‘It’s sad every day’: No cash to reopen languishing Cairns shelter
The future of an unused but desperately needed 40-bed homeless shelter is unclear as authorities move to outline why the Parramatta Park facility lies boarded up and languishing.
Cairns
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UPDATE: THE future of an unused but desperately needed 40-bed homeless shelter is unclear as authorities move to outline why the Parramatta Park facility lies boarded up and languishing.
The shutdown of the Quigley St facility coincided with the introduction of Covid social distancing mandates.
The centre, set up as a dormitory, was deemed not fit for purpose and closed in 2020.
Funding used to run the shelter was transferred into a former youth accommodation centre at Martyn St that was repurposed as a homeless shelter following a Cape York exodus in the immediate aftermath of the Aurukun riots in 2020.
Anglicare North Queensland chief executive officer Liz Colahan said the state government owned the Quigley St property and a “caretaker” lease arrangement meant the service provider was effectively in a holding pattern.
“Anglicare doesn’t think it’s acceptable that it just continues to sit vacant,” she said.
“It’s a real challenge for us. We had to board it up in order to keep people out because of the safety issue.
“The block is the money … I’d love to say that Anglicare had the operational dollars to start again tomorrow (but) we don’t and that’s the reality of it.”
In a cruel twist homeless people desperate for a roof over their heads have been breaking into the Quigley St shelter to sleep.
“It’s sad every day,” Ms Colahan said.
Vandalism and unsupervised stays had contributed a hefty damage bill at Quigley St but Ms Colahan was coy about how much money was needed to get the facility running.
“That’s really hard. There has been a lot of damage there … I couldn’t even throw a ballpark figure,” she said.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Minister Craig Crawford denied the ailing shelter was a failure of government that had been labelled a “bloody disgrace” by Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch.
“Quigley St needed to come to a better facility. We couldn’t do it there,” he said.
Mr Crawford said future options for the shelter included selling the property and reinvesting funds elsewhere and running it as an extension of the Lyons St diversionary centre aimed at keeping drunks out of the Cairns watch house.
EARLIER: DESPITE a homelessness crisis gripping the Far North, the state government has no plans to open a 40-bed homeless shelter that has been boarded up since early 2020.
Anglicare was running the Quigley St Night Shelter, but the Parramatta Park facility is boarded up, locked and neglected.
Federal MP for Leichhardt Warren Entsch slammed the state government for not funding the disused shelter in its state budget.
“It’s a bloody disgrace,” he said.
“There’s no money for the homeless – we’ve got all these homeless people on the street with nowhere to sleep and the state government owns this asset.
“The state government is absolutely totally inflexible and there is a need for crisis accommodation, there is a chronic shortage of any sort of emergency beds in our city.
“Anglicare do a great job but how can they work on something when it needs money – I was hoping something might have come out in the state budget, but it hasn’t, and it’s bloody appalling.”
Asked why the shelter was shut down and what plans for it were, State MP for Cairns Michael Healy said the housing department had “leased more appropriate accommodation in Manunda as an alternative to the Quigley St facility during the Covid pandemic”.
He said the government would liaise with Anglicare to explore potential alternative uses for Quigley St.
Mr Healy said other premises in Manunda were leased – a 38-bed facility with ensuites and recreation spaces, managed by Anglicare NQ.
A spokesman for Housing Minister Leeanne Enoch provided an identical response to that of Mr Healy.
Queensland Housing data reveals 2340 people on the social housing register and 5750 clients registered for specialist homelessness services throughout the Cairns region.
Anglicare NQ says on its website the Quigley St shelter provides safe crisis emergency accommodation with one nutritious evening meal and breakfast included in the stay, has a case manager to help people into sustainable housing and hosts activities for clients to develop living skills.
Anglicare North Queensland has called for homeowners to flip holiday and Airbnb properties into long-term rentals and convert vacant commercial tenancies in the CBD into residential dwellings.
Cairns Chamber of Commerce has met with council and welfare bodies to explore the idea of pop-up accommodation in spaces such as car parks and empty buildings.
Plea for long-term accommodation.
HOMELESSNESS services are feeling the loss of the Quigley St shelter because there is nowhere to refer people for one-nightstays when they turn up needing a bed.
Cairns Housing and Homelessness Network chair Sally Watson said there was some capacity to put people in hotels.
“But there are not enough resources to fund the hotel rooms needed, and hotel rooms do not suit some of the people who used to rely on Quigley St,” Ms Watson said.
Demand exceeds supply at the women’s shelter.
There aren’t enough beds at two youth shelters in the city and no other safe options for young people.
“We want to make clear that more crisis beds will not solve the serious housing crisis we face right now in Cairns,” Ms Watson said.
“Even if we can give people a bed for the night, where can they really live long term – how can they engage in education, training or employment?”
She said it was difficult for people to have stability and protect children if they were relying on crisis beds.
Ms Watson is lobbying for Cairns to have a Youth Foyer – a new model that offers stable accommodation for those aged 16-24for up to two years, with mentoring and education.
She said Youth Foyers had been established at the Gold Coast, Logan and Townsville with state government support.
“We firmly believe Cairns also ought to have one,” Ms Watson said.
Youth Foyers aim to reduce the number of young people cycling through the homelessness system, increase the number of vulnerable youths completing education and increase the number productively employed.
WHERE TO GO
THERE are four crisis accommodation shelters in Cairns, including the Anglicare NQ-runSt John’s at Manunda, for men aged from 15 to 25, and St Margaret’s at Earlville, for women aged 15 to 25.
Ruth’s Women’s Shelter and Warringu Women’s Shelter operate for women and children escaping domestic violence.
The Quigley St Night Shelter operates for single men and women of any age. There are other homelessness services in Cairns but they do not necessarily offer emergency stays.
Mission Australia runs Douglas House in Grafton St, for singles and couples.
The Salvation Army has the facility known as Centennial Lodge for families and singles on Sheridan St in Cairns North.
There is a St Vincent De Paul shelter for families with children and for men aged over 18 in Parramatta Park.
SHAC offers temporary supported accommodation for families with children and Youthlink at Parramatta Park offers medium and transitional supported accommodation.
The Homeless Hotline number is 1800 474 753. Mission Australia’s Street to Home and Going Places for families and singles can be contacted on 4037 2800. SHAC can be contacted on 4080 7400.
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Originally published as ‘It’s sad every day’: No cash to reopen languishing Cairns shelter
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