Matua Kahurangi: Taxpayer-Funded meth dens

It should come as no surprise to anyone that Kāinga Ora homes are riddled with meth contamination. When you hand out the cheapest rents in the country to society's bottom-dwellers, it’s only natural they’ll have more cash left over to blow on meth.

According to figures released under the Official Information Act, Kāinga Ora has blown $20.6 million of taxpayer money since 2020 decontaminating and repairing meth-damaged state houses. Millions spent on cleaning up after tenants who turned their government-funded homes into drug dens. Not a single one of them has paid a cent.

Despite this, Kāinga Ora proudly proclaims it has taken a “health-based approach” to dealing with meth use in its properties. That means no bonds, no responsibility, and certainly no accountability. While private landlords have legal avenues to recover costs and protect future tenants by going through the Tenancy Tribunal, Kāinga Ora simply washes its hands of the problem and refers tenants to police, who have bigger problems than chasing junkies.

Meanwhile, these tenants get shuffled around the state housing system, leaving a trail of contamination and massive bills in their wake, shielded from the consequences by a system that refuses to name or shame them. Landlords like Waikato Property Investors Association president Tiffany Whyte, who has firsthand experience cleaning up meth-ravaged rentals, say this lack of accountability makes it harder for anyone else to avoid renting to repeat offenders.

Kāinga Ora thinks it’s better to keep meth users in public housing so they don’t ruin someone else’s property. That’s their logic, better to let the taxpayer foot the bill than risk exposing the private market to the same rot.

The cost of repairing a meth house is no small matter. Smoking meth indoors leaves dangerous chemical residues on walls, carpets, furniture - anything it touches. Manufacturing meth is even worse, involving toxic and carcinogenic chemicals that can render homes completely uninhabitable.

Under the law, using a rental for illegal activity like meth use or production is a breach of the Residential Tenancies Act, and tenants can be fined or made to pay for damages. But those rules apparently don’t apply when the landlord is the government.

Kāinga Ora claims it takes the issue seriously. But actions speak louder than PR lines. Instead of enforcing consequences or protecting future landlords and tenants, they’re enabling the cycle, offering cut-rate housing, ignoring the damage, and shielding offenders from scrutiny.

So yeah, it’s no shock that state houses are full of meth. What’s outrageous is that the rest of us are paying the bill, and Kāinga Ora doesn’t seem remotely interested in changing that.

Matua Kahurangi is just a bloke sharing thoughts on New Zealand and the world beyond. No fluff, just honest takes. He blogs on https://matuakahurangi.com/ where this article was sourced.