Hipkins regrets Rotorua housing crisis, pledges Labour oversight if elected

Chris Hipkins stood in Rotorua this week acknowledging a failure his government had made and could not undo. The Labour leader, who served as Prime Minister for the final nine months of his party's term, said plainly that he regretted the emergency housing crisis that had engulfed the city. More specifically, he regretted that his government had not listened when local people warned them what was happening.

The problem was straightforward enough: people from outside Rotorua were relocating to the city specifically to access emergency housing. A meal service for the homeless had reported this week that it was serving more out-of-town visitors who said it was easier to come to Rotorua for state housing than to stay where they were. Local operators and residents had flagged this pattern to the government. The government had not acted on it. Hipkins acknowledged the mistake. "Our Government didn't take on board the advice of local people that there were people relocating from outside of Rotorua into Rotorua emergency housing and I certainly regret that our Government didn't take that feedback on board sooner," he said.

The housing arm of the state, Kāinga Ora, had defended its approach by saying it prioritized those "most in need" on the housing register—a policy that made sense in theory but had drawn fire from opposition MPs who believed the agency should have been prioritizing Rotorua residents in the homes it was building locally. Hipkins offered a partial explanation: the government had slowed down social housing construction in other cities but not in Rotorua, which may have created an unintended draw. He also made a broader point about governance. When local people tell you something is happening in their community, he suggested, they are usually right. They are connected to the place. They see what is actually occurring. "Those locals are generally pretty connected to their communities," he said. "We should believe them."

The crisis had left scars beyond the immediate housing question. Rotorua's tourism reputation had taken a hit. Operators and business owners had been talking about the damage to the city's image as a destination. If Labour won the election, Hipkins said, the party would work with Rotorua to rebuild that reputation and remind people that the city remained a genuine draw for family holidays and tourism experiences. It was not enough to solve the housing problem; the city needed help recovering its standing.

On the question of whether Rotorua deserved a formal national apology, Hipkins stopped short. He would say only that he regretted it had reached that point. When pressed on local government reform—a separate issue but one that had generated its own friction—he suggested that the current National government was moving too fast and too heavy-handedly. Labour, if elected, would take more time, build more consensus, and give people space to accept whatever changes came. "If they gave people a bit more time and consensus building, whether they are in favour or against, there would be more acceptance of the end result," he said.

Hipkins was in Rotorua as part of the campaign machinery. Labour's candidate for the Rotorua seat was Fisher Wang, whom Hipkins described as a talented local figure already well-known in the community. The incumbent, Todd McClay of the National Party, had held the seat since 2008. Hipkins said Wang would give him "a run for his money." Labour was also backing Toni Boynton to take the Waiariki seat from Rawiri Waititi of the Māori Party. Hipkins' message to Māori voters across the country was direct: if you want to change the government, give Labour both your votes. The stronger Labour was, he said, the more likely it could form government.

As he spoke, the political landscape was shifting. National was in turmoil. Labour, by contrast, was feeling steady. The comments coming in from around the country were warm. Hipkins said he had learned from the last election, which had devastated him. Labour had different policies now, had absorbed its mistakes, and was focused on things it believed it could actually deliver. Near the Rotorua Library, at least one voter made the point viscerally, running up to Hipkins' media position and yelling: "We love you Chippy." He called it the nicest heckler he had had.