was police would work effectively alongside community housing providers.
Green co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said experts had warned if the move-on orders went ahead, there would be an exacerbation of the issue.
She questioned how many times the Government would ignore advice from officials, experts and social service providers, referencing similar opposition that was ignored when tighter guidelines around emergency housing were announced.
“It's a question for whether the Prime Minister is willing to learn from his mistakes in the past and to put the evidence first. But more than that, God forbid, some compassion.”
It would only move rough sleepers elsewhere, making it harder for social service providers to reach the people who needed their help and support, she said.
Ginny Andersen, Labour’s spokesperson for justice and police, said the party had not made a decision but was focused on providing real solutions, not cutting access to emergency housing or cancelling Kainga Ora builds.