Tents in busy Brisbane intersection just one part of crisis, advocates say

A new cluster of tents in a Brisbane CBD intersection has prompted renewed calls for the state government to invest in long-term housing solutions as the city’s homeless population grows.

The tents in E.E. McCormick Place, a grassed park between Roma Street, Eagle Terrace and North Quay just before the William Jolly Bridge, were erected about two weeks ago.

Tents have appeared in one of the city’s busiest intersections, opposite the Roma Street Fire Station just before the William Jolly Bridge.Credit: Courtney Kruk

Northwest Community Group founder Paul Slater said he was asked to provide a tent for a woman who had been sleeping on a bench near the park for two months.

This prompted a couple to set up similar accommodation in the area.

The woman had since been moved into short-term accommodation, but Slater said this was part of the problem.

“Hotels are not suitable environments for a lot of people,” he said.

“People get moved into hotels for a few weeks, and they don’t receive any support [and] often they’re not told where they’re going afterwards.

“Sometimes there are days between one hotel stay and another – so where are people supposed to go?”

Micah Projects chief executive Karyn Walsh said short-term accommodation did not suit everyone, but would continue to be offered.

“At the moment, there just isn’t enough of anything to meet the demand,” she said.

“Until there’s more supply of affordable rentals, social housing and supportive housing … you’ve got to respond to people’s immediate needs.”

Tents alongside the Brisbane River near Kurilpa Point.Credit: Tony Moore

Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS) chief executive Aimee McVeigh said the increase in tents across Brisbane city and elsewhere in the state was a clear indicator of the housing crisis, and pushed for a stronger focus on “actual solutions”.

“The housing crisis is impacting all kinds of Queenslanders,” McVeigh said.

“Working families, single mums with children, people escaping domestic violence and, of course, also people with mental health issues, disabilities, chronic health issues and alcohol and drug issues.

“We need different responses for different groups of people [which is why] we have been calling on the government to commit 10 per cent of the new social housing bill to [include] supported housing.”

Supportive housing models such as Common Ground in South Brisbane are designed for people who have experienced long or recurring homelessness, live on low incomes, or have struggled to secure long-term housing.

Queensland Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon spoke about the tents in McCormick Place in Parliament on Wednesday, saying her department was committed to offering accommodation to anyone experiencing homelessness.

“While one person accepted, I am advised that the other people have chosen not to take up that offer,” she said.

Scanlon said the government was hoping to buy more properties to convert into housing, and would redirect the $10 million set aside for the failed Pinkenba facility towards more emergency and crisis accommodation.

The government told this masthead that specialist homelessness services and housing service centres had provided 9,901 nights of temporary accommodation in the last three months of 2023, and 16,178 nights in the first three months of this year.

Given the present shortage of both long and short-term accommodation, advocates expect people will continue camping in public parks for the foreseeable future.

Across the river at Musgrave Park, about 40 tents have returned, just a few months after they were cleared for the Paniyiri Greek Festival and the campers moved into temporary accommodation.

Slater said many were provided by his organisation.

“Every day new people are coming to me and asking for tents or support,” he said.

“The system is just so broken.”