Mob rule as leaders go missing in action on homeless crisis

THE squalid camp of beggars and rough sleepers blighting Flinders St station has continued to fester as police, the council and the State Government pass the buck over who should fix the mess.

• Homeless camp engulfs Australian Open’s main Melbourne gateway
• Shocked tourists feel unsafe around station

THE squalid camp of beggars and rough sleepers blighting Flinders St station continued to fester on Wednesday as police, the city council and the State Government passed the buck over who should fix the mess.

Neither Premier Daniel Andrews, Lord Mayor Robert Doyle nor Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton stepped up to lead Melbourne out of its escalating crisis of homelessness.

Instead, apparently hamstrung authorities indulged in empty rhetoric, allowing the camp littered with dirty bedding, food scraps and drug paraphernalia to remain, despite Victorians’ pleas for action.

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Police speak to a woman who lashed out at reporters outside Flinders St station. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle. Picture: Josie Hayden

On Wednesday, as tourists passed through the railway station on their way to visit the Australian Open tennis and other city attractions, at least 20 people were still camping outside. They included an aggressive shirtless man who urinated in public despite a nearby public toilet.

A day after the Herald Sun highlighted the problem, Cr Doyle said he was frustrated but council’s ability to clear the streets was limited.

“We don’t have any move-on powers and neither do the police, so you can’t physically do it,” he said.

“If people are obstructing the footpath, that is something we can remove. But then they’ll just move back again,” he said.

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A game with an Australian Open ball breaks out. Picture: Nicole Garmston

The hard questions.

Cr Doyle said it was up to police to seek more powers, if necessary.

Council’s strategy was a longer-term “assertive outreach” to get people housing and health services.

The Premier refused to answer questions about the crisis on Wednesday — but managed to post Facebook updates including a joke on the Montague Street bridge and a back-to-kindergarten checklist.

Superintendent David Clayton said: “We have no power to move people who are not committing offences. It’s not a very good look … at Flinders St, but it’s not an offence to sit or sleep on the street.”

He said police could act if a by-law banned camping on the street.

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Homeless people outside Flinders St station. Picture: Mark Stewart

Homeless people camped outside Flinders St station as people walk past. Picture: Mark Stewart

Supt Clayton said: “We are willing to assist council to enforce that (ban) at any time, if they were to consider that was what the community and council required.”

He said another problem was the failure of state laws to keep up with the rising use on the street of synthetic drugs — a concern echoed by the Lord Mayor.

But Acting Premier James Merlino denied police lacked the power to move people on.

“Victoria Police have the powers that they need under the Summary Offences Act.

“So whether it’s vagrancy, whether it’s obstruction of footpaths, whether it’s trespass, Victoria Police have the power to move people on. So that’s an important point,” Mr Merlino said.

But shadow attorney-general John Pesutto said the government had limited police options by dumping the former Coalition government’s tough move-on laws.

“They (the repealed laws) certainly could have been used by Victoria Police in the face of a growing number of rough sleepers occupying our streets, and using and dealing in drugs in front of our very eyes,” Mr Pesutto said.

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Social service officers offer help rough sleepers outside Flinders Ststation. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Greens state MP for Melbourne Ellen Sandell said shifting the Flinders St camp would not work.

“If there’s nowhere to move them to because of a lack of homeless shelters and affordable housing, then it clearly won’t work and people will keep coming back,’’ Ms Sandell said.

Chief executives of 36 agencies working with the homeless said in an letter that being poor and homeless wasn’t illegal, and drastic action was needed to address a “national housing crisis”.

“We will never solve poverty and homelessness by moving people on, or by putting them in crisis accommodation for a few weeks,” their open letter said.

The CEOs of groups such as the Melbourne City Mission, Jesuit Social Services and the Salvation Army also urged against the vilification of rough sleepers.

“(It) does not help them.

“Splashing the faces of people in crisis in the (news)paper only further stigmatises and isolates them, and fuels public fear and resentment,” they said.

— with Tom Minear

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@JMasanauskas