New Zealand Government Guarantees To House Each Homeless Citizen Within Four Weeks

In less than four weeks, the winter season will affect New Zealand. And within that period, the nation’s government plans to secure warm and safe housing for each homeless citizen.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and housing minister Phil Twyford announced the news on Facebook. Although the emergency housing package is about to cost a whopping $100 million, many people believe it's a worthwhile investment.

“We’re pulling out all the stops to support people in need and urgently increase housing supply this winter,” Twyford announced. “Our government will make sure everyone is helped to find warm, dry housing.”

According to The Guardian, there are about 40,000 homeless people in the country. As winter is expected to begin on June 1, 2018, the government has put out an urgent call for anybody with extra accommodation to open their houses to homeless people. Shearers quarters, motorhomes, private rental properties, and Maori meeting houses are all being considered.

“We’ve really made a plea today, any marae, any seasonal housing that might be available, please contact us, we’ll work alongside you,” Ardern said. “As soon as we came into government we knew we wouldn’t be able to physically build the houses we’d need by May when winter was really starting to bite. So we acknowledge this is emergency, this is transitional [housing], but we couldn’t stand by and see people in cars or completely unsuitable housing in the meantime.”

The Prime Minister also said that her team has been in touch with “frontline service providers,” like Housing New Zealand, and has instructed them to be “supportive” and “flexible” with citizens in need. In the Facebook Live Video (below), Tyword asserted: “No one should be sleeping in a car this winter.” Ardern added: “Absolutely. No one.”

Watch the video below:

Image Credit: Flickr

References: The Guardian, Truth Theory