Hitting back over homeless crisis
Above: An image from the Gayundah Arboretum tent site at Woody Point earlier this year.
Mayor Peter Flannery has hit back at attacks on Council and councillors over their handling of the homelessness crisis.
The Mayor is “very disappointed” at the media and “broader community” over “difficult decisions” made to ensure “public spaces are kept safe for our community.”
Moreton Bay City Council has been under fire since vision of machinery clearing homeless camps made TV news bulletins in April.
Homeless advocacy groups have been running campaigns on social media where comments seen by Moreton Daily on unrelated stories criticise Council spending.
Mayor Flannery told Council’s General Meeting last week the “significant increase” in homelessness over the last four-five years has been “horrific”.
“We’ve done the best we can in the tight situation we’re in,” he said, “we want to support those who want support.
“And those who don’t want support … then the City of Moreton Bay is not a place for you.”
Mayor Flannery said a build-up of community “angst, request and outcry” over access and safety in public parks forced Council to act last November.
“The community was about to take matters into its own hands over people living in parks,” he said.
“I’ve got a list of about a dozen different sites we went through in April last year and cleaned out because they were left abandoned by these people.
“Now we have people taking Council to court because they think it is their right to stay in a park.
“There are some genuine cases of people rough sleeping. Everybody has a compassionate heart for people in that situation and wants to get support.
“Those choosing not to take that support is what I have an issue with.
“Not to take support offered by the Department of Housing is having a great impact on our community. We have to make decisions for the majority, not the minority.”
High cost to ratepayers
Moreton Bay City Council says dealing with the homelessness crisis has so far cost $6,364,557.
A council report says this includes $1,434,465 in “direct costs associated with PEH (people experiencing homelessness) in the 2024-25 financial year”.
Of that $855,167 was on staffing such as PEH Rangers and Environmental Health Officers, $232,862 on contract services for PEH site clean-ups and $175,381 on police to protect staff.
The report says additional support for the homeless had cost $1,230,092.
Council also included its $3.7m contribution to the $6.7 million Peninsula Support Hub in the total amount spent dealing with the homelessness issue.
The Mayor said Dept of Housing figures showed in August 2024 there were 106 tents or shelters seen in Moreton Bay region. In April this year it was 65.
Those experiencing homelessness has fallen from 79 to 57 and people engaging with the State’s Critical Response Team was down from 48 to 44.
But the Mayor says investment in this region’s homelessness programs lags behind Brisbane, Toowoomba, Logan, Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast.
He added Council's decisions in November and April are “encouraging people to take support being offered by the department. That’s what we want”.
“When you are living in a park you need to take the first thing that comes along and gets you on that journey … and have a roof over your head.
“This council has done more than any in Queensland to support that journey. The State Government is starting to listen to us.
“We are starting to see some wins. Now we need to keep pressure on State and Federal Governments to provide housing for these people.”
Call to accept help
Mayor Flannery also highlighted comments by Dept of Housing Director General Mark Cridland in last month’s Budget Estimate hearings over issues at a high-profile park site.
Mr Cridland said outreach teams, Encircle, police and Council officers had visited people living at Goodfellows Rd, Kallangur, 10 times.
On the last visit in July, they “engaged with 11 individuals, nine of which have been offered and declined temporary accommodation”.
“Two people have no identification therefore cannot enter the Immediate Housing Response system. They declined offers of support to get ID through specialist homelessness services.”
The Mayor said a court injunction means "they can stay there until December when it goes back to court and we spend more ratepayers’ funds to justify why we are asking people to move out of our parks.
Deputy Mayor Jodie Shipway said Council is “not funded or resourced to provide public housing. It’s very simple”.
“Any advocacy groups that think Council should not spend money on things ratepayers expect and build public housing need to educate themselves on what we do as a local government.”
Cr Karl Winchester (Div 6) says the region needs “crisis accommodation desperately”.