Cost of living crisis: Bay of Plenty superannuants struggling to afford the basics

A 76-year-old man has his coffee black because he can't afford milk any more and saves $5 a fortnight to afford medication.

Another couple in their late 60s feel "ripped off" by their struggle in retirement, dipping into their small pool of savings to get by.

They're not alone.

Advocates say seniors are skipping meals, not going to the supermarket because of fuel prices, and ignoring health issues as the cost of living soars.

They say some have to work past retirement age to "make ends meet" and more elderly are becoming homeless as they can't afford their rentals.

Annual inflation hit 6.9 per cent in the year to March 31, the largest movement in 30 years.

Food prices have also climbed to a 10-year high, rising 7.6 per cent in March compared to the same time last year.

Grocery food prices were up 6.7 per cent, fruit and vegetables up 18 per cent, and meat, poultry and fish up 8.7 per cent.

According to the Ministry of Social Development, superannuants living alone are paid $538 a week before tax, and couples are paid a combined $817 as of April.

This was up from $506 and $768 respectively.

Frank Russell, 76, said he had switched to black tea and coffee because he can no longer afford milk despite having worked "very hard" his entire life.

He said he had about $100 a fortnight left for food once the $280 council unit rent was paid, along with other bills.

He made a lot of stews to stretch the meat he bought, adding frozen vegetables as they were cheaper than fresh. He also filled up on pies, bread, corned beef and deli ham.

His carer sometimes dropped off coffee and sugar for him when he could not afford it, and monthly meals out with his sister had gone out of the budget.

"A few years ago, I used to have money left over for the following week, I don't have that now."

He got his doctor check-up every three months but put aside money each fortnight to afford it, and another $5 a fortnight for his medication.

Once everything was paid, he would buy a pack of cigarettes if there was any money left.

"You've got to be a scrooge about everything ... if any other costs come up in between paydays, you're buggered."

He sometimes dipped into his savings, which was $40, and tried to top it up with $20 when he could.

Rotorua's Christine Brock, 67, said she and her husband, 69, felt "ripped off" as they struggled in their retirement despite working since they were 15.

She said they rarely left the house because of the price of fuel and they shopped fortnightly, froze meat and planned meals to stretch every dollar.

"I've been thinking of becoming vegetarian, mind you, veges are expensive too."

The couple sold their property in Auckland two years ago and moved to cheaper Rotorua with the aim of living comfortably and being able to afford to do more.

"That's not the case any more."

They still had a mortgage with about nine years left to pay.

The couple both did odd jobs - originally for pocket money for going out - which now covered the basics, and they dipped into their savings for essentials.

Living on the super payment was "hard" and the couple feared that they would not be able to get by as they aged and could no longer do the odd jobs.

She said everyone was in the same situation, not just retirees.

Tauranga gerontologist Carole Gordon said some elderly skipped meals or ate cheese and crackers or an egg on toast.

"People save up to get a haircut, that's a major cost."

The ageing body, in general, was costly. With health insurance out of the question for many, some weren't getting medical attention, she said.

She spoke of a woman aged 93 who lived in an old house she owned in a well-to-do suburb and street.

"Her house is probably worth a lot but she lives in poverty."

She didn't have money for doctor appointments or food, and her neighbours took turns cooking for her and washing her on the plank of wood over her bathtub.

"It's not a nice place managing on the super alone. It's the most stressful thing for an older person."

She said people with minimal or no savings were the worst off, and their spending to survive ate into what little savings they had left.

While the payments increased each year, that "never quite covers" the cost of living, which was mainly food, housing, property repairs, and medical.

Tauranga Budget Advisory Services manager Shirley McCombe said some seniors had lost homes, had no electricity or phones, and needed weekly food support.

Even those with some retirement savings were affected, and those relying on fixed interest investments were impacted by low interest rates.

The financial pressure lead to "significant" depression and high anxiety, and relationships broke down from the stress.

Age Concern Rotorua manager Rory O'Rourke said transport, food and health were sacrificed and most of seniors' income was spent on housing and power.

More worked past retirement to "try to make ends meet".

Expensive fuel caused loneliness and social isolation, and many were not going to the supermarket because they couldn't afford to get there.

Grey Power Tauranga president Jennifer Custins said it was "debilitating" to live off the super payment, which was spent on the bare essentials.

She said while some might have savings, lump sums came out for things urgent or essential costs.

Custins, in her 70s, said she had even been thinking about how long she is going live and how long the money will last.

Tips for those in or approaching retirement:

• Plan to be debt-free before retirement.
• Decide when you will retire and plan for the post-retirement lifestyle you want once you no longer work.
• Save as much as possible, as the pension covers living costs and doesn't include much in the way of luxuries.
• Work with a financial mentor to make a plan to meet expenses, plan for the unforeseen, and get cost-saving tips.
• Make sure you get your maximum entitlements.
• If you're healthy enough, work part-time.
• Join a club - friendship is free and can act as a support network and you can get other people's experiences.
• Get a Power of Attorney sorted with someone you trust.
• Work with Budget Advice if you have debt to get rid of it as quickly as possible.
• Work with Budget Advice to find the safest and most affordable option if you need to borrow.
- Source: Tauranga and Rotorua Budget Advisory Services

Elderly housing in Tauranga: Whare Kaa, a new home for women, opens in Greerton

A 70-year-old battling pneumonia after living in her cold car for a week has been given a warm bed.

Rose Pakai told the Bay of Plenty Times she had nowhere to go after returning to Tauranga.

She was taken in by Te Tuinga Whānau Social Services Trust and initially stayed in transitional housing at its RSA motel.

Now she has become one of the first residents of Whare Kaa, a four-bedroom transitional housing home for women in Greerton that opened last week and was run by the trust.

She moved in on Wednesday, choosing her room and showing it off with pride.

“All I need is a good rest, a really good rest because I can’t function,” Pakai said.

Her new housemate is Vicki Barrett, 62.

Barrett said that three years ago, she was happily living independently in Tauranga when two strokes in her sleep changed everything.

“I woke up one day and the world had changed … it was awful.”

She said she could not speak properly and was in hospital for six weeks because she could not find anywhere to live and was not able to live alone.

Barrett said she spent three years in a supported living facility in Rotorua before returning to Tauranga three months ago, staying in the RSA motel and now Whare Kaa.

She said her new home was “perfect” and it would be “amazing” to have more independence again and do things others may take for granted, such as cooking.

“I haven’t done anything like that for … three years.”

She said it had been “tough” to lose what she had but the future was looking “more positive” and she hoped to one day have her own affordable home.

The women’s stories come after fears an elderly housing “crisis” was looming in Tauranga were expressed in a Tauranga City Council meeting this month.

Whare Kaa was named after Kaa O’Brian, Te Tuinga’s former chairwoman and only life member, and the former president of the Māori Women’s Welfare League.

It is the second whare kaumatua leased to Te Tuinga Whānau by Kāinga Ora with support from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development’s transitional housing funding programme. People living in transitional housing paid rent of up to 25 per cent of their income, and HUD covered the rest.

The first was Whare Patariki, a “mini-retirement village” that opened in October and can accommodate five men.

The dining room at sunny Whare Kaa connects to a kitchen, which leads into the spacious and warm lounge with couches, a TV, and a photo of Kaa O’Brien on the coffee table.

The carpets are springy, plants and art decorate most rooms, and diffusers let off a fresh floral smell.

Each bedroom has floral bedding and heating and there is a bathroom and two toilets.

Te Tuinga executive director Tommy Wilson said there was a growing number of elderly homeless people in Tauranga.

He said trust workers had seen elderly women living on the streets, in their cars, on couches, or straight from hospital and still in their dressing gowns.

“Someone has to look after the elderly in our backyard, and as far as we can see, we’re one of the very few that are putting their hand up.”

“We’re putting them together under an umbrella where we can care for them, because on their own, they’re flying solo, and the older you get, the harder it is.”

He said elderly were “caught in the crossfire” of the “perfect storm” of poverty, P, and the pandemic, with some ending up caring for their grandchildren.

There was also a desperate need for affordable one-bedroom units in the city.

There were 471 people on the waiting list for one-bedroom public housing units in Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty, according to Ministry of Social Development June figures.

Trade Me Property sales director Gavin Lloyd said the median weekly rent in Tauranga was $680 in June, up 6 per cent on the year prior. In the Western Bay of Plenty it was $600, down 3 per cent on the year prior.

Trust operations manager Corey Wanakore said more women would come through Whare Kaa and all would have wrap-around support from the team.

“We’ll walk alongside them and ensure when they leave the front door when they’re ready, they’ve got all the tools to go with them.”

He said having a place to call home, relax in and be safe in was important for the mana of Māori: “We look after our elderly.”

He said the trust wanted to create more houses for kaumatua, as funding allowed.

“We’re responding to the crisis for the elderly in Tauranga at the moment, there’s just not enough housing and they can’t afford housing,” he said.

“This is the start, but it’s not the answer.”

The trust had “huge respect” for Kaa, he said. She died three years ago, having had a “huge” standing in the community.

“[Having her name is] not something we will take lightly given the woman that she was and the legacy she left behind.”

He said having her son, daughter-in-law and mokopuna share in the opening was special to link the house to its namesake and family.

Trust kaiarahi Sylvia Wilson said they had six referrals before the home opened, with two in a motel and the others in unsafe housing.

Two weren’t able to move in because they could not bring their grandchildren.

She said the elderly the trust saw had contributed to society, yet came through the doors homeless, unwell and tired.

“It’s so wrong … I’m absolutely appalled.”

She was “privileged” to be a social worker caring for the elderly and enjoyed setting up the home where “they feel warm, at home, like they’ve landed, and the anxiety in here can rest”.

“Hope becomes a reality when you’ve moved in.”

Wilson would do activities with the women and said they were all looking forward to being able to cook.

Cost of living crisis: Tauranga foodbank’s costs spiral, Good Neighbour food rescue volumes drop

Donations to a Tauranga food rescue service are down 14,000kg a month and the city foodbank had to shrink food parcels - sometimes going without basics such as potatoes and onions - as its expenses soar by $10,000 a month.

Charities trying to feed people in the city are straining as food prices and demand rise during the cost of living crisis.

An organisation linking people to social agencies says 69 per cent of requests for help are for food. Tauranga Community Foodbank has gained more than 3700 clients and the Ministry of Social Development provided about 10,190 food grants in March in the Bay of Plenty.

Annual food prices increased 12.5 per cent for the year to April 2023, StatsNZ reported this month. Fruit and vegetable prices were the biggest driver, up 22.5 per cent, and grocery food prices increased 14 per cent.

Tauranga charitable organisation Good Neighbour has a food rescue service that collects unsold or donated food from suppliers, including 13 supermarkets, and distributes it among 62 local community organisations regularly, and another nine intermittently.

Manager Simone Gibson said it had seen a drop of about 14,000kg of rescued food per month. For perspective, that’s roughly equal to the weight of two-and-a-half elephants.

She said that meant less to go around for its recipient organisations, which fed about 4700 people each week.

“Increased demand coupled with fewer food donations means more Kiwi families are struggling to put food on the table.”

The cost of living crisis had “hit everyone hard”, including support providers.

Gibson said there had been a roughly 20 per cent drop in food coming through the network since September.

The organisation rescued about 42,000kg of food per month which could make about 120,000 meals, compared to an average of 56,000kg a month, or about 160,000 meals, between March and August 2022.

Gibson said supermarkets were carefully managing restricted stock and product ranges, selling products near best-before dates at reduced prices, repackaging produce, selling dented cans, and “generally trying to take products to their limit”.

She said this was good practice and consumers could make choices to fit their budget, although it meant less food for the rescue.

“It’s getting harder for food support organisations at every level to keep up with demand.”

She said funding had also become harder to secure, constraining Good Neighbour’s operations.

She was grateful for the more than 200 weekly volunteers who made its services, which included other food sustainability programmes, possible.

The New Zealand Food Network is one of Good Neighbour’s suppliers, and it was also seeking more donations with less excess food available from producers, manufacturers and businesses, resulting in less stock to distribute.

The reductions had also impacted the foodbank.

Manager Nicki Goodwin said the amount of rescued fruit and vegetables it received had dropped “substantially”, with only enough to help some of its clients.

At times, potatoes and onions had also been unaffordable despite an “amazing” supplier who gave the best price possible, she said. Stats NZ’s Food Price Index put the retail price for a kilo of potatoes at $3.28 in March 2023, compared to $2.37 in March 2022.

Goodwin said the charity was paying $10,000 more each month overall for food, 84 per cent above its budget.

Client numbers had also spiked as food costs rose. It helped 19,377 clients in the last 12 months, 10,394 of those children. In the 12 months prior, it helped 15,642 clients.

The foodbank spent an average of $21,700 each month on food over the last 12 months and had to look closely at every item it paid for.

Goodwin said canned goods price rises meant it had to stop buying canned fruit, creamed corn, and soup for now, relying on donations of those items.

It was working towards having a budget to purchase seasonal fruit and vegetable as well as becoming involved in growing its own produce.

It was still managing to provide enough food for four days worth of meals per parcel, but had to reduce some of the goods provided in each.

“Our focus remains on good food that people can take home and create home-cooked tasty meals.”

Some regular financial donors had to cancel their regular payments, which she had “no doubt” was due to the high cost of living.

It had also seen “very generous” people reach out with financial support.

She said it was grateful to Tauranga City Council, TECT, Acorn Foundation and Lotto for the operational funding which freed up community donations for food purchases.

The foodbank planned, saved and operated to ensure future sustainability during hard times like this, she said.

“There is no risk that foodbank will not be able to manage our way through this cost of living crisis”.

Here to Help U is one of the agencies that can give someone a foodbank referral.

The free, one-stop-shop links people to well-being services in Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty.

Felicity Beadle of Wise Group said it’s biggest volume of requests related to food.

In the last 12 months, it supported 6745 people and whānau, 69 per cent with requests for food. That compared to 2586 in the 10 months prior and 45 per cent for food, Beadle said.

She said they had noticed more people who used to cope now reaching out for help after an unexpected bill or a rise in their mortgage interest rate or rent.

Via its website and free-phone number, Here to Help U can connect people to 139 linked local social support and well-being help providers.

Beadle said people felt relieved and cared for once they connected with the team and support was arranged.

Man who lived in Mount Maunganui cave for two years has a home

A man who lived in a cave in Mount Maunganui for nearly two years has been offered a home.

The 65-year-old doesn't regret his new home, but he believes a young family should have been a priority over him.

Awhi, who only wanted to be known by his first name, has lived under Hopukiore (Mt Drury) in the seaside suburb — where the average home is worth over $1 million — since last year.

A descendant of Ngāi Te Rangi and Waitaha, Awhi said he was "content" at the cave and no one seemed to mind he was there.

Before the cave, Awhi was renting in Wellington and was in Tauranga for two days when the country went into lockdown last year.

"I went to the only place I knew in this rohe where I felt safe.

"To me, that place had a lot of feeling, I don't know how to explain it. I don't know what was so important about me being under the mountain."

Awhi said he felt like he was given two options; either take the social housing or be moved or trespassed from the cave.

"I'd rather a family with a child be in here. I'd rather them have a house and a child gets some comfort."

He's barely left the one-bedroom house since he moved in three weeks ago. His niece brings him food.

"If I don't leave, nobody is going to come and take anything.

"I try and keep it tidy for myself and others that come and visit."

He did not regret the decision to move as it meant his family could visit and stay the night, which was the best thing about the house.

He was now paying $300 a fortnight and had to take care of someone else's home, a problem that didn't exist for him at the cave.

"That was my home. I should still be under the mountain," he said.

"Under the mountain, I had no one to answer to but myself."

Some residents in Mount Maunganui had complained about him and his visitors being there, he believed, and wanted him out there.

"The best way they could do it was to find me a house - not that I really wanted a house."

Tauranga City Council received eight complaints about Awhi living in the cave.

"It wasn't that fair. Nobody came up and talked to me with these complaints that they had," he said.

"It's a public domain, I can't do anything about people walking up to the cave, even if it's just to have a look or sit and chat."

He believed although some residents wanted him gone, "many" opened their arms to support him by showing care, understanding, and treated him how they would like being treated.

He said he never knew how to thank them.

One elderly couple had even offered a room in their house, which he said he declined because he knew they needed their privacy.

"I was quite alright there, but the public had a different opinion."

Awhi turned 65 recently and he believed this also played a part in him being moved as "they didn't want an elderly [person] living under the mountain".

The council's regulation monitoring team leader Stuart Goodman said it did not threaten to move him or give him an ultimatum.

"We made sure that he was connected with the appropriate support agencies and encouraged him to keep the area clean and tidy."

The People's Project, the organisation that helped Awhi into his new home, also helped connect him to wrap-around support services.

Manager Simone Cuers said she had seen people who hadn't had traditional shelter for a long time could find moving into a house difficult.

"People have told us they have slept on the floor for a time as the beds are too soft and felt restricted by the property as opposed to the space of sleeping outdoors."

Others found it took time to become accustomed to the space compared to a well-hidden sleeping spot.

"Many of the people we work with have big hearts and feel there are others more deserving than themselves and would give what they have to others.

"The values of caring and sharing are alive and well among people who experience homelessness."

She said it was best practice to assess what support was needed and develop a plan with the person to meet their needs and goals, usually in partnership with a range of service providers.

The organisation was always looking for more properties to house the "huge" number of people and families immediately needing a safe and healthy home.

Landlords could access social return on investment by leasing properties to LinkPeople which sources and manages properties for the People's Project.

Mental health: Children desperate for counselling as schools pick up the tab

Children desperate for counselling are waiting up to six weeks to get help while some schools are picking up the tab to pay for their own experts as mental health and wellbeing issues spiral.

Primary and intermediate schools say they're doing what they can with what little they have — with one Rotorua school spending $1.5 million over 15 years on counselling for students.

Experts say more children are dealing with trauma, depression and anxiety, while the housing crisis has others bouncing from school to school.

But a Budget 2021 promise of funding for a programme target ting mental health support for 5- to 12-year-olds has been welcomed by those on the frontline.

The Mana Ake – Stronger for Tomorrow initiative will receive $12 million to roll out its programme to five more district health boards, including the Bay of Plenty and Lakes boards, after a successful pilot in Canterbury.

Mana Ake workers support schools, families and whānau when children are experiencing issues that impact their wellbeing.

They include psychologists, social workers, counsellors, teachers and youth workers and since 2018 Mana Ake has supported more than 7000 children struggling with issues including anxiety, managing emotions, friendships and bullying, social isolation, parent separation, grief and loss.

Rotorua Principals' Association president Gary Veysi said students across the board had high levels of anxiety, depression and lack of engagement which, when unsupported, could lead to anger and hurting others.

Veysi said housing issues, like being asked to move out of a rental, put "huge" pressures on families, which turned into trauma for children.

It showed up in the school roll as transient children and created issues with making friends and building positive relationships.

"These children and families then struggle to feel any type of connection or stability as they then may need to move again.

"Emergency housing for families in motels sounds like a good idea, but in reality principals and schools in town have been working hard to organise buses to get children from motels to school," he said.

He said funding and resourcing were always needed, especially if that meant a diverse range of people and skills to support children's mental health.

Veysi said Mana Ake was about everyone coming to the table and the focus needed to be on making sure the money was not wasted.

Rotorua Intermediate principal Garry de Theirry said many students were impacted by living in emergency or transitional housing, as well as the pressures of social media.

The school has spent more than $1.5m of its operational expenditure on counsellors in the last 15 years.

He said schools were a reflection of society. Drug issues or family violence in the community were reflected in school families, and trickled down to the children.

Support from qualified people would help teachers who were already stretched, he said.

He said it would be "enormous" to have more qualified people help children work through their traumatic experiences.

He said addressing issues at this age was "crucial".

He believed the lack of support was a key point in issues around issues including self-harm, drugs and trouble with the law.

"It's because we've left the counselling and support for these students too late."

New Zealand Association of Counsellors president Christine Macfarlane said anything to do with food, housing, safety, warmth and relationships affected the mental wellbeing of children.

Low socioeconomic areas, with high unemployment, less access to services, and the impacts of emergency housing and poverty put higher stress on counselling, she said.

"School counsellors are overwhelmed with the number of young people coming in ... with a wide range of issues."

Macfarlane said getting space in schools was difficult in Canterbury, where the programme was piloted, and a lack of available rooms meant some workers were based out of their cars or other places that were not easily accessible.

But Mana Ake had seen good outcomes and she hoped issues in the pilot would be addressed.

The 5 to 12 age group was crucial in order to give children a chance at growing up with good mental health, and "proactive and preventative is best".

She said if issues weren't addressed early they could cause lifelong problems.

Macfarlane said the association had also been working alongside the Ministry of Education to roll out counselling in primary and intermediate schools - separate from Mana Ake.

Lakes District Health Board is working with Bay of Plenty District Health Board and the Ministry of Health to agree on the contract for the co-design process.

A Lakes spokeswoman said the board was still working through the details but was "very excited by what this opportunity offers".

Ministry of Health mental health and addiction deputy director-general, Toni Gutschlag, said work on the co-design would begin within the next few weeks.

This process will be led by local health boards and the Ministry of Education and include representatives from schools, iwi and other key community groups, Gutschlag said.

Ministry of Education sector enablement and support deputy secretary, Katrina Casey, said the ministry was working to secure the community services to provide counselling to primary and intermediate-aged children.

Budget 2020 included a package of almost $200m to support students with immediate and long-term mental health needs.

Of this, $44m is being used to increase counselling services access for students in selected primary, intermediate and area schools through contracts with community providers.

The ministry was also supporting Te Rūnanga Nui and Ngā Kura a Iwi with resources to enable them to access appropriate counselling support for tamariki in kura kaupapa.

Budget 2020 also provided $32.8m for 38 new curriculum leads to help schools and early learning services teach wellbeing and mental health to children.

Also included was a $50m Urgent Response Fund to give immediate support to early learning services and schools to manage issues around attendance after Covid-19.

Other Government initiatives include Social Workers in Schools.

More deaths than meth: Urgent calls to change alcohol laws

A Bay of Plenty clinic director who has seen alcohol addiction end in death is supporting calls for law changes to the current alcohol act.

She joins the 20 district health boards who have collectively called to urgently review and change the alcohol laws.

The Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 "has failed in its object to minimise alcohol-related harm", a collective DHB statement last Monday said.

Hanmer Clinic director Jill Knowler, based in Tauranga, said a number of their clients died over lockdown from alcohol-related illness.

The clinic worked with people who were highly dependent on alcohol and Knowler said the drug took over the addict's life.

"Over time, [alcohol] increases in importance, and everything in their life that had any semblance of importance starts to decrease."

This was relationships, work, mental and physical health, and behaviour.

The clinic lost a number of clients over the lockdown period, and Knowler said deaths of addicts came in waves.

This could be from the long-term impact on their health, heavy drinking after being sober, and suspected suicide when "they can't see a way through" the shame after a relapse.

She said alcoholism was a relapsing condition which made it difficult for families as there was no guarantee the user would get better.

Knowler said clients would speak about being triggered by seeing alcohol advertisements on television or merely driving past a liquor store.

Clients also said it was easy to find cheap alcohol, which made it "much harder" to stay sober.

She said in New Zealand culture there was a normalisation of drinking, and those who needed to stay off the booze felt judged when they didn't drink.

A Lakes District Health Board spokeswoman said emergency department staff were often subjected to bad behaviour and violence by patients and visitors as a result of excess drinking.

In 2020, up until November, 1010 people were treated for alcohol-related harm - a total of 5512 since 2016.

The reasons included alcohol poisoning, being injured while drinking, being injured by others who were drinking, referrals from concerns around mental health issues relating to alcohol, and other health issues like admissions for diseases relating to long-term use of alcohol.

She said the health board supported the national DHB stance on the need for legislative change.

Alcohol Action NZ chairman and Mount Maunganui GP Tony Farrell has long called for change and said new laws needed to tax alcohol and raise the minimum price, end advertising and sponsorships, reduce licensing hours, and increase the drinking age.

He said alcohol harm in New Zealand is a "public health crisis", with up to 830,000 risky drinkers.

In general, more than 14 standard drinks per week and more than four at one time is risky drinking.

It caused up to 15 deaths per week, five from cancer, he said.

"Methamphetamine is very harmful and causes up to 20 deaths per year. That's just over a week's worth with alcohol," Farrell said.

He said the substance caused more than 200 medical conditions and up to 3000 babies are born with fetal alcohol syndrome per year.

It's linked to suicide, family violence and was contributing to the overloaded demand for counselling, he said, and cost up to 3 per cent of GDP per year.

Children were injured, neglected, and traumatised as a result of alcohol, he said.

The country's overly commercialised alcohol environment was contrary to New Zealand having signed up to the International Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Farrell said tangata whenua - including Māori children -suffered more alcohol harm than non-Māori, and there was a Te Tiriti claim about this coming.

He said the substance was Aotearoa's most harmful drug because it is not managed in an effective evidence-based public health environment.

"As a taxpayer, I struggle with the idea that New Zealand pays over $7.85 billion per annum in alcohol-related harm while the industry profits and cynically blocks any measures to make our alcohol environment safer."

Farrell said alcohol advertising and sponsorships - including online - needed to end; licensing hours needed to be reduced to 10am to 9pm for off-licenses and 10am to 1am for on-licenses; alcohol needed to be taxed; and the minimum price should be increased.

He said the drinking age should also increase to 20, the drink-driving limit should be dropped to 0.2 with more random testing, and health warnings should be on product labels.

He also wanted to see more treatment opportunities for problem drinkers.

These were evidence-based measures from local and international studies, he said.

"We would expect fewer injuries and accidents, less violence, less suicide, less cancer, and increased productivity across the Bay of Plenty."

Alcohol Beverages Council executive director Bridget MacDonald said the broad-brush policy interventions were no silver bullets to reducing harmful drinking, "as there is no evidence they will work".

She said research showed that reducing hours only really inconvenienced moderate drinkers, and increasing prices doesn't markedly change a heavy drinker's behaviour.

Any future changes to legislation would need to target the misuse of alcohol, she said.

Kiwis were drinking about 25 per cent less than the 1970s and 80s and harmful drinking among younger drinkers was improving, she said.

According to the Ministry of Health, 20 per cent of Kiwis were "hazardous drinkers".

The NZABC supported the formation of the Māori Health Authority, as its focus will bring a targeted approach to Māori wellbeing.

"Independent economists have discredited how the often-quoted 'social cost' figure generated by BERL was derived, noting it omits any social, health or economic benefits, and includes several miscalculations."

She said it was better to direct efforts to develop solutions that tackle harmful drinking and provide people with information, education and targeted support.

"If we genuinely want to tackle harmful drinking and accelerate positive changes, we need to avoid lazy population-based policy."

Instead, she said the root causes of harmful drinking should be addressed such as underlying social, health or economic reasons.

Minister of Justice Kris Faafoi was concerned about the misuse of alcohol and expected the initial scoping of a review of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act to begin later this parliamentary term, his spokesman said.

The timing and scope depended on Cabinet's consideration and approval.

The minister has asked his officials to assess whether this was possible to do within existing priorities for the Ministry of Justice.

A spokeswoman for Minister of Health Andrew Little said Budget 2019 provided $69 million over four years for existing and to develop new alcohol and other drug services.

This included specialist alcohol and drug services that received $42m over four years. This included new managed withdrawal and aftercare services in Lakes and Tairāwhiti DHBs.

Tauranga housing crisis: Camp grounds, backpackers and motorhomes become housing

Crammed in a tiny two-bedroom campground unit, mum of three Natasha Anderson feels "trapped".

She moved to Tauranga from "too expensive" Auckland two years ago to be closer to family, and has lived in the unit ever since.

"[Rent] was supposed to be cheaper down here but we haven't been able to find anything."

But she still feels like one of the lucky ones.

Anderson is among those caught out by Tauranga's rapidly rising rents. The median average hit a record $610 in February, according to Trade Me data - up 27 per cent in four years.

A social worker says the city's housing system is "in crisis". Mums with a newborn or up to six kids are sleeping in cars, families are living in tents and every day people are begging campgrounds to let them stay because they have nowhere else to go.

The Bay of Plenty Times has previously spoken to families applying for countless rentals with no callbacks while other rentals exceeded their budget.

Anderson lived with her children, aged one to seven, at Silverbirch Holiday Park, sandwiched between the busy Turret Rd commuter route and Tauranga Harbour.

The facility was owned by her parents but she paid rent for their two-bedroom unit. It had a small bathroom and a living area with a kitchenette, a two-seater couch, some chairs and a small desk. There was barely enough space to walk.

Her eldest son slept in one room with boxes they had no space to unpack, while the other two children slept with her.

The small space drove her "crazy", and there was little freedom or privacy in the park.

Their unit was on the driveway, which made it too dangerous to let her kids play outside. They only left the unit if they were leaving the holiday park.

"To go from a house to this is really hard."

Anderson said the most she could afford for rent was $550 per week. She was studying psychology from home and could not work as she needed to look after the children.

She was applying for rentals in Tauranga and Auckland and applied for public housing last year.

As of December, there were 960 people in Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty on the housing register, also waiting for public housing.

"I'm trapped ... The only light at the end of the tunnel would be a state house coming through for us," she said.

But she felt lucky compared to other people she had seen come through the park.

"I feel so sorry for them ... some of them come through and they have nothing."

Anderson's mum, park co-owner Sharon Makai, said it stopped accepting tourists as all caravan sites and cabins were full of people staying long-term.

Makai said they averaged six to 10 calls a day from people needing housing.

The pre-Covid demand quietened down during the lockdowns and then picked up again.

"They need somewhere to stay and it's a steady income for us."

While all residents were homeless, only four received the Emergency Housing Special Needs Grant, with most on a pension.

Papamoa's Beachgrove Holiday Park had about 10 calls a day asking for long-term stays, including from young families with pregnant women.

This had been happening for the last three years, manager Faith Van Duin said.

"We get families asking for tent sites because they've been sleeping in their cars. I've had a few young families with pregnant women asking."

Van Duin said the facility did not usually allow people to stay in tents long-term as there was not enough space for all their possessions, but occasionally allowed it on a week-to-week basis.

It had a working father and son living in a two-man tent who moved into a caravan, and previously had a family with two adults and three children sleeping in a big tent.

"They're happy because they try everywhere."

The holiday park's cabins, caravans and motor home sites were full, taking on long-term stays as well as tourists.

She said people took their frustrations out on her when they could not stay.

"It's really hard to hear people ringing and telling me their situation every day, but I can't do anything.

"I think they're at the end of their wits trying to find a home."

All 22 dorm beds at Apple Tree Backpackers were booked by people mostly staying long term.

They included workers, beneficiaries, and emergency housing clients.

Assistant manager Nadeesha Kalhari said five to 10 people, including families, called daily asking for spaces - more than last year.

She said it often turned people away because it was fully booked. There were no private rooms and a no-child policy, meaning families couldn't stay.

RV Mega owner-operator Richard Olsen said living in caravans had become more popular in the last two years as housing became less affordable.

But this voided the warranty of new mobile homes, which components designed for recreational use, not living.

From a conscience perspective, the company became a distributor of a larger static caravan - 36 square metres - that met the healthy homes standards and was designed for permanent living.

But he said few had sold, likely due to a price tag ofaround $100,000 more than a standard caravan.

Road Life RV operations manager Leane Kappel said more pensioners were selling their homes and buying caravans and motorhomes to free up capital.

In the last two and a half years, there had been a "huge" increase in motorhome and caravan purchases to live in or rent.

She said some buyers did not have somewhere to live, but most were not desperate.

"It's more from people looking at how they can enjoy the rest of their lives when the cost of living is so expensive and the only thing they have is their house."

Others wanted to get out of the rental market but could not afford a house or get a mortgage approved.

Last month, 97 whānau, aged from 17 to 76, sought help from Te Tuinga Whānau Support Services Trust, with 90 per cent struggling with housing.

Issues included the lack of affordable rentals and full emergency housing.

Social worker team leader Scotty Harvey said people "burst out crying" asking what they could do.

He said a "huge" number of families were sleeping in cars, including 15 mums they knew of with up to six children in their cars.

Over Christmas, a mum with a newborn slept in a car.

He said the trust was fielding rising calls from women who fled domestic violence and had nowhere to stay, crying "please help me".

He said people came to Tauranga for work but ended up living in tents or a two-bedroom house with 22 people because there was nothing else.

"The whole system is collapsing ... Tauranga is in crisis."

Harvey said about 20 per cent of those in desperate need of housing they saw were working full-time.

He said more families were losing their rentals as people came home from overseas with the borders reopening.

Meth use in Bay of Plenty homes having 'devastating' impact on 'severely traumatised' kids - foster carers

Children are growing up "severely traumatised" in chaos, violence, poverty and neglect due to meth, a Tauranga foster home leader says.

Of the children coming through Homes of Hope Charitable Trust's doors, about 70 per cent are there because of meth, the trust's chief executive Hilary Price says.

The foster home needed to drop the number of children it can care for at a given time from 16 to 10 with "severe" behavioural issues as a result of meth.

About half of the reports to Oranga Tamariki involved P while a regional police inspector said the drug was "absolutely horrendous" and "ruining lives".

Price, who is also the trust's founder and a social worker, said the prevalence of meth has been rising since the home first opened in 2003.

Being around the drug showed up in symptoms such as ADHD, sensory processing disorders, and developmental delays.

This was due to the trauma, abuse, and neglect they've been exposed to in the households, with children growing up around domestic violence and chaos with no routines.

Children often went without basics as money was used on drugs.

Price said it was "shocking" to see how things like pipes and bongs were normalised among some children, with older children joking about them, and two siblings even making a 3D version of one in a playroom.

However, the effects on brain development were more alarming with the most "devastating" being on those exposed in utero, she said.

Price said the children came from "very hard places" and time was crucial to give them a chance to flourish.

Community generosity recently helped the trust open a new house, meaning it can home up to six more children.

Communications and funding manager Pam French said the trust was asked to care for 29 children last year, but could take in only eight new kids.

"There's a lot more P, a lot more issues around that."

"Our services are desperately needed ... the work we do with children has a trickle-down effect for generations."

The home kept brothers and sisters together and provided wrap-around care around the children, house parents, and caregivers. It had an 81 per cent success rate of children transitioning to new homes.

About 280 children, aged from babies to 12, had come through Homes of Hope's door since 2003.

Children usually stayed for one to five years, with many "severely traumatised" when they first arrived, she said.

They received therapy through individual care plans and "just have time to be children which often can be the first time in their young lives".

It cost about $60,000 a year to care for a child at Homes of Hope. According to Corrections data, it cost $140,000 a year for someone in prison.

"We believe it is far cheaper to raise a child than to repair an adult," French said.

Mount Maunganui GP Tony Farrell is a specialist in treating addiction.

He said as well as the direct and indirect harm caused by meth use, parents taking illicit drugs around children increased the risk of them trying it one day.

However, Farrell said it was important to acknowledge that not all users harmed their kids in any way - this depended on the pattern of use, the dose taken, and any associated mental health or social problems.

And only about 20 per cent of users were addicted.

He said the effects meth would have on a child depended on the dose, and high doses were toxic to the heart and could cause serious kidney damage.

The drug has been prescribed at low doses to children for ADHD, however, most users took about 20 times that dose, he said.

Children could accidentally take it, be exposed to substances from either using around them or manufacturing.

A high dose for a child could make them unwell with a very fast heart rate, agitation, feverishness, disorientation, anxiety, or even a coma, he said.

Babies were three times more likely to be born small for their age, and twice as likely to be premature if their mother used while pregnant.

Oranga Tamariki Bay of Plenty regional manager Tasi Malu said the across the country, there were about 10 calls of concern per hour and half of them were related to meth.

He said the organisation and community caregivers worked with tamariki who have come from "very dysfunctional, very damaged homes".

However, "just because a parent or caregiver is using, doesn't automatically mean they're unable to care".

Oranga Tamariki worked out how meth use impacted their ability to parent, with their default to keep children in their own home, and look to wider family and whānau when this was not possible.

"When we take tamariki into care, I think a lot of people miss the fact that these children coming in are quite damaged by meth, alcohol."

An Oranga Tamariki spokeswoman said the children came from all walks of life.

Many homes impacted by meth were marked by financial hardship, substance dependence, violence, and parents having mental and emotional unwellness.

"Also, in a few cases, children and young people live in transient environments where their parents struggle to find housing."

The Bay of Plenty had one of the worst recorded methamphetamine use per capita in the country, with about 860mg used per day, exceeding the national average.

The latest findings from the New Zealand Police wastewater drug testing programme reveal the average daily drug use per 1000 people between October and December last year.

This has gone up by more than 200mg a day when compared to the same period the year before.

Bay of Plenty District Prevention manager Inspector Steve Bullock said P was an "absolutely horrendous drug and is ruining lives".

Police make a decision based on public interest whether to prosecute or to consider a health-centred or therapeutic approach.

Bullock said a joint community and government approach was needed, with a focus on prevention, treatment, harm reduction and enforcement.

Anyone with information about drug offending is urged to contact police by phoning 105, or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Anyone affected by drug addiction can seek help through the Alcohol and Drug Helpline on 0800 787 797, or free text 8681.ish.

No funding for fetal alcohol syndrome sees two-year wait list in Tauranga

Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder could be waiting years to get an assessment as demand outstrips funding, according to a Tauranga social agency.

Surveys conducted by SocialLink in 2018 found the waitlists from the Bay of Plenty District Health Board were recorded as up to two years.

The health board says its resources are stretched with no funding for the disorder, but the Ministry of Health says DHBs are responsible for determining the health needs of their local populations and meeting these needs within their available funding.

SocialLink general manager Liz Davies said that with a growing population and demand which outstripped funding she suspected the waitlists would have worsened.

Those working on the ground said the lengthy waitlist was being fuelled by poor policies, a toxic drinking culture, under-resourcing, and lack of evidence-based policy.

The disorder was an umbrella term describing the range of physical, cognitive, behavioural and neuro-developmental disabilities in babies that arose from the mother drinking alcohol while pregnant.

It was linked to increased mortality, abuse and neglect, poor educational achievement, entering the criminal justice system, benefit dependence, mental health, and substance abuse issues.

It could also cause low birth weight, distinctive facial features, heart defects, behavioural problems, and intellectual disability.

The effects were lifelong.

The Ministry of Health said up to 3000 children nationwide were born with the disorder each year - a conservative estimate.

But without any substantial New Zealand research, the figures were based on recent research from Canada and the United States and evidence of higher rates of alcohol consumption during pregnancy in New Zealand than North America.

Tauranga GP Tony Farrell said, in his view, a poorly regulated alcohol industry with cheap alcohol, widely advertised in poorer areas, drove the issue.

"This is a preventable public health problem causing permanent learning and behavioural problems, costing the country millions per year in health and justice costs.

"I am not holding my breath around the Ministry of Health plan as we need public health policy as a preventative measure."

The Taking Action on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: 2016–2019 plan was a cross-agency commitment designed to provide co-ordinated support to those on the frontline, rather than establishing disorder-specific services and systems, according to the ministry's website.

Oranga Tamariki, the Department of Corrections, police and the Ministry of Justice were all key contributors to the plan because a significant proportion of their clients were affected by fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

Farrell said that in his opinion more alcohol regulations were needed, including increasing excise tax, reducing availability and stopping advertising of alcohol.

"We hope that our Government would have enough regard for unborn babies to put an evidence-based policy in place."

Bay of Plenty DHB mental health and addictions portfolio manager Caleb Putt said the assessments required a multi-disciplinary team, including a paediatrician, clinical psychologist, occupational therapist, and speech and language therapist.

However, these services were under referral and workforce capacity pressures.

One in two pregnancies were affected by alcohol, one in 10 was exposed to high-risk levels and two-fifths were unplanned, he said.

"Many children are exposed to alcohol before their mothers realise they are pregnant."

Putt said the drinking culture, increasingly promoted to young women, made prevention challenging.

He said some children in the health board area had been assessed but this tended to be through private providers for a fee.

The DHB was prioritising integrated approaches across services in the future, he said.

"To date, there has not been funding released to services such as paediatrics or mental health to recruit staff to develop integrated assessment pathways for this issue or projections regarding possible demand."

A service for women with addiction and high complex needs in Ōpōtiki and Kawerau is being established early next year.

Putt said for assessment and support to be adequately addressed, it needed to be established and resourced nationally.

This would ensure consistency of specialised supports, "rather than relying on ad hoc development within already stretched services locally".

Clinical neuropsychologist Sarah Goldsbury said the ministry might have acknowledged the disorder as a disability, but there had been no changes to outdated policies.

"Very few DHBs are able to offer assessments for [the disorder]. And those that do have virtually no ability to provide the specialised care and follow-on support that is best-practice after diagnosis."

Goldsbury travels the country to carry out the neuropsychological component of disorder assessments for children and youth in temporary and permanent care and Youth Court.

"We also have research suggesting ... approximately 25 per cent of New Zealand women report some alcohol use after pregnancy recognition and 10 per cent binge drinking."

The rates of women drinking in New Zealand has risen over the past 20 years, which she said had seriously influenced the rise of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

She said those with the disability should be entitled to Government-funded assessment and support, and judgment of women who drank while pregnant prevented mothers and mothers-to-be from seeking help.

"We [also] need women to understand basically that they either need to be on contraception or abstain from alcohol."

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Care Action Network chairwoman Claire Gyde said it was "appalling" there was no funding from the ministry given the high prevalence of the disorder in New Zealand.

The organisation, run by volunteers, was formed in 2013 to support whānau with efforts focused on the families already struggling with the diagnosis of their children.

The organisation was calling for the disability to be funded because a lack of knowledge and therefore lack of diagnosis had long-lasting effects.

The Ministry of Health admitted there were limited publicly available specialists with the capacity to undertake the ideal multi-disciplinary assessment and diagnosis, "but all regions will have some capacity", a spokesman said.

When asked about the lack of research, he said the research would be commissioned to identify what an "effective system-wide approach" would look like.

However, further work was needed to determine exactly how or what steps need to be taken.

"A key aim of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Action Plan going forward is to strengthen the approach to supporting people, individuals and whānau affected."

Cross-agency pilots would be implemented and research would be done to determine the appropriate response, he said.

The ministry spokesman said people with the disorder who have eligible disabilities and identified needs were able to receive ministry-funded disability support services (DSS).

"Children with suspected FASD who are too young to be formally diagnosed can also access DSS child development services, if developmental delay is identified."

Last year, $7.6 million from the proceeds of crime was put towards developing clinical diagnostic guidelines and training for dealing with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

Last year, an intensive holistic service for pregnant women and parents with children under the age of 3 who experience problems with mental health, alcohol and other drugs launched in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.

Proceeds of crime 2019 $7.6m funding has been allocated to:

• Extending existing pregnancy and parenting services to assess needs of children of women with addiction issues and provide ongoing support to parent children.
• Partnering with two child and development services to reconfigure existing models to address the behavioural and learning needs of children with alcohol-related neurodevelopmental issues sooner.
• Development of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder clinical diagnostic guidelines and training for clinicians.
• Piloting interventions with youth justice and corrections to improve self-regulation of young people in a youth justice facility and young offenders in prison.
• Supporting families to parent children with the disorder.
• Research to identify what an effective system-wide approach to respond to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and neurodevelopmental disorders would look like.

'She was a very difficult baby, she required constant, constant attention'

"Her first time at the public swimming pool, she was in the toddlers' pool, and she just held a child's head under the water," a Tauranga woman remembers.

"She's not evil, she wasn't trying to hurt her ... a fetal alcohol brain doesn't link cause and effect."

The woman and her late husband fostered the child from Oranga Tamariki when she was 3 weeks old, and she has since taken guardianship of the girl, who is now in her teens.

"As a baby ... her development was very delayed, so we knew something was up. She was a very difficult baby, she required constant, constant attention."

The woman said that from an early age daily interactions were constant uphill battles, involving stealing, lying and manipulation. And the child just couldn't sit still.

While the child's IQ is in the normal range, "the way their brain works is different, there are gaps ... it can't link cause and effect".

At 18 months, it was suspected during a visit to the paediatrician that the toddler had fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

"He said it's probable ... but he couldn't diagnose it," the woman said.

It was not until the child was 10 that the woman received funding from Permanent Caregiver Support Service, through Oranga Tamariki, for a test that cost $6000 plus $3000 for aftercare.

The funding came about, the woman said, because she was "absolutely beside myself, and said I can't take it any more".

But that's where it ended.

"The diagnosis helped because it gave me confidence that there is a problem here ... [but] there isn't any [support]."