Editorial: State, federal governments show ineptitude over Pinkenba housing solution

Many Queenslanders will be both baffled and disappointed by the decision to hand the Pinkenba Covid quarantine facility over as a police training facility instead of using it to house the homeless.

Many Queenslanders will be both baffled and disappointed by the decision to hand the Pinkenba Covid quarantine facility over to the Australian Federal Police instead of using it to house the homeless.

The 500-bed facility appears, in the minds of many Queenslanders, to be a ready-made solution to at least part of a growing homeless problem now manifesting itself in the tent cities springing up in our suburban parks.

But the state and federal governments could not get it together and make it happen.

Their ineptitude and inability to communicate with each other effectively is laid bare in the revelation that state Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon spent $550,000 on an independent report on the proposal which was handed to her federal counterparts just days before they pulled the pin.

People are angry. And rightly so.

Pinkenba Quarantine Facility. Source: Brisbane City Council.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has been, to his credit, at the front line of the homelessness crisis for these past two years.

It was Mr Schrinner who first suggested the centre be used for emergency accommodation, and it was Mr Schrinner who yesterday gave voice to many Queenslanders’ thoughts when he called the decision heartbreaking.

“This is a really demoralising decision for the hundreds and hundreds of people that are living in tents and cars,” he said. “I’m just devastated.’’

The decision is also a setback for Ms Scanlon who was preparing to pour $10m into transforming the facility into a suitable temporary home for hundreds of desperate Queenslanders.

Yet Premier Steven Miles appeared somewhat philosophical about the situation yesterday, declaring the federal government could do as it pleased with the facility, given it owns it.

“We didn’t think this was a good site for a quarantine facility,’’ he said.

“And for some of the same reasons, it’s not an ideal site for a housing facility.’’

The reality is there will be no “ideal’’ site for such a housing facility.

Homeowners across the state, regardless of their concern for the homeless, are likely to object if a facility to house the homeless is mooted for their suburb.

Yet this housing crisis and these tent cities, which only a couple of years ago appeared to be more a symbol of economic collapse in American cities, are not going to disappear anytime soon.

Tents being used by the homeless in a park at Rothwell, north of Brisbane. Picture: Dan Peled / NCA NewsWire

Mr Miles may have boldly declared a few weeks ago he would ensure that he would keep a roof over every Queenslanders’ head.

But in reality, his own electorate of Murrumba is host to a tent city where the population keeps growing.

This Pinkenba facility, newly built, could have offered a safe, clean and well-regulated site for individuals and families desperately in need of shelter.

There are now many among them who are in full-time employment. Heartbreakingly, many also have children who are also forced to live on the streets.

Many of these fellow Queenslanders would need only a brief respite in a safe and secure environment before getting back into long-term, mainstream accommodation.

As state Opposition Leader David Crisafulli says, this sudden evaporation of a possible solution to their plight does seem cruel – and to many, absolutely senseless.

SUPPORT FOR DUTTON FIRMS IN QUEENSLAND

Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s fortunes are on the rise, at least in Queensland.

A new YouGov poll, published in today’s Courier Mail, shows Queenslanders now believe, for the first time, that Mr Dutton would make a better PM than Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

It’s a pivotal moment for Mr Dutton, the ex-cop with the hard man persona who continues to struggle with an image problem across the wider Australian electorate, especially among women voters.

This result will buoy Mr Dutton’s mood, particularly the results in regional Queensland where he is well ahead. He will know that to win the federal election he’ll need to do much more than winning in Queensland, however the strong result will mean Mr Albanese will struggle to make up critical ground from expected losses in other states. Indeed, none of it bodes well for Mr Albanese, whose party holds just five seats in this state.

The result further suggests that the Sunshine State will be the focus of a flurry of attention in the months ahead.

We’ve already had Mr Albanese come courting, with five recent prime ministerial visits across four consecutive weeks.

And that’s no bad thing, especially if it translates into large slices of federal funding for the Sunshine State.