Bob Edlin: Will all cops be fair when enforcing the “move-on”....

Yes, we know when it’s a fair cop – but will all cops be fair when enforcing the “move-on”

PoO was drawn to the story beneath a Stuff headline which said: The government is confident police will apply move on orders fairly. Here’s what police had to say about them.

It so happened this expression of Beehive confidence in Police fairness was posted at a time when the media were reporting on –

Bob Edlin: Luxon is coy about which reports on homelessness he has read.....

Luxon is coy about which reports on homelessness he has read but gushes about how Michelin stars are shining on tourism

Our PM knows and reveals things which – so far as PoO can find – are not recorded in official statistics.

On the other hand, he won’t reveal some things which (PoO is sure) he does or should know.

Mike's Minute: The political divide on homelessness

There was a huge reaction to yesterday's Politics Wednesday segment on homelessness and move-on orders.

Labour argues homelessness is up dramatically and there is nowhere for these people to go.

New numbers released today show that simply, in Auckland anyway, is not true.

Ryan Bridge: Kindness has its limits

Kiwis are known around the world for their kindness.

We open doors, we say please and thank you, we help out our neighbour. We leap in to help when help is needed.

It’s one of the traits we’re most proud of.

Professor Alexander Gillespie: NZ report card 2025 - how the country fared in 28 key global and domestic rankings

Standardised testing and regular progress assessment became key features of the education system this year, so why not apply those same principles to New Zealand as a whole?

There’s an important difference here, of course. This exercise is about prompting discussion and debate, and should be read with a degree of caution. The metrics tell us only so much – but it’s still possible to trace the nation’s ups and downs.

DTNZ: US homelessness hits new record

Critics say inadequate recording methods may be understating the scale of the crisis.

The number of homeless people in the United States has reached a record level since the federal government began tracking teh figures in 2007. According to data released this week, almost three quarters of a million people, 771,000 are homeless in America, an increase of 18% compared to 2023, marking the sharpest annual rise in decades.

Point of Order: Megan Woods stays mum about levy-fetching energy bill.....

.....but she brings out megaphone for news of million-dollar handouts

Point of Order looked again on the government’s official website for statements from Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods about two energy-related bills that were rushed into law last week.

We can’t say she has been silent, because she had lots to say in parliament about the need for urgency in enacting these bills.

But she has yet to post press statements on the government’s official website to explain what she has been doing, apparently putting the onus on the public to wade through Hansard’s record of parliamentary proceedings to find out what she is up to.

Cam Slater: The True Cost of Not Solving Homelessness

They’ve blown $788M shoving people into motels, in just over two years

When this Government was elected one of their main promises was to address and rectify the housing market, including solving the claimed homelessness crisis. What no one knew back then was what that actually entailed. But now we do.

The Government has hosed the thick end of a billion dollars down the grateful throats of several moteliers by shoving the homeless into motels.

Karl du Fresne: The continuing mystery of the missing men

I bet I’m not the only one who heard Radio New Zealand’s news item about a homeless Napier woman with seven children and wondered why no man was mentioned.

I notice this time and time again in depressing news stories about solo mothers in desperate plights. Why is nothing ever said about the men who fathered the children?

Are they lurking somewhere in the background, too ashamed or embarrassed to come forward, or have they done a runner? My guess is that it’s the latter.

In the Napier case, the woman’s seven children are aged from 11 down to seven weeks. She spent her last money buying two flimsy tents which she erected in a park before a woman saw what was happening and took her in. She’s now in temporary accommodation, having apparently been given the run-around by the agencies that are supposed to help such people. (Which is another story in itself. Perhaps Kainga Ora could free up space by evicting some of its gang tenants who terrorise their neighbours. But of course that would be racist.)

Theodore Dalrymple: Burning Indignation - a law student’s callous treatment of a homeless man sparks a national outrage

In February 2017, an 18-year-old Cambridge University law student, Ronald Coyne, was filmed on the streets of Cambridge at night burning a £20 note in front of a 31-year-old homeless man, Ryan Davies, who had asked him politely for spare change. According to Davies, Coyne said, “I’ll give you some change. I’ve changed it into fire.” Coyne then continued down the street as if he had done nothing worthy of note. A member of the university’s Conservative club, he was drunk at the time—though not dead drunk, for he was more swaggering than staggering—and dressed in white tie and tails.

The video of the encounter went viral; a picture of the young man, looking very pleased with himself, appeared in most British newspapers. Public condemnation swelled. Before long, 23,000 people signed a petition calling for his expulsion from the university.

Nicholas Kerr: Seattle’s homeless contradictions

Seattle’s ongoing homeless crisis is surrounded by an absurd number of contradictions that if not addressed will only result in a continuation of this human tragedy. 

Leaders and supporters of the city’s current approach claim compassion, but have delivered heartlessness. When residents have been asked for and given more tax dollars, the result is only ever more homeless on the streets. 

Our city council continues with the same failed policies, yet anticipates different results. We elect the same politicians or ones cut from the same cloth, yet expect them to solve something they’ve failed at or made worse. And our councilors say they want more low cost housing, but adopt policies that only increase prices. This city needs change for our homeless to have hope.

Richard Epstein: Senseless in Seattle

On first inspection, Seattle is and ought to be the envy of the rest of the United States. In 2017, its population stood at about 713,000 people and was growing at 3.1 percent per year, the fastest growth rate of any U.S. city. Its economic revival has been driven by an influx of new software, technology, and internet companies. Among the major corporations headquartered there are Amazon, Starbucks, Nordstrom, and Weyerhaeuser.

But all is not well in Seattle, which is now riven by deep political divisions over what to do about the problem of homelessness. Right now, about 8,000 people within the city limits are homeless, and the city saw 169 homeless deaths in 2017.

Mike Butler: Pimping homelessness

Regular as clockwork, as the first chilly nights roll around every year the mainstream media binge-laments either child poverty, killer rental properties, or this year, homelessness. If you look at the scanty data, these stories are pimping homelessness, making it more impressive than it actually is.

For instance, the only figure cited in this latest round of handwringing came from Prime Minister John Key, who said just over 400 people went to Work and Income saying they were homeless in March. (1)