To apply for a Housing NZ home (a “state house”), or to get help with emergency housing from the government, you need to start by talking to Work and Income. You can call them on 0800 559 009, or if you’re over 65, call Senior Services on 0800 552 002.
In every town or city, your local council will have details of local agencies that can help if you are in need of a home. There are also other services available, see “Where to go for more support” at the end of this chapter.
Example: When you are, and when you’re not, obstructing the footpath
Case: [2012] NZHC 3223
A well-known local figure in Nelson was charged by the police with obstructing the footpath, under the Summary Offences 1981 (we explain this offence above under “Begging: Asking people for money”). He was found guilty in the District Court, but he appealed and won in the High Court.
In this case the man (and some signs he usually had with him) took up an area about 6 metres long and 1.5 metres wide, on a footpath in Nelson’s Trafalgar St that was at least 6 metres wide at that point. The judge said that was wide enough for other people to get past, as they had about 4.5 metres, and so the man wasn’t unreasonably blocking the footpath.
The judge said that, under the wording of the particular section in the Act, the issue was not just whether he was obstructing the footpath in some way but whether this was “unreasonably” interfering with people’s “normal passage” along the footpath. The judge said “normal passage” doesn’t mean that other people must have complete and unrestricted access to the whole width of the footpath. So if people could easily walk around the man and his signs without delaying their progress, then what he was doing wasn’t unreasonable and he wasn’t guilty.
The judge also pointed out that there was no evidence of any threatening behaviour by the man – he was simply there, with his signs. The judge said, in effect, that if passers-by found him and his appearance “distasteful” and so wanted to give him a wide berth (like crossing the road before they got to him), then that was their choice. He shouldn’t be held criminally responsible for them not wanting to walk past him.