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Tahi’s under-bridge dwelling was washed away in Cyclone Gabrielle, only for him to then be excluded from temporary accommodation due to a Whangārei hotel’s anti-beneficiary policy.
He is one of about 20 people living under bridges, in cars, and in tents in the Northland city, who agencies say are facing a “homelessness stigma” from private accommodation providers even in a natural disaster, on top of being failed by an inadequately resourced emergency housing system.
Local advocates want to see the service handed over to kaupapa Māori organisations more suited to keep whānau like Tahi – shown to be especially vulnerable during floods – in homes.
About 60% of emergency housing recipients are Māori, and concerns about the failures to respond to their needs were raised in the Waitangi Tribunal and recognised in the Emergency Housing System Review Cabinet approved recommendations for in December.
READ MORE:
* Kauwhata Marae in recovery mode after being enveloped by floodwaters
* Cyclone Gabrielle: Our extraordinary stories of resilience after a disaster
* Northland marae step up for whānau displaced by Cyclone Gabrielle
The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) says Northland housing providers and supporters, like 155 Whare Āwhina and Ngāti Hine, with a kaupapa Māori approach, played a critical role in helping connect to rough sleeping whānau.
Terenga Paraoa Marae spokesperson Auriole Ruka (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Manu) said the marae had 15 rough sleepers take shelter each night following the cyclone.
Huia Naomi
Whangārei’s Tahi, who is a rough sleeper, became part of the Terenga Paraoa Marae whānau during Cyclone Gabrielle after losing his under-bridge dwelling in flooding.
When the marae eventually had to be cleared for cyclone-recovery-related hui, seven rough sleepers and eight in cars – “all of them are good people” – had to be moved on with new waterproof backpacks, tarps, tents, and some kai.
“But the reality is….they can’t go back and sleep there, they can’t pitch tents and tarps like they used to.
“If they go back, they will likely be swept away, and we will never see them again and no one will know.”
Huia Naomi
Tahi was later kicked out of temporary accommodation at a local hotel for being an MSD client.
Tahi was a “beautiful, humble Māori man who has whakapapa here in Te Tai Tokerau” they got to know at the marae after the cyclone washed his belongings away from his spot under an inner-city bridge.
All he was left with were his earphones, the music that he uses to “keep him well”, and basic clothes.
Tahi’s bridge was still standing, but the soil underneath where he lived had eroded away.
While the marae and agencies worked to find him a permanent home, they booked him for three nights at Quest Hotel on Thursday. Hotel staff were told he had been displaced by the cyclone and was looking for housing.
On Friday, he was told he could not be there when it was discovered MSD would be paying.
“They kicked him out. He fled back to the streets with nothing.”
After searching the city, they found him distraught without his music.
Supplied
Tahi’s dwelling up a Whangārei bridge was washed away by Cyclone Gabrielle.
Quest Whangārei’s manager, who refused to provide her name, said he was not kicked out, but the company had a policy against MSD clients staying due to insurance not covering their damage.
MSD clients “did a lot of damage” to the hotel during Covid-19, she said.
Staff were told Tahi was not an MSD client, but when it became clear later that the bill was to be paid by MSD, they were told the company policy.
But she agreed the man had left the room clean and undamaged. They had since refunded three nights.
“I actually felt sorry for him. It’s MSD people we don’t accept.”
Ruka said it was a human rights issue, as “it’s still discrimination”.
“They really didn’t want him there, they made it uncomfortable for him.”
Ruka, who has been involved in whānau housing advocacy for 15 years, believed there was a lack of policy-led support required for some of the most vulnerable communities to live in their own homes.
“In a cyclone like this, it really does highlight how we talk the talk, but we really don’t walk the walk.”
The real issue was the stigma of people most at risk, she said.
Tahi told volunteers: “When I was at the marae I experienced true aroha and at the end of the time that I was there, I wasn’t kicked out, I was carried out with manaaki.”
Marae could teach communities what true manaaki looked like because “we know that pain of grief, but we also know how to help people recover”.
She understood there was no emergency housing available even before the cyclone.
Kaimahi coordinator for Open Arms, Richard Pehi (Ngāpuhi), said MSD being responsible for emergency housing was one of the weaknesses of homelessness strategies developed in the past four years. It was “traumatising whānau” and causing a systems failure through lack of specialist input.
Government had done a good job managing transitional housing and Kāinga Ora, he said, but it was time for a kaupapa Māori approach to emergency housing.
“Our most vulnerable are still left out in the streets.”
Particularly those with addiction and mental health needs who were “treatment resistant” and the system had not been meeting their needs, he said.
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Rough sleepers in Whangārei were forced out of their cars, tents, and under-bridge dwellings during Cyclone Gabrielle.
A marae environment came naturally to many who had previously been evicted from services. He believed emergency housing would be best run by an iwi accommodation provider.
MSD Northland commissioner Graham MacPherson said most accommodation suppliers were ”supportive and understanding”, but they were commercial businesses that set their own rules and standards around who they accommodate.
The number of households in emergency housing was falling – peaking at 4983 in November 2021, and reducing by 33% to 3342 by December 2022.
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