Parliament passes move-on orders law under urgency
Parliament has passed the Summary Offences (Move-on Orders) Amendment Bill on its third and final vote, using urgency to take it through the House. RNZ
The Bill amends the Summary Offences Act 1981. It gives police the power to issue move-on orders for low-level disorder. Parliament Bills In practice, police can order a person who is disorderly, begging or sleeping rough to move elsewhere. RNZ
Failure to comply is an offence. A person who disobeys a move-on order can face a fine or jail, according to RNZ. RNZ
The orders also apply to threatening or intimidating behaviour, and to obstructing businesses. Te Ao News Those grounds sit alongside the disorder, begging and rough sleeping grounds that stayed in the Bill to third reading.
On 21 May 2026, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith moved that the Bill be read a first time. That is the first vote in Parliament. The House agreed to it. Hansard The Justice Committee, the small group of MPs that tests Bills and hears the public, then opened submissions on the Bill. Parliament
The committee reported the Bill back on 3 September 2026. The Government then took it through its remaining stages under urgency, which means longer sitting hours and less debate, to passage.
More than 98 percent of submitters were opposed to the legislation, according to RNZ. RNZ The Bill passed largely in its original form.
Age cover was an early issue. The first version applied to people as young as 14. RNZ
Goldsmith kept begging and rough sleeping in the Bill, despite advice from officials against it. Stuff Goldsmith said the orders would not criminalise homelessness. He said only people who refuse the orders will face prosecution. RNZ
The law works like a direction from a traffic officer. Police get a street-level power to tell a person to move. Criminal liability does not come from begging or sleeping rough itself. It comes at the point of refusal.
The broader context here is about process as much as policy. That level of opposition at select committee is unusual. Urgency cut short the normal gap between the committee report and third reading. What will shape the new regime is operational: how police use discretion around begging and rough sleeping, how move-on directions are recorded and reviewed, and how courts treat the first prosecutions for refusal.
