Veteran MP Ray Stevens wants tougher police powers after homeless have sex in park toilet

A Gold Coast MP is pushing for laws to be tightened after receiving reports of “fornicating” homeless people in beachside parks.

A Gold Coast MP has claimed homeless campers are having sex in public toilets at coastal parks, prompting him to call for stronger police powers to remove them from prime beach areas.

In a speech to parliament which sent shockwaves through Opposition benches, Mermaid Beach MP Ray Stevens said he wants the homeless moved from Broadbeach, Miami and North Burleigh.

“One local father took his son into the public toilets at North Burleigh and unfortunately, ran into some of these illegal campers fornicating in the public toilets. I repeat – this is not acceptable,” Mr Stevens said.

Mermaid Beach MP Ray Stevens wants more police powers to remove homeless campers. Picture: Liam Kidston.

He said he felt sorry for the homeless and blamed the former Labor government for the housing shortage, but maintained it was not right to have rough sleepers in “highly visible and environmentally sensitive areas”.

Mr Stevens said some homeless people had mental issues or drug and alcohol dependency and they presented a “clear danger” to tourists and residents, particularly women who pass the camps in the early morning or night.

“The smells of urination and defecation are also present and there are many local voices contacting my office to ask what I am doing to protect their residential amenity,” Mr Stevens told Parliament.

“The police reluctantly tell me they have no legislative power to move these people on, which I find incredibly disappointing. The vagrancy act is no longer applicable and unless there is demonstrable public disturbance the police, I am told, cannot move them on.

“This is unacceptable. The police’s answer to the illegal camping is to refer them to the local council who have a designated relocation unit for their intervention but obviously, council officers have no physical capacity to force the removal of these illegal campers.”

Once moved the campers return to the best locations, Mr Stevens added.

A pile of belongings from a homeless person evicted from Carey Park at Southport. Other rough sleepers said council had instructed to leave it near the footpath.

“Some of the campers, I am sure, do not want the provision of mainstream housing and prefer their nomadic lifestyle,” he said.

Mr Stevens said he would be pushing for law reforms to give police more powers.

He said he was looking forward to “legislative solutions” which will “alleviate this shortcoming in Queensland’s society and prevent these camps being set up”.

Gaven MP Meaghan Scanlon fired back saying the Government, under Housing Minister and Bonney MP Sam O’Connor, was keeping its homeless review secret while Mr Stevens was “pulling the strings behind the scenes”.

The Opposition frontbencher said Mr O’Connor should go and talk to Mr Stevens after his speech “degrading homeless people in his community”.

Mr O’Connor responding to Ms Scanlon said: “That’s not true.”

Ms Scanlon replied: “It is true – you are just embarrassed because I would be too if I had a colleague like that.”

Supporters of the homeless in Carey Park stage a protest outside the Gold Coast City Council chambers on council’s tough compliance policy.

When a Government MP interjected, Ms Scanlon challenged them saying they were laughing about Mr Stevens wanting to put homeless people in jail.

“They are right now sitting on a homelessness review that has a whole range of recommendations that homeless organisations contributed to and they are keeping it secret,” she said.

Earlier in April, a homeless group in Carey Park wrote to the Gold Coast City Council asking that they put a stay on evicting them and conduct a review that considered their human rights.

Gaven MP and Opposition frontbencher Meaghan Scanlon in State Parliament challenging the Government on its homeless policies. Picture: NewsWire/Tertius Pickard.

The letter from the Southport Community of People Experiencing Homelessness said council may have been breaching human rights legislation by issuing eviction notices and nominated three instances.

“We are writing to raise a formal human rights concern regarding the recent eviction notice from Carey Park. We are a group of individuals who are experiencing homelessness,” the letter said.

It said that under the Human Rights Act, individuals share a right to “recognition and equality before the law” but they were being treated unfairly “due to our housing status”.

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Originally published as Veteran MP Ray Stevens wants tougher police powers after homeless have sex in park toilet