Amidst a 22% rise in homelessness, a council officer was seen relocating a group of unhoused people to Brisbane’s growing “tent city”. Image credit: Steelkamp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Amidst a 22% rise in homelessness in Queensland, a Logan City Council officer was filmed relocating a group of unhoused people to Brisbane’s growing “tent city”.
The video shows a uniformed officer dropping the people and their belongings off at the park after being transported in an unmarked ute from a park in Logan City.
A council spokesperson spoke about the matter, saying that the officer was well-intentioned, but that the incident was a one-off occurrence.
“Last Sunday, a Council officer was trying to be understanding of the requests from some people who had spent the previous night in a City of Logan Park,” he said in a statement.
“What happened next was not standard practice, deviated from usual Council protocols and was a one-off occurrence.”
The incident is a symptom of the dire housing situation currently impacting Queensland, which is reflected in the growing Musgrave Park encampment where many have set up shelter after being priced out of the rental market.
Furthermore, the already-displaced residents of the Musgrave Park tent city fear they will be ordered to evict the park to make way for the city’s Panyiri Greek Festival, which is slated to begin on the 20th of May.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has assured the community that the festival will go ahead without displacing the homeless community, but many remain doubtful.
In 2012, hundreds of police descended on the park to dismantle the Aboriginal tent embassy, which was established as a traditional meeting space for Indigenous people in south-east Queensland.
More than 30 people were arrested as the cultural hub was dismantled by police to make way for upcoming events, including the Greek Festival.
Homelessness is becoming a reality for more and more Australians.
“I’ll be with them soon,” said one Brisbane resident of Musgrave Park community.
“I live across the road and my rent is going from $640 to $900 per week.”
Brisbane’s Lord Mayor called upon the Federal and State Governments to do more for the housing crisis.
“It demonstrates the extent of the current homelessness scourge and shows yet again why the State and Federal governments must stop making excuses and open the idle Pinkenba quarantine facility as crisis accommodation.”
The Australian Government released their plans for the 2023-24 Federal Budget this past Tuesday.
