Eviction chaos as police and council clear Carey Park camp

Police and council workers have arrived at the Carey Park tent city in Southport in a bid to evict remaining campers.

The Carey Park tent city has been cleared after a major crackdown by council backed by police.

All of the homeless living in one of the established tent sites areas inside the park were packing up and leaving as of late on Tuesday afternoon.

Several police and council staffers were watching as tents were packed up.

City officers backed up by police began removing abandoned tents and placing them on council trucks just before midday.

City council workers at the Carey Park tent city in Southport, on June 17, 2025, as eviction notices given to the homeless.

Homeless supporters and some of the longer term campers showed this masthead eviction notices which gave them two hours to remove their belongings.

Camp leader Matangirau “Uncz” Hira said he believed 20 to 30 people would have to remove about 25 tents from the park fronting the Broadwater Parklands.

The biggest previous crackdown was in late May when 14 tents were removed, but campers soon returned to the site.

The work notice issued by council on Tuesday said the rough sleepers had failed to comply with the law and risked having their belongings impounded.

Those belongings would be held for 28 days, then disposed of unless the owner returned to get them. They would then have to pay costs.

Mr Hira said many of the campers did not feel safe moving back into the streets of the CBD or further north at Labrador. He admitted they were anxious, and some were emotional saying their goodbyes to camp-mates.

The view from the roadside, on June 17, 2025, before homeless are evicted from the Carey Park tent city in Southport.

He said up to three people were arriving in the camp each night. One of the newcomers had been bashed at Australia Fair late on Monday night before going to the camp.

“He was cleaning up the previous tenant’s mess, all their needles. Someone whacked him in the back of his head,” Mr Hira said.

“They knocked him out for 15 minutes. He’s in hospital. He was in shock. The guy who hit him had been staying with him the two previous nights.”

Mr Hira said he was waiting to watch over rough sleepers before deciding where he would relocate for the night.

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Originally published as Eviction chaos as police and council clear Carey Park camp