Amongst the most dire findings was 91% of those surveyed saying rough sleepers and begging were affecting their business. 81% believed the city centre was not in a good state to attract significantly more people and investment. The findings came from 102 business owners in and around the Queen Street valley area in late September who were asked about the state of the city centre and what factors were hindering their financial success.
This isn't news. There have been problems with rough sleepers for years now. But the business owners I've talked to in Queen Street say although there was always the odd person around before Covid, it was when Labour turned the inner-city hotels and motels into emergency housing during Covid that things became absolutely dire. Because when everything was freed up, the people stayed. They'd made a home there, they'd found a home there, they weren't going to be moved on, they'd found their people.
In Ponsonby, when I was living there, there were about three or four characters, men and women, who were either sleeping rough or living in halfway houses. But they were part of the community. You knew them by name, you greeted them. They were they were different. They were odd, but that was okay. We're all different and odd at different times and perhaps not quite as odd as these ones, but they were there first, and they were part of the community.
And I think we all do have empathy for those who are doing it tough or are going through a tough period in their life or who are just wired a little bit differently. But when you are swamped with people in need, when you are one district, one area that is overrun with people who are odd, who are wired differently, who don't behave as you would imagine civilised humans would behave, who quite literally crap on your empathy, inevitably you will start to take a tougher stance. And I think that's what's happened to the store owners and retailers in Queen Street.
It's back in the news again. As I said, homelessness is seldom far from it because Labour has suggested that the Government is looking at introducing a ban on rough sleepers in the city. Well, as Chief Executive of Heart of the City Viv Beck told Mike Hosking this morning, bring it on, something needs to change.
This isn't news. There have been problems with rough sleepers for years now. But the business owners I've talked to in Queen Street say although there was always the odd person around before Covid, it was when Labour turned the inner-city hotels and motels into emergency housing during Covid that things became absolutely dire. Because when everything was freed up, the people stayed. They'd made a home there, they'd found a home there, they weren't going to be moved on, they'd found their people.
In Ponsonby, when I was living there, there were about three or four characters, men and women, who were either sleeping rough or living in halfway houses. But they were part of the community. You knew them by name, you greeted them. They were they were different. They were odd, but that was okay. We're all different and odd at different times and perhaps not quite as odd as these ones, but they were there first, and they were part of the community.
And I think we all do have empathy for those who are doing it tough or are going through a tough period in their life or who are just wired a little bit differently. But when you are swamped with people in need, when you are one district, one area that is overrun with people who are odd, who are wired differently, who don't behave as you would imagine civilised humans would behave, who quite literally crap on your empathy, inevitably you will start to take a tougher stance. And I think that's what's happened to the store owners and retailers in Queen Street.
It's back in the news again. As I said, homelessness is seldom far from it because Labour has suggested that the Government is looking at introducing a ban on rough sleepers in the city. Well, as Chief Executive of Heart of the City Viv Beck told Mike Hosking this morning, bring it on, something needs to change.
VB: What I'm seeing is we need a game changer. We can't just keep moving people around. As long as there were really good solutions for vulnerable people, I think a majority of the people that we represent would support a scenario where you don't lie on streets or you house people.
MH: I don't know if you were watching Parliament yesterday, but they seem squeamish about it. Why don't we just be a bit blunt about it? And the cold hard truth of homelessness is that it ruins central cities, and we need to clean it up and clear it out. I mean, it's that simple, isn't it?
VB: I believe so. And what's been really pleasing in the last four weeks is that there has been constructive debate and people are recognising these are real issues. We need to be bold about this. We do have to care for people. We've got a track record of caring for people. The reality is though, we cannot leave it the way it is. It does need a game change and I really hope the politics don't sabotage a really important issue that needs resolving.
Oh, I think it probably will. Politics generally does, especially when there's an election looming. I was listening to Ginny Anderson and Mark Mitchell this morning, on the Mike Hosking Breakfast. Ginny said, "Well, where are they going to go? People don't want the homeless outside schools or their homes." Well, no, they don't, but they also don't want them outside their bloody businesses either. Hairdressers and cafe owners and accountants and clothing retailers and the like in Queen Street have had enough of looking after them.
And I don't think many of the retailers would have a problem with rough sleepers if that's all they were doing. Looking for a warm, safe, dry place to sleep, then packing up and moving on. It's the detritus and the bodily fluids and the aggressive, pugnacious attitudes that most retailers have the problem with. Sleep in the doorway, but it's the associated issues that come with it that are the real issue, the real problem.
We have got people out of motels. There are no children on the streets, and that's got to be a good thing. There are places, as Mark Mitchell referred to, for people to go. It's the associated issues, the problems that they have that mean they don't feel either safe staying there, they don't want to stay there, they don't feel comfortable being within four walls, they're quite claustrophobic, especially those that have done time.
It is a huge issue, way beyond just putting a roof over heads. If only that billion dollars into mental health had actually done some work. So, I don't blame the retailers for saying, okay, make a law, move them on. At least if they are in communities, 24/7 communities, not retail areas, they might become part of the community. They're dispersed throughout the community. You can adopt a homeless person, a bit like it was in Ponsonby back in the day.
I don't know what the answer is. I really don't. With so much money going into mental health, it doesn't seem to be affecting the very people that you would hope would be benefiting from that massive contribution of taxpayer money. Those who are living on the edge, those who are wired differently, those who do need extra help, and those who are making it almost impossible to run a business in the central city.
Kerre McIvor, is a journalist, radio presenter, author and columnist. Currently hosts the Kerre Woodham mornings show on Newstalk ZB - where this article was sourced.
4 comments:
For some it is a choice they make, for others addiction issues. There needs to be a dedicated group to help families/whanau to reconnect with these people. Providing accommodation in the heart of the city- plain dumb.
But. But. But …. Where’s Chloe?
While Queen Street and Ponsonby businesses struggle with rough sleepers, theft, and street chaos, Swarbrick is busy performing politics — perfecting her Maori pronunciations , polishing her Instagram aesthetic, and campaigning to decriminalise drugs the country already said no to. Massive greenstone pendants, keffiyeh tablecloths, doom-green blouses — all costume, no constituents. She critiques the system, lectures on rights, and cites selective overseas data, but the local cafés and retailers see no action, no advocacy, just moral posturing. Ambition for finance minister or prime minister? Perhaps — but Auckland Central deserves someone who serves people, not symbolism.
Meanwhile, retailers on Ponsonby Road count the cost of smashed windows and shrinking foot traffic, and Karangahape Road businesses quietly disappear. Their MP is somewhere else entirely — spiritually, intellectually, and physically. The electorate gets crime, grime, and empty shopfronts; she gets profile pieces about her “courage” demanding yet another drug-law rerun the country already rejected.
And then there’s the aesthetic — as if being seen to care is the same thing as delivering for the people who actually live there. She turns up dressed like the world’s youngest Treaty Tribunal auntie crossed with a Palestine-solidarity TikToker, wearing causes the way other people wear jackets. Ideological cosplay for someone who confuses posture with policy, symbolism with service, and personal branding with public duty.
Meanwhile, Queen Street, Ponsonby, and K’ Road are being run over by real-world problems: rough sleepers, begging, aggressive behaviour, and the detritus of systemic neglect. Retailers have had enough. Hairdressers, café owners, accountants, clothing retailers — all trapped between city bylaws, social policy gaps, and a Government that dumps people into motels during crises, only for them to end up in the streets anyway. Kerre’s captured it perfectly: empathy is fine, but when it is literally crapped on, tough choices are inevitable. Heart of the City, representing hundreds of businesses, has called for a game changer. And yet their MP offers nothing tangible — no solutions, no advocacy for her constituents, just commentary and moralising.
And the drug crusade? Spare us the Portugal fairy tale. Plenty of other jurisdictions — Thailand, Oregon, parts of the US — liberalised substances only to see youth use spike, public overdoses rise, and social disorder follow. The very young people Swarbrick claims to champion are the ones paying the price.
It is not just about drugs. It is the consistent pattern of performance over delivery. While small businesses struggle to survive, she is perfecting her te reo for Instagram applause, rehearsing Māori greetings in parliament like a stage actor, and campaigning for decriminalisation like it is the civil-rights cause of the century. Meanwhile, her electorate suffers from a lack of foot traffic, unsafe streets, and frustrated business owners who see no advocacy coming from their supposed representative.
And yet, she fancies herself as finance minister — perhaps even prime minister. The notion is absurd.
Ambition is fine, but ambition built on performance art rather than governing skill is a liability. Auckland Central deserves someone who can read a balance sheet, negotiate real-world constraints, and act decisively to protect citizens and businesses. What it currently gets is symbolism, hashtags, TED-talk-style lectures, and a fashion statement for moral posturing.
Swarbrick’s political ideology does not fill shop windows or keep the lights on. Her brand does not prevent harassment in the streets or theft from a café.
Costume politics may win Instagram likes, but it does nothing for the people who actually elected you. Auckland Central needs a representative. Swarbrick is busy representing herself.
—PB
To Anon of 9:37AM Nov.6th and to all other readers of this article and and Anon's well put comment.
I will add to that comment - when reading think of >>
- Portland / Oregon USA and ANTIFA - whose sole aim is to ensure the State & Local Govt "adhere to their dictates"
- Chicago - has a City Govt, that has always had a Democrat link, who over past years have had Mayors & Councilor's who have had the same problems as Auckland & both ignored them and failed to accomplish anything int he way of fixation.
I also add (during the George Floyd debacle) that this City had (recorded at the time) - one of the highest crimes rates, deaths by shootings - the main victim was African American citizens of that City.
- New York City, a crime rate that exceeds what NYC Police can deal with, in one instance having the National Guard to assist with "Law & order" procedures on the underground.
- United Kingdom - with the increasing, out of control immigration from France (who have proved an unwillingness to deal with in France) - the increasing crime - more so with a Lethal weapon - that is causing death, serious injury to those citizens in the larger Cities of the UK.
To me the likes of the "Viv Beck's" (and sadly Ginny Anderson) would be starting a process to deal with the "problems" than sitting with a Radio Jock and "talking about it".
Of all the places I have listed above, they to have their "Viv Beck's" (and also a version of our Ginny Anderson) and like ours " talk is cheap", but actions speak louder, which seems to be a common failure.
When I was young the offence of being "Idle and Disorderly""
applied and vagrants were a rare sight. The Auckland city library was reconfigured as a doss house. All day occupiers/eaters/ snoozers not moved on as previously.Run down accoodation where many were comfortable has largely been eiiminated.We have probably the most generous welfare provisions in the world. Has anyone studied what happens to the payouts?.
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