The chairman of the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board and former Auckland Councillor George Wood has been accused of shaming homeless people after he called one man a 'big oaf' with 'no pride'.
Mr Wood is a former mayor of North Shore City and was previously a high-ranking police officer.
He is currently running for re-election to the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board.
In a post made online this afternoon, Mr Wood put up two pictures of a homeless man sleeping on Galway Street near Britomart in central Auckland, writing: "What's Auckland City Centre come to these days?
"Big oaf lying on the footpath in Galway Street outside Britomart Train Station. No pride!"
The post, which has since been deleted, quickly attracted heated criticism from commenters.
"You should not be in council, [making] disgusting judgements on the less fortunate," one wrote.
"The homeless need compassion and love, not judgement and public shaming," another comment read.
Another commenter said "the true measure of any decent society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members - your comments are a disgrace and embarrassment to all of Auckland".
Mr Wood told 1 NEWS that he had taken down the post on the advice of other people following the backlash.
"I modified it, but it didn't seem to make any difference, it was just a major attack on me," he said.
Mr Wood said that when he was a councillor, services to "move on" homeless people seemed to be more frequent.
"These people are slipping through the cracks and they just stay there on the side of the footpath all day, which I think is not good for them and it's not a good look for the Auckland central city area," Mr Wood said.
"I just wonder why so many of them are still on the street.
"It does seem that the council are saying that more people are on the streets than previously, so I just wonder if enough effort is being put into trying to bring this situation back to some sense of normality."
He acknowledged that the way he expressed his views could have been offensive to some people, and that it could have been seen as "unfair" by some people, but generally stuck to his point.
"People are obviously hot to trot against me personally, to some extent, but there are also a lot of other people who are concerned about the fact that these people in our community these days have ended up in this situation," Mr Wood said.
"It doesn't seem that we are getting the support around them that I think probably is necessary ... it is a situation that I think does need more work - it's not a good look for the centre of the city.
"I've always had an issue about how much assistance these people are given in the Auckland city centre, because the more assistance and help that you give them in a location, the more they'll stay around there - just a theory I have and I think it's probably right."
"It's become a magnet for them to keep hovering around the city centre because of the level of support they get.
"I think that this is a problem that has worsened in recent years and more just has to be done to try and help these people, get them back on their feet and get them on their way."
From discrimination to an overpriced rental market and family violence, the homeless face a raft of challenges. (Source: Other)
'PERPETUATING STEREOTYPES'
Auckland City Missioner Chris Farrelly said "those of us who work with our city's homeless people on a daily basis know well that homelessness is frequently the result of multiple and compounding causes - significant trauma being one such cause".
"If we could listen to and understand the stories behind the homeless people, it will lead us to a compassionate response and a drive to address determinants rather than perpetuating stereotypes and partial truths.
"There is a growing awareness in our country that our energy must go into lifting up the person, not kicking them when they are on the ground."
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