A genuine New Zealand hero – Niki Rauti

SHAN is appealing for communities around New Zealand to support Tamaki resident, Niki Rauti, whom Housing New Zealand wants to evict from her state home to make way for sea-view mansions for the wealthy.

Niki is making a stand for state house tenants across the country.

It’s all very well for some in the media to say Niki will be able to move into a new home provided by Housing New Zealand so she should happily move.

Firstly, that’s not her choice. She has lived for many decades in her home and should not be forced to move simply because she’s on a low-income. This is her home – a home she has paid for several times over through her weekly rent over many decades.

Secondly, she would be moving to a new home without the security of tenure she has in her current home.

Thirdly, Niki is making a stand for all state house residents in Tamaki and across the country because in the first stage of the Tamaki re-development the number of state houses is being halved – from 156 to just 78.

It’s also a stand for our children and grandchildren who may need a state house sometime in the future.

We applaud Niki’s courage.

It is incredulous that in the middle of a housing crisis the government is hell-bent on selling thousands of state houses and walking away from low income families.

Only the government has the resources and capacity to build the large number of state houses desperately needed across New Zealand.

We call on our communities across New Zealand to rally behind Niki and fight this social vandalism.

John Minto
SHAN Convenor

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