Bad neighbours
The recent government announcement that they are going to get tough on bad Kaianga Ora tenants, making it easier to evict them has drawn a range of comments and criticism that fall into two camps.
Camp 1 - It’s about time. People need to respect the houses and their neighbours. It’s a taxpayer privilege.
Camp 2 - Where will these people and their children go? It will add to the problem. Poverty is the underlying cause - fix that.
I understand, and have empathy, for both camps. If you’re living next door to a nightmare, it might be poverty but that’s not going to be fixed anytime soon - especially with the current government. Kicking problem people out just moves the problem somewhere else - that’s no solution and children will suffer.
The real problem is we have politicians (and political commentators for that matter) who suffer from one-dimensional thinking - the government has to solve both problems. Find an immediate and effective remedy to people who are anti-social neighbours (short-term) AND pull people out of poverty (long-term).
