On a visit to Dunedin’s tent city at the Oval, Mr McAnulty said he was "heartbroken" at the city’s avoidable homelessness problem.
A pullback on government funding for temporary and social housing was causing "unprecedented levels of homelessness" that would take at least 10 years to fix, he said.
The government had promised no cuts to frontline services, but it did not get more frontline than people sleeping on the streets, he said.
People at the Oval had unfortunate life experiences and needed help and a home to get back on their feet.
"There can’t be many of us who could put our hands on our hearts and say if we ended up on the streets we wouldn’t end up with drug use or mental health problems."
Mr McAnulty blamed funding cuts to transitional
housing, a scheme that provided temporary housing
and support from a charity, with a goal of finding permanent housing. He also blamed policy changes that meant it was harder for people to access emergency housing from the Ministry of Social Development.
Housing First, a government-funded, charity-run scheme that finds people permanent homes with continued wraparound support, was also part of the solution, but it had not yet made it to Dunedin, he said.
Pausing a 41-home Kāinga Ora development on a cleared site in Carroll St, planned to be one and two-bed homes, was also a "real shame", he said.
Mr McAnulty also attended a meeting of leaders in Dunedin’s housing sector yesterday, and said he had come away "incredibly heartened that they are doing whatever they possibly can — but there is a limit when the resourcing and support from central government is being progressively withdrawn".
He also applauded the business community for raising concerns, saying it showed recognition that everyone
lost when homelessness
grew. It led to crime, demand on the health system and
children being less likely to learn at school.
"Whether you look at it from a moral or economic perspective, it is bad news all round."
Night Shelter manager David McKenzie, who was at the meeting, said he did not think it was likely the minister would change his mind, but it had been "refreshing" to talk to Mr McAnulty.
"He was prepared to listen and understood the issues behind the obvious."
Presbyterian Support Otago general manager for Family Works Nicole Devereux said the scale of homelessness in Dunedin was underestimated by government.
"This means that we are disadvantaged when central government funding for housing support is considered."
At a Dunedin City Council meeting on Tuesday, a motion was carried that the Mayor Jules Radich write to Housing Minister Christopher Bishop, asking the government to reconsider funding the restoration of Aaron Lodge, the abandoned holiday park in Kaikorai Valley, to be temporary homeless accommodation with specialist care on site.
DCC principal housing adviser Gill Brown has a vision of achieving functional zero — more people coming out of homelessness than entering it.
A DCC spokesperson said the letter to the minister was being drafted.
