Of the $12.6 million earmarked to help fight homelessness this year, just a tiny fraction has been spent - only $900,000.
Now, National says there’s an urgent need, and money needs to get out the door quickly, but the Government says there’s a process to get through.
In last year’s Budget, the Government allocated $75 million over four years to fight homelessness, with $12.6 million set aside for this year.
But so far, only $900,000 has been spent.
“A year ago, the Government announced $75 million dollars for homelessness services. Almost a year later, just a million dollars has gone out the door, about 1.3% of the money. It's staggering incompetence,” National MP Chris Bishop said.
The minister in charge, Marama Davidson, says it’s on the way.
“I've spent the last two and a half years working tirelessly with them to plan to make sure we get the money to where it needs to go, and that is absolutely on track,” she said.
She used the recent announcement of $25 million for Māori support services as an example, saying the contract won’t be finalised until July.
She told 1News that some of the new initiatives need time to be designed.
“We have committed to doing things differently, and the community has been very clear about that, so all the money is on track to get to where it needs to get to, but we can only do that with the relationships with the community.
Bishop disagrees, calling it bureaucracy.
“I think the Government is obsessed with bureaucracy.
“There are all these programmes, all these forms that have to be filled out. We should be getting money to the front line.”
Those on the front line want urgency.
According to the Salvation Army, homelessness is becoming a real issue for an estimated 3000 Kiwi families.
“We're seeing a lot of people under huge stress around housing,” Lieutenant Colonel Ian Hutson of the Salvation Army said.
“We're finding people coming to us who are still sleeping in cars - families and particularly people who are having long stays in motels and hotels, which sometimes isn't the safest.
“Sometimes it's okay, but it's definitely not where they should be at this point, and so we're seeing a lot of that on the frontlines at the moment.”
He says help with food alone is up 30% compared to this time last year.
“We urgently need more services and support for young people that are experiencing homelessness,” said youth development worker Aaron Hendry.
“There's a huge gap in the sector at the moment, and we have some really amazing organisations doing what they can, but if you speak to people in the sector, they're saying they're overworked. "
Hendry said there are not enough services, and "we really need to amp it up".
"There are gaps within our outreach services, and we don't have enough housing for the need when young people are coming to us for support, and there are still gaps in that. I think youth homelessness is an issue that we have for a long time ignored.
“It has gone under the radar. Often we talk about hidden homelessness; the reality is we have young people that are sleeping on our streets.
“This is a crisis; we need to start treating it that way. We need to really amp up our attention on this issue and come together around the table and ensure that we start to solve it.”
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