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New Zealand’s homeless will remain in shelter after the coronavirus crisis ends, says Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
Ardern confirmed that the government will continue to house people in the more than 1,600 motel rooms, saying it was one of the “little flashes” that emerged from the crisis.
“That should be one of the by-products of Covid-19,” he said on TVNZ. ‘s breakfast. The government has already set aside $ 107.6 million for motel rooms, and will announce its 2020 budget on Thursday.
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Abigail Dougherty / Things
Owen Pomana of Humanity NZ is helping to feed Auckland’s homeless who have been making it difficult during the lockdown. (file photo)
Ardern, in a series of media interviews on Tuesday morning, explained his government’s decision to ease coronavirus restrictions but limit social gatherings to ten people.
He also dismissed the suggestion that his ministers had been “gagged” after a leaked email from his office showed that they should not be interviewed in a statement of cabinet documents.
The continued restrictions on more than ten people who gathered for funerals and tangihanga were the “most difficult” part of Monday’s decision, Ardern said.
“That is the area where we really feel the pain that people feel. We have had members, MPs, who have lost in this last period and have had those smaller, family-only events and it is devastating. But we have also been abroad in outbreaks seen because of funerals, “he said on RNZ Morning report.
Fake images
Continued restrictions on the meeting for funerals was the most difficult part of Monday’s decision, Ardern said.
Similarly, Ardern said the restriction to groups of more than ten people who show up at a restaurant, which had a maximum capacity of 100 people, was to ensure that people “reduced socialization.”
He said there would be a two-hour limit for people to be in a cafe or restaurant, but this would be flexible. If a restaurant was busy and slow to provide a meal, “people will not be kicked out.”
Asked in an email from his office showing a staff member telling his colleagues that cabinet ministers should not be interviewed in a series of documents released Friday afternoon, Ardern rejected suggestions that it was a “gag order”.
“I would argue that that’s what happened. Of course, you’ve already had a Minister [David] Clark commenting on the documents you already have. I think Minister Shaw has also been out, “he said in Morning report.
There were complaints that the download of documents on Friday afternoon was equivalent to being “buried” by the government before Monday’s Level 2 Covid-19 alert announcement.
Ardern said that in the future the government will try to release these documents in the morning and with prior notice.
