It sounds like other KO tenants suffer the worst, to be honest.
Utterly shameful the previous government let it get this far.
“People living in and around social housing should suffer the actions of the few disruptive/violent/etc people.” - Everyone opposed to these actions.
The problem still stands though, as in, it’s true, they are just moving the problem elsewhere.
So, what is to be done?
The only thing I can think of is to move these people into a separate environment where they can not bother other people, and be given training, tasks, and education, to help them out of it. Which unfortunately sounds a lot like labour camps. I’m out of ideas.
If there was a strong possibility they would end up homeless, or in a much worse living situation than they are currently in, that would be a strong incentive to change their behaviour.
Also criminal charges for threatening and intimidating behaviour would be a good start.
Any sort of consequences for their actions really.
What they are doing is already illegal and already opens them up to criminal charges.
This is poor management from the Ministry of Housing or whatever it is we are meant to call Kainga Ora these days.
Those being victimized are some of society’s most vulnerable so our govt depts are dropping the ball. If this was happening in a leafy suburb those responsible would be before the courts.
I definitely agree on that last count, if this happened in an area where the residents around them had resources available to them, all kinds of hell would be raised.
When I lived in Parnell my neighbour sucessfully summoned police to our street because three men were talking in the road and she was worried they would pee in the letterbox.
The laws exist for behaviours described like wilfull damage, assault, threatening behaviour, tresspass. They are just being very selectively enforced.
If there was a strong possibility they would end up homeless, or in a much worse living situation than they are currently in, that would be a strong incentive to change their behaviour.
Respectfully, I disagree. Many people in this state really DGAF and especially DGAF about (/have no understanding of) consequences, or they wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place. Consequences work for people who have something to lose. For these people, many don’t (feel they) have anything to lose. Change will not come from within in these cases.
Regardless of whether it will change their behaviour, they need to be moved out of state housing in my view, they shouldn’t be able to make life hell for those around them.
100% agreed there.
Do you think they will be less disruptive when they are living in the streets?
More prisoners is just going to cost more money and when those people eventually come out they will be hardened. But I guess the public is pretty bloodthirsty these days so I suspect we will indeed see the prison numbers swell.
It is labour camps. Or maybe re-education camps.
re-education camps.
shudder
Yes, exactly.
A follow up story, even Hipkins himself admits Labour handled this poorly.
how do you think these people will feel when they are kicked out of their house because a neighbour made a noise complaint or they didn’t mow their lawn for a while?
I think something like that would be an edge case. We aren’t talking about Karen-land, people are worried about drugs, violence, and abuse.
Why do you think that would be an edge case? The goal here is to kick people out of public housing. Any old excuse will do.
