Migration into Australia remains too high, and has directly and indirectly caused a massive rise in homelessness. Tent cities have sprung up, and some councils are now trying to clear them moving homeless people on. So today we look at what caused the problem, and what this means for the homeless.
One academic describes the decision by a homeless person to be seen as a “political act”. “They’re demonstrating their kind of deprivation through living in a tent in the public realm, and I’m glad that it pisses people off,” Cameron Parsell, a social sciences professor at the University of Queensland, says. “We should be pissed off. But rather than being pissed off by the people in the park, we should be pissed off about the lack of affordable housing.”
For all the concern about safety, several service providers said the crackdown risked undermining the group most at risk – homeless people themselves.
There are two schools of thought about safety. Many trust in safety in numbers; clearing a park forces people to adopt the other approach, staying out of sight. That doesn’t always work.
Many believe the crackdown is not about safety at all, but about visibility. Keeping homeless people apart keeps them out of sight.
The Guardian article made no reference at all to the migration problem. But my point is that homelessness could be eased if migration was pulled significantly lower, allowing time to catch up on building, and to get people into homes.
But no, Federal Government keeps the tap open, and councils are moving homeless people on from pillar to post. This simply does not solve the problem, and the social consequences will be enormous.
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