Denis Bright
After almost six years of living outdoors, Dave Freeman has finally been allocated emergency welfare housing. Freeman is a veteran of the squalid conditions at "Tent City" in south Brisbane.
This collection of shanties on private land near the Parmalat milk factory contrasts with the redevelopment on the fringes of Brisbane's central business district. Years ago, Freeman's boarding house went upmarket to serve university students. Moving to a grove of trees was the best option. Soon other homeless people arrived and a cluster of humpies emerged.
Reconstruction work near an adjacent cement depot prompted the move to more substantial shelter. As Tent City is on private land awaiting sale for road connections, the shelters may be temporarily exempt from the Brisbane City Council's "move-on powers", which target homeless people at Kurilpa Point near William Jolly Bridge and other public parks.
Freeman is the last person to describe Tent City as a convivial barrio. There is no social life there; it is a sheer necessity. In these deplorable living conditions, welfare agencies assist with food and nursing care.
Freeman used his negotiating skills to assist homeless people in their dealings with the West End police, welfare agencies, Brisbane City Council and housing associations. Several Tent City residents have finally received emergency protection; other residents now occupy temporary shelters. The Second Annual Demographia Report, which includes data from the third quarter of 2005, illustrates the failure of market forces to deliver affordable housing. All Australian capital cities record a widening ratio between median housing prices and median household income. Not only are Australian housing affordability levels deteriorating, housing prices are catching up with the more highly priced overseas cities. (See <http://www.demographia.com/dhi-ix2005q3.pdf>).
Despite some state governments' initiatives in emergency and welfare housing, it is the Commonwealth that has the resources to make a real impact through changes to taxation policies and grants for public housing projects. Queensland housing minister Robert Schwarten says the Howard government's emphasis on rental assistance schemes for tenants do not go far enough: "John Howard is the first prime minister to have privatised public housing and the result has been a disaster."
From Green Left Weekly, March 22, 2006.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.