Housing, Housing NZ, News, Poverty

Homeless man dies on the Auckland cemetery bench he called home

14 Comments

Note; the image above is not of the man concerned.
Shame, shame on the Nats. I saw another headline today with Bill English saying it wasn’t their fault people are homeless. All they need to do is go to WINZ he reckons. Clearly he hasn’t had any need to go to WINZ himself (and wouldn’t when he only pays a pittance for tax like a tiny percentage of what the workers pay) & he doesn’t realize all they’ll get is into deep debt in emergency motel accommodation. What stress awaits these poor people. And I’ve also seen this week reference to the suicides happening with people driven by this same government (really corporate) department. Again shame on the Nats, under their watch child poverty is up, & so is homelessness. And under their watch an old gentleman dies on a park bench in the freezing cold. And 3K landbanked state homes sit empty in the same city. What have we come to? May this dear man rest in peace.
EnvirowatchRangitikei

From stuff.co.nz

A well-known homeless man who had a cheeky smile and lovable nature died on a bench in an Auckland cemetery.

Keith Johnson, died aged 57 on the same bench he had sat on most days for the past four years in St Peter’s cemetery in Onehunga on July 1.

Johnson was not in the best of health, and his alcoholism may have contributed to his death, those close to him say.

The public has responded to Johnson’s death with an outpouring of grief. Mementos including a surfboard, table spreads, flowers and notes have been left at the bench he used to occupy.

READ MORE:
* The complex paths to homelessness
* A day in the life of Kevin: 47 and homeless
* Homelessness isn’t just an Auckland issue
* ‘Today is eviction day and we don’t have anywhere to go’
* Govt announces $41.1 million boost for emergency housing
* 1-in-100 Kiwis are homeless, and it’s getting worse

Constable Don Allan would regularly walk the beat in the morning around the church and always looked out for Johnson.

“Keith was a loveable person and always had a cheeky smile,” Allan said.

READ MORE

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/94570247/homeless-man-died-on-the-bench-he-called-home

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14 thoughts on “Homeless man dies on the Auckland cemetery bench he called home”

  1. BEFORE LONG THIS ENTIRE PLANET IS GOING TO BE FILLED WITH PEOPLE LIVING IN TENTS AND ON THE STREETS. COUNTRIES ALL OVER THE WORLD ARE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS. THIS IS FOR THE MOST PART A CRUEL PLANET, BUT IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE. THERE IS EVIL AND CRUELTY IN ALL CLASSES OF PEOPLE INCLUDING INCOME. GREED WILL EVENTUALLY DEVOUR ITSELF, WE CAN SEE IT HAPPENING NOW. JUST BECAUSE THE ELITE ARE GREEDY THAT DOES NOT MEAN WE HAVE TO BE, AND THERE ARE MORE OF THE REST OF US THAN ARE THEM. WE CAN SHOW THEM THAT WE SHALL STAND TOGETHER AND NOT CHOOSE A PATH OF GREED, AND THAT IS ONE WAY TO MAKE THEM BECOME POWERLESS. THE PROBLEM WITH US POOR AND MIDDLE CLASS IS THAT WE TREND TO COPY THE ELITE. ALL OF US SHOULD STRIVE FOR AN INNER BEAUTY THAT OUTSHINES ANY COSMETICS. WE SHOULD NOTE THAT THE ADVERTISING INDUSTRIES HAVE CONTRIBUTED IN MANY WAYS TO OUR PROBLEMS, AND THE ELITE HAVE USED THEM EFFECTIVELY. TAKE A LOOK WHAT AMERICANS ARE DOING TO AMERICANS, AND THESE ARE THE PEOPLE THAT SUPPOSE TO PROTECT US AND OUR SOIL:

    Pentagon secretly tested chemical weapons on US troops. Vets demand to know the cost

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    1. Yes the advertising industry futuret. I believe they themselves have pretty much created that with an agenda in mind. The best expose of all that is The Corporation movie. But yes I get your point, we need not be like them. Serious times though. Haven’t read your link yet but am aware of the Gulf War syndrome/illness that was inflicted upon the soldiers. It is covered also in the ‘Vaccines Revealed’ series. Shocking beyond belief 😦

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  2. Pam, I vividly remember , and not that long ago, NZ had only 50 registered homeless, and the Salies used to keep a gentle eye on the handful of homeless and even help them out from time to time.

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  4. THE SAME THING IS HAPPENING HERE, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF YOUR WORLD. HERE IN THE METRO ATLANTA, GEORGIA AREA MANY DECADES AGO, THERE WERE MAY BE UNDER 100 HOMELESS MEN, NOW HOMELESSNESS HAS SPREAD ALL OVER GEORGIA, AND YOU CAN NOT EVEN COUNT THE HOMELESS. NOW WE EVEN HAVE ENTIRE HOMELESS FAMILIES. THERE ARE LITERALLY CHILDREN GROWING UP IN CARS, AND THERE IS NOT MUCH ROOM IN SHELTERS.

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  5. The outpouring of grief should include donations to other homeless people and a concerted effort in the political arena to provide for thise who lose their homes. It’s sick and twisted to allow homelessness to exist. Seriously. We can’t be ome conditioned to accept this. We’re losing our humanity.

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    2. Donations for the other homeless, yes, definitely. And yes it is sick & twisted, especially given those in the political arena who have no will to remedy this, have landbanked 3K + houses, they’ve been sitting empty for FIVE years. A crime. They’re now offering interest free loans for city building (agenda 2030) but I doubt these folk will be in the running for those.

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        1. Thank you I will! We had an investigative journalist / evangelist here in NZ the 70s thru 2002 (now passed) – Barry Smith – he was sharing about the new wold order back then before the internet – he discovered the name of one of your next presidents in the dictionary PRIOR to his ‘election’. Now he wrote that back in the 80s probably. I have his books. He contacted the newspaper and they were perplexed…. couldn’t explain it 🙂

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  6. Once again RIP lost angels our. Brothers in Arms and me only. Warm and tender were those years, and we will never forget all those we walked with, and shared everything with and learnt to survive with.
    I am not a survivor, I am a warrior.
    When you group and become like indestructible, its atrocious to lose someone, we lost a great number of homeless friends, but it was always an unexpected shock. The first in our central Auckland group was a methalated spirits youth alcoholic died at 29 years , 10 Woman in The last 2-3 years very wrong, and Mr Finn in central parks my most in memory.

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