Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has stood by his statement that "we don't have night shelters in New Zealand", saying "we don't think the evidence works where someone shows up for one day and moves on".
The remark came during parliamentary questions from Green co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick about rising homelessness and rough sleeping. Luxon's office later issued a clarification stating the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has held a policy of not financing conventional night shelter operations. A spokesperson explained the ministry does not regard night shelters as an effective way of reducing homelessness because there is not a clear exit pathway to suitable long-term accommodation. The government has funded a 35-bed immediate access pilot service in Auckland.
Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty accused Luxon of falsely claiming there are no night shelters anywhere in New Zealand, calling it "evidence of a Prime Minister who simply hasn't bothered to understand homelessness or the people living through it". McAnulty said the comments showed "night shelters show a Prime Minister who is completely out of touch with the reality facing homeless New Zealanders".
Luxon acknowledged on Monday he had not personally known Auckland had no overnight shelter for rough sleepers. He claimed homelessness went up 37% under the previous Labour government despite spending $1 billion, and said his government had moved 2400 families out of motels.
The parliamentary clash took place during increased scrutiny of the government's approach to homelessness following new move-on order legislation and a Q+A report on emergency housing policy. The programme disclosed on Sunday that Social Development Ministry managers are being individually assessed on whether they keep emergency housing numbers down. Managers were told they could face consequences if their performance across their KPIs does not meet expectations. Auckland City Missioner Helen Robinson said "decision makers are incentivised to say no", adding "I have never seen this scale of homelessness in my 13 years".