Homeless Mayor of Martin Place expecting 12th child
HE’S dubbed the Mayor of Martin Place, whose platform is fighting for Sydney’s homeless. Now Lanz Priestly is expecting his 12th child, having sold his eastern suburbs home to support his 11 offspring.
NSW
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THE man who helped organise a squat of Martin Place has been revealed as a father of 11 from New Zealand.
Lanz Priestly, whose partner Nina Wilson, 20, is expecting his 12th child within weeks, has been dubbed the Mayor of Martin Place after sealing hotel spots for displaced campers.
Mr Priestley, a self-taught project manager and crusader originally from Wellington, first set up camp in the financial heart of Sydney in 1991 with the aim of getting under politicians’ noses to underline Australia’s homelessness problem.
Mr Priestley sold his own home in eastern suburbs 20 years ago so he could give his own children, the eldest 47 years old, deposits to buy houses.
He lives six months on the streets, six months couch surfing and is expecting a little girl to join his campaigning effort with his latest partner Nina, from Nowra.
“Getting the campers into hotels and long-term housing is a partial victory but it’s nowhere near a long term solution,” he told the Daily Telegraph.
“This is about getting people off the streets for good so that our grandchildren don’t have to go through what we have.
The Daily Telegraph revealed today taxpayers are forking out thousands of dollars to house homeless people in four-star hotels and hostels after they were kicked out of the financial heart of Sydney to clear the way for a multimillion-dollar skyscraper.
Officers from the Department of Family and Community Services and NSW Housing have moved to temporarily house more than 100 members of the now dismantled Martin Place camp in the four-star, $174-per-night Ibis hotel overlooking Darling Harbour, as well as in other hotels, hostels and motels in the city.
Despite the camp being shifted on Saturday, a gaggle of homeless people are still sleeping rough on the pedestrian mall outside the Reserve Bank building, where a 24-hour soup kitchen operate
“Homelessness doesn’t have a postcode,” Mr Priestley said.
“It’s Australia wide and while Pru (Goward) might look out of her office and see us making a mess in Martin Place, but she can’t ignore us.
“I’m not a mayor, in my culture we don’t leave people in the street. We help the destitute.”
Mr Priestley, a leader of the Occupy Sydney movement, was arrested for camping and staying overnight in Martin Place in December 2011.
He got off after his high profile criminal barrister Peter Lavac argued at Downing Centre Court that his arrest was unlawful given the fact that he was not occupying a tent or similar structure when arrested and therefore was not “staying overnight”.
He has set up squats in cities around the world including London and Brazil.
“They used to last up to 16 years but now you get moved on in three months,” he said.
“Squatting is passé, now we head into the financial districts to make a point.”
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