12. Emergency Housing—Motel UseCARMEL SEPULONI (Labour—Kelston) to the Associate Minister for Social HousingEmergency Housing—Motel Use12. CARMEL SEPULONI (Labour—Kelston) to the Associate Minister for Social Housing: Does he stand by the former Prime Minister who said If they're sleeping in a car my very strong advice is to go and see Work and Income and we'll see what we can do"?Hon ALFRED NGARO (Associate Minister for Social Housing): No one in genuine hardship should be living rough on the streets or in cars. I do agree with the former Prime Minister; they should go to see Work and Income.Carmel Sepuloni: What impact will the upcoming World Masters Games—which is estimated to draw 35000 contestants and supporters to Auckland—have on individuals and families who are homeless and requiring emergency accommodation from 21 to 30 April?Hon ALFRED NGARO: We have been working hard—the team has been working hard—to ensure that we have a range of options that are available to our families and to our individuals as well. We have pre-booked motel rooms at rates that are not much greater than we usually expect to pay. What I can assure the member too is that since we have invested—the first Government—$354 million into emergency housing our baseline is that we have 265 places that are tenanted by families with another 220 that are coming online in the next few months. We can say on top of that that there are another 430 places and roughly half of those are coming online in the next few months as well.Carmel Sepuloni: How many motel rooms has he pre-booked during the World Masters Games period to ensure those requiring emergency accommodation have access to it particularly in light of the number of 400 per night who we know are requiring emergency accommodation already at this time?Hon ALFRED NGARO: What I can tell the member is that there are roughly around 350 people a week who access the special needs grants. Of those we know that there are places that are already in place—as I have said 265 places that are there as well. We have a range of options not just motels. There are other options that are there. We also have the emergency houses coming online as well. What I can say to the member is that earlier this month with the Prime Minister we actually launched Luke Street which is in Ōtāhuhu. That is 43 units of transitional housing in Ōtāhuhu. That means 250 mums and dads and their children—for up to 12 weeks—will have warm and dry accommodation as well. In Kepa Road in Ōrākei—as soon as the weather clears—there will be six modular houses on site. In South Auckland—soon to be announced—there will be another 63 units available as well.Carmel Sepuloni: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. My question was really clear. I asked how many motel rooms he had booked during the World Masters Games period and he has given a number of other—Mr SPEAKER: Order! That is all we need. The question is how many motel rooms have been pre-booked during the games.Hon ALFRED NGARO: In my answer I said there are a number that have been pre-booked. I can get the number for the member if the member would like to put that in writing. What I said was that there are a number of options. There have been pre-booked motels. There are actually houses that are in place at the moment—Mr SPEAKER: Order! The question has now been addressed.Carmel Sepuloni: Given that Auckland accommodation is so stretched that 53 American tourists stranded by a cancelled flight had to stay overnight at Te Puea Marae in February this year how does he expect Work and Income to ensure homeless families are not sleeping in their cars when there are 35000 extra tourists in Auckland needing accommodation?Hon ALFRED NGARO: This Government has been working in partnership with a number of providers. Part of that initiative is around Housing First Auckland. This complements the programme of work that this Government has been doing at the moment. We are piloting a programme of 472 homeless over Auckland costing around about $4.5 million over 2 years. The Government takes its responsibility around homelessness seriously. The question around homelessness is a partnership with Government and emergency housing providers as well as community housing providers also.Carmel Sepuloni: Can he guarantee that his "team's been working hard to make sure we've got that covered" and that no one who approaches Work and Income in need of emergency accommodation during the World Masters Games will be turned away without some form of safe housing? Hon ALFRED NGARO: I have great faith in the team which has been working hard. We work hard because there is a genuine response to meet those needs. Our providers who are out there at the moment are in touch and on the ground. We are working with emergency housing providers to ensure that we have confidence that we are meeting those needs. If there are contingencies that need to be put in place we know the team is prepared and ready for that as well."