- E te ti e te ta, rarau mai ki Te Hui. Ko Mihingarangi tenei e mihi atu nei ki a koutou katoa. Welcome to The Hui, Maori current affairs for all New Zealanders. E taro ake nei ` Opotiki is a town on the verge of a much-needed economic boom. But is the cost too high? - And supply-demand now favours the landlords. Whereas previous years it favoured the tenants. - I just couldn't believe what I was looking at. And then the thought of packing up 15 years of memories and furniture, it's a lot to deal with. - And with tenancy laws changing, more whanau are being forced out on to the street. - Yeah, it's not how I envisioned my family to be. You know, living in a house bus. - We talk to whanau struggling with a rental crisis in Opotiki. Karahuihui mai. Later we'll speak to police commissioner Andrew Coster about collecting the images and personal data of rangatahi Maori. Engari, matua ra e tenei hotaka. In the small Bay of Plenty settlement of Opotiki renters have always had a place to call home. But as the town undergoes a long-awaited economic resurgence, house prices are skyrocketing. Alongside new changes in tenancy laws, many landlords are now looking to sell up. And as the rental market disappears, more and more whanau in Opotiki are being left homeless. Anei a John Boynton me te roanga ke o nga korero. - Our tenancy laws are changing to give renters more rights. - Everyone should be able to live a life of dignity, whether they rent or own a home. - But are these changes having the opposite effect? - Two weeks prior to the legislation changing, I received a 90-day notice, along with quite a few other local families. - In the small Eastern Bay of Plenty town of Opotiki the rental market is shrinking,... - There's lots and lots of people wanting to come and live in Opotiki, so those rental properties are disappearing. - ...with more whanau being left homeless... How long can the community cope if things keep going on like this? - They're not coping now. - ...as locals losing their homes stand up to tackle the crippling housing crisis. - I feel like we need to make a stand because it's cutting our throats. We're the heart and soul of Opotiki. Where are we going to go? - Kaylene Moore's three-bedroom home in Opotiki bears the marks of a decade and a half worth of life. - I've been paying rent here for 15 years, you know. It has a lot of memories. - Any that stand out when you look around the room? - Yeah, going into labour with my third child, (LAUGHS) Maria. That was hard and fast. I made it just to Opotiki and had her. - Memories that are both precious and painful for the mother of four. - So, I lost my older brother about three years ago... through suicide. And he used to always come and stay here with me. So there's a room that's very... you know, full of memories. Mm. - Mm. Just, um... (SNIFFS) Just raising my babies, going through life's ups and downs. But my home was full of love, full of noisy children. - But Kaylene only has a few weeks left in this home after she received a 90-day eviction notice in January. - First and foremost, I was shocked. Then I was emotional and I was angry. I just couldn't believe what I was looking at. And then the thought of packing up 15 years of memories and furniture, it's a lot to deal with. - Do you feel like you've been a bad tenant? - No, I don't. I've had times where I've had delays in paying the rent. But no, I am a good tenant. I've looked after this home. Last year, the government passed the Residential Tenancy Amendment Act, the biggest change to tenancy laws in the last 35 years. The changes will enforce healthy home standards, allow tenants to make small changes to their rentals, and bring an end to 90-day no-cause terminations. - I am so incredibly proud of all of those that have vested their time into ensuring that our friends that are dependant on landlords are going to get those houses up to a blimmin' good nick. - But there are also fears the new laws may erode the rights of landlords. - Those who are landlords know that those anti-social behaviours are incredibly destructive, and the idea that there should be three warnings over 90 days before one goes to a tenancy tribunal is completely unacceptable. - But Kaylene Moore is seeing the negative side to this law change. She's being evicted, along with a number of other local families. Did it come as a surprise to you to receive that notice? - A huge surprise. They gave me no reason. And I have been looking since I was given that notice. What I've come across is smaller homes for a higher weekly rent. - Kiri Dutton knows the struggle to find a suitable home after she received her 90-day notice late last year. Kia ora, Kiri. - Oh, kia ora. Mwah! Come in, come in. - So, this has been your home for a couple of months now? - About a month. - She ended up camping on the beach and couch-surfing, but now lives in Opotiki in a house bus that a friend is lending her. - Yes, it's a lot different. You kind of do get a little bit fed up with living in a house bus. But it's all that we have right now. So this is how I make our cup of teas ` on the barbecue. So we do fried rice, fried chips. So everything's cooked here. So this is, like, my outside kitchen. Come and have a seat. With only a handful of rental homes on the market, Kiri struggled to find support. - First, I went to every organisation in town, and to no avail. I had no help whatsoever. So I put a notice on the community notices. And I had to eat humble pie when I did that because I'm a pretty proud person. I didn't` don't really want everyone knowing that I'm homeless, but it was the community who helped me. - An Opotiki resident let her park her house bus on her land, where her two sons currently live with her. - Yeah, it's not how I envisioned my family to be. I've lived in Opotiki for about 25 years and I've always had a home. I've had beautiful homes, you know. I've always looked after them, paid my rent and treated them like my own home. - Her youngest son sleeps in the bus with her, while her older son, who was sleeping in a tent, now sleeps in a minivan. These are the summer months. Are you concerned about what issues are going to arise if you're still in the house bus come the wintertime? - I have noticed we've had a few cold nights, and it's cold. You know, I need to get the extra blankets out or the hottie out. When it's raining, it's miserable. - The squeeze on rentals in Opotiki isn't going unnoticed by property managers Chris and Joanne Donkin. They own CJ Rentals, one of the biggest rental management companies in town. - We manage approximately 140 properties, and we do own multiple properties ourselves. - The rental market here in Opotiki, what has that traditionally been like? - Difficult. There's been a big change. supply-demand now favours the landlords, whereas previous years, and that's probably two years ago, it favoured the tenants. - Opotiki was always considered very cheap. And unfortunately, we were sort of lined up with the likes of Wairoa and Kawerau and Hastings, Flaxmere areas. So cheap accommodation. Cheap to buy and cheap to rent. - A lot of people might look at people who buy homes, buy a lot of homes in lower socioeconomic areas and go, 'Is that akin to being a slumlord?' you know. What's your response to people who might fire that argument your way? - So my take on that is the simple fact that it's generally a mum-and-dad investor that are just trying to get a little bit ahead in life. - And I think most landlords have always been committed to bringing the quality of their property up, especially if they have bought something that isn't up to standard. As property managers, we've always pushed for that. We started insulating properties years before it even became fashionable. - The couple have issued eight 90-day notices in the last three months. And Chris Donkin understands why landlords are worried about the law changes. - I guess the concern is that having damage or a disruptive tenant in the property and the non-ability without major issues going through Tenancy Tribunal to remove that tenant. July 1 with the new heating and ventilation rules, there's certainly landlords that will be selling their properties prior to that law coming in. Just the sheer cost, you know. It's around $5000 to retrofit a property. - Harcourts Opotiki is another major player in the rental market, managing around 100 homes for landlords. They didn't want to appear on camera to talk about Opotiki's rental crisis, but in a statement, rental manager Wendy Moore says... But for Kaylene Moore, this attitude from landlords isn't good enough. - They should be looking after their home like I do as a tenant in it. You would think they'd want their homes to last the distance. So keeping them compliant, keeping them warm and dry, doing the maintenance on them. Would they live in a place that is not up to standard, you know, with their own families? I don't think so. - Coming up, how the community here in Opotiki is trying to find its own solution to the housing shortage. - So there's a lot of hard work ahead still. But the reward is knowing that we're going to have people in here. - Auraki mai ano. Opotiki is a town on the comeback, with the government targeting it as a future place of growth. But as interest grows in the seaside settlement, will locals already struggling to find rentals be priced out of their community? Anei te wahanga tuarua o tenei ripoata. - Opotiki is known for its breathtaking coastline, the gateway to Te Moana a Toi. Once a forgotten rural outpost, the town is undergoing an economic resurgence. - Opotiki's been put on the radar. The government's pumped $150 million into a town redevelopment, new library. $27 million for the mussel factory. So there's huge infrastructure going on in Opotiki. And I guess Opotiki's being noticed. - And this investment is driving up house prices. - There's lots and lots of people wanting to come and live in Opotiki. So those rental properties are disappearing. We've lost 15 to 20 properties in the last 12 months through properties been sold, and they're no longer rentals. - You know, if you look at the increase in the market in Opotiki over the last couple of years, you'll see that houses have gone from 200,000-odd to 400,000 or 500,000. And they're selling quickly. - Mandy Smith is from the emergency housing provider Whakaatu Whanaunga Trust. She understands why landlords are looking to sell up in a red-hot property market. - I don't know what we're going to do about that. I mean, the only way we can do it is to provide more housing stock and just try and drive the market down. But then that's going to take time. - But there's not enough time for the whanau the trust supports. - You do know when you meet with some of these whanau just how badly they are feeling. They can't provide for their children with a roof over their head. They go in tents, cars ` whatever it is that they can do to try and provide some form of shelter. - But some relief is on the way. Whakaatu Whanaunga is putting the finishing touches on this new transitional housing complex. Currently, there's just two emergency houses in the whole district, but 41 families on the trust waiting list. - That might not sound very big for bigger regions, but for Opotiki it's pretty big in number. Because when you look at that by the number of people within the home, you can be looking at 170, 180 people that are displaced. Yeah. - But the trust faced a three-year-long battle to build these new houses. They received some government funding but also had to take out a mortgage to fund the project. - So there's a lot of hard work ahead still. But I guess the reward is knowing that we're going to have people in here and we're going to be able to at least house some of our people. It's transitional housing, so it's only three months. But we can apply for an extension if we feel the family have tried really hard but there's nowhere to go. And unfortunately, it seems like we might be just not moving anyone for a little while. - But Kiri Dutton says while transitional housing will help, it's permanent housing that is needed urgently. - I know that there's places that try their best, but, you know, if you've got to stay in the house for three months, then you're in the same situation after three months. And say there's another family moving in, you know, you're in the same predicament. - For Kaylene Moore, knowing the level of need in her community is devastating. And she feels landlords are only interested in cashing in. - They're fine. They're lining their pockets and... they don't really... I feel they don't give a damn about us smaller people, little people. - So she's taking her fight to the streets. - We stand as one! Homes for all! - Alongside Kiri, she's marching through downtown Opotiki,... - Everyone deserves a home! (HORNS HONK) ...bringing awareness to the rental crisis and homelessness. - Having a voice for the community and getting our message out there is what our march represents. And it's letting our locals know we have a crisis. We have a huge problem right now in Opotiki. - So I'm proud of my friend for organising that. You know, it's for the people who are homeless and the eviction notices. I know this is nationwide all over New Zealand, but it's very much so here in this town. - Property managers Chris and Joanne Donkin don't believe landlords are adding to the problem. - We consider what we do, personally, as a service to the community. We're in the process of building three new rental houses at the moment. One is nearly completed. So we don't see ourselves as a problem; we see ourselves as offering a service. - But it's a service Kaylene can't afford. And she says she'll likely have to move in with her parents, but doesn't want to be a burden on them. What do you want people to know about what you are going through? - How hard it is for me as a solo mum not being able to provide a roof over my children's head. I hope it doesn't off-rail my children, have an effect on them. Cos they've called this place their home for 15 years, since they were born. And just the thought of not being able to provide for my kids, I feel like failure as a parent. I do worry about their future because this is what I'm going through now. How is it going to be for them in 10, 15, 20 years? - You want them to have a future, a brighter future. - Yeah, I do. - And if you were to find a home and have that security again, how would that make you feel? - Brings a smile to my face straight away. Na John Boynton tera purongo. Hei muri i nga whakatairanga, ka korero ahau ki te kaikomihana o nga pirihimana, ki a Andrew Coster. Tahuti mai ano. Tonight, police have announced a new major research project focussing on fairness and equity in policing. It comes amid criticism after an RNZ investigation revealed police are alleged to have photographed innocent rangatahi without their parents' consent. No reira, hei matapaki i tenei take, kei konei ko te kaikomihana matua o nga pirihimana ko Andrew Coster. Tena koe. - Kia ora. - Kia ora. It's been nearly a year since you joined us on The Hui. Nau mai, hoki mai. - Kia ora, thank you. Nice to be here. - At the time, you acknowledge there was unconscious bias within the police. So a year later, you're launching an independent research project. What's the aim? - We want to understand what's going on in the areas where people are concerned. We know that there's a lot of debate, and some of it emotive, understandably, on these issues. And we really want to get to the bottom of that in a way that fairly reflects the great work police do, but also understands where we need to work, if anywhere, to be fair. - Independent. So led by... - Yeah, so we're working with Te Puna Haumaru, which is the New Zealand Institute for Security and Crime Science at the University of Waikato. We are also working with Ta Kim Workman as an independent person to oversee the research that we will do with the university. - How wide-ranging will it be? You know, what sectors of society do you want to reach and hear from? - So we will be speaking to a lot of people, including community people, to understand where the issues are that we need to dig in, but also our own people so that we can make sure this research reflects the environment in which we operate. - I guess people will be wanting to know if` you know, how independent the findings will be and whether the recommendations would be binding. - Yeah, so obviously working with the university means there's a lot of integrity to the research, and they will drive that according to their standards, but overseen by an independent panel, which Ta Kim has very kindly agreed to chair. And as you will know, he's not someone who will shy away from calling issues where they exist. And he has done that consistently. - Binding recommendations? - Oh, look, I think it's not in the nature of necessarily going to, you know, exactly to the letter of everything that needs to be done. The point of it will be to understand whether there's bias in parts of our operation. - So the thing is you've already identified, you know, there's unconscious bias within your ranks. Why not just put the energy into dealing with the internal prejudice and racism that's already there? - Look, we, uh` our people come to work to do a great job and they do do a great job. And so it's really important for us to bring a objective basis to this and understand the specific areas where we need to work. Some of the areas where concerns have been expressed are in who we stop and speak to, the way we use force, and in our prosecutions. So we want to drill into those areas. I think it will reflect a lot of great work by police with and for Maori, but it also may identify some areas for improvement, and we're really open to that. - I want to quote the first line of an opinion piece you wrote last week for the New Zealand Herald. This is the first line, and I quote, 'Is it just me or are we 'having trouble making up our minds about what we want?' And you related that to criticism of police failings, to scanning for bomb threats at Christchurch mosques with the practice of taking photographs, as you just mentioned, of innocent Maori. How are those two related? - The point there really was ` on everything we talk about in terms of policing, there are trade-offs. The community expects us to keep people safe, and that's our role. And one of the ways we do that is by understanding what's happening out there in the environment. Now, look, I don't for a moment defend the taking of photographs of young people where there's no reason to. It's against our policy. And if it's happened, we'll deal with it. - It's happening. So I'm just wondering, you know, you wrote that. So how are you relating those two together? Because I just wonder where in our history can you pinpoint a single act of terrorism performed by a Maori youth? - Mm. No, look, the point there was not about terrorism, it was about intelligence for police operations. - But you wrapped it together. You wrapped it up together. And that's what it does, it sends a message that you're comparing the two or joining the two. - It certainly was not my intention to address the issue` - Was it a mistake to write that? - It was not my intention to conflate the two things. The point I was making is people reasonably expect us to keep the community safe, and so we have to find ways to do that that are fair to all people. And as I also said in that article, there is no place for taking photographs of young people in breach of our policy. - Can you understand how those families, both the Muslim community and Maori whanau, would be deeply offended by that connection? - Yeah, I think if you read the whole piece, you get the context from that. - I did. I did. And then you said it's about joining the dots. So once again, which dots are you joining between terrorism and Maori youth? - So I'm not drawing a connection between those two things. My focus there is on how police gather the information we need to keep our community safe. And sometimes it is appropriate to speak to young people ` not, obviously, in relation to terrorism, but in relation to crimes that our community expects us to deal with. - And so you mentioned it earlier, so I'll raise it. Photographing young rangatahi without their parent' consent, is that good practice? - Of course not. And where there are issues there, we invite people to come forward. There is an IPCA inquiry going on. You know, we have thousands of interactions every week across the country. And if sometimes we get it wrong, we will front up and deal with those things. - What's your message to officers that are practising that behaviour? - It's not OK. I have seen that message personally to all of our officers to reinforce what our policy is. And I would expect them to be following it. - Because in part of this research project I've read further down, it's about acknowledging the Treaty and the unique position of tangata whenua. So when you're... when this anecdotal evidence is coming through, not only just in one province ` Whanganui, Wairarapa, and I think in Auckland ` you start to see a picture. And can you understand how Maori feel targeted by that? - Oh, look, I completely understand the concerns in the community, and that's why we want an objective lens on this that actually looks not across a handful of interactions, but across all of our interactions to understand whether there are areas we need to shift. - Is that something ` opinion piece writing for national broadcasters ` that you're going to continue doing? I wonder about the practice of that. Do you think it's a good, um,... Do you think it's fair that the police commissioner gets to have such a platform? - What I'm looking for is balance in the way we talk about these issues, you know. There's a lot of complexity and what we're expected to do for the community. And all we ask for is balance. We do not shy away from dealing with the hard issues. That's why we're open to this research and what it may find. I'm just looking for balance. - Yeah, I was kind of talking about the opportunity that you got to write an opinion piece. Can you see the inequality of that situation ` the powerful, you know, writing about the powerless? - Look, it is a privileged position that I hold, and I don't take that lightly. And I'm really open to hearing from people, and that's why we're embarking on this process of understanding these issues through an independent lens. So I totally recognise that. - A positive story this week ` Te Pae Oranga, 9000 people through there, diverted out of court system into, um, panel, panels. Since you came on last time, you said that there were going to be some, I think, some Treaty workshops, some unconscious` How is that kind of work going? - Yeah, look, we have had some really good engagement across particularly our senior leaders on issues of unconscious bias. The conversations on these things need to be led by leaders through the organisation. And those conversations are well underway. - Are you happy with the Pae Oranga panels? Is that something you want to grow? - I'm delighted with Te Pae Oranga. It's making a massive difference for people. It's responding to their personal circumstances in a way that the mainstream system often struggles to do. We launched a new one last week in Taranaki. That's now 16 locations underway. And we have a desire to do a lot more because we think it is a much better alternative in many cases. Do you have a time frame for the research project? - We're going to do the first phase of this up to the end of June, which is a stocktake and understand, you know, what's already out there in terms of relevant data and work. And then the programme will be scheduled out from there. So we'll have more come that time. - Tena koe. Thank you so much for coming on this evening. - Thank you very much. Appreciate it. - Ko Andrew Coster tera. Hei tera wiki ` It's the valley in Northland that time forgot. - Did no one ever say this is a place that needs attention? That the government needs to step in here? That the Crown has a responsibility that it's ignored for 180 years? - Whanau in Utakura are living in the most desperate conditions. - I consider myself quite lucky to have what I've got. Some haven't got anything. - What do you think your tupuna would think about seeing the way whanau are living here today? - It's not acceptable. It's not good enough. And while I'm still breathing, I'll continue to disagree with what's currently happening for our people. - Kua hikina Te Hui mo tenei po. Mokori ano kia rere nga mihi ki te iwi Mahometa o Aotearoa. E kore rawa matou e wareware. Pai marire ki a tatou katoa. Captions by Tracey Dawson. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2021 ALL: He mea tautoko na Te Mangai Paho. The Hui is made with support from New Zealand on Air.