Housing crisis laid bare in Bundaberg, Fraser Coast, Gympie courts

As the housing crisis and skyrocketing cost of living worsens for communities in the Wide Bay, where incomes were already lower and unemployment higher, the desperation of local men and women is now being laid bare in the region’s courts.

The region’s growing homeless crisis is now playing out regularly in the court system as more and more desperate men and women break the law to cover basic needs.

In Bundaberg, as in many parts of the country, more families and individuals are now living in tents and caravans in parks and on the streets.

News Corp’s Bundaberg NewsMail has been campaigning in 2022 to highlight the plight of our homeless, to stop the issue from being swept under the carpet and for our elected governments at all levels to stop passing the buck, and work together to resolve or at least ease this crisis.

The lack of support services to the newly desperate and vulnerable led to David Wilson appearing in court after he was charged with public nuisance offence.

Bundaberg Magistrates Court heard his homelessness impacted access to regular medication and health services which led to a mental health breakdown.

Wilson was seen and heard yelling abuse at nothing in particular around the Bundaberg train station which caused concerned residents to call the police.

The desperation of homeless Wide Bay residents has played out in court. (From left, Gina Margaret Rose Boyton, Nelson Fujita Palmer and Christopher Myles).

Another Bundaberg man, Christopher Myles, pleaded guilty to trespass offences after he jumped a fence to access a local business’ bathroom to find somewhere dry and warm to sleep for himself and a friend.

Police were called to the scene after a concerned resident feared for her safety when she saw the man jump the fence.

Officers arrived to find the two men sleeping in the bathroom.

A second charge for Myles also stemmed from his unfortunate housing situation when he was stopped by police while riding his bike.

The police searched his backpack, and found a pocket knife he used to eat and open food packets with.

The court heard that in previous cases he had been told by the police to place the knife in the very bottom of his bag, or it was ignored completely.

The struggle for safe and accessible housing also led 19-year-old homeless Bundaberg woman Cynthia Rowe to break into a car in the hopes of being able to sleep without being harassed.

She pleaded guilty to one count each of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, after she broke into two separate cars.

The court heard Rowe entered a car park and climbed into an unlocked Daewoo, which had the keys hidden under a mat in the car.

Rowe had broken into the first in the hopes of finding some money, and stole $2.75 in change and bank cards.

The court heard she broke into the second car because she needed a place to sleep.

Her inability to find secure housing or support services meant she was unable to care for her two young children.

Courts across the Wide Bay are hearing similar tales.

In Gympie, a homeless man landed in court for lighting a fire to keep warm.

Nelson Fujita Palmer, 28, fronted the Gympie District Court which heard he was travelling north to Cairns along the Bruce Hwy after his brother kicked him out of the Ipswich home they shared.

On the night of the fire, Palmer was travelling from Gympie to Maryborough when he got lost.

He decided to camp for the night, and used a BIC lighter to set a patch of grass on fire in hopes of starting a campfire.

The fire getting out his control and spread across 2ha of bushland.

A resident less than 100m away from the scene noticed the fire and called firefighters, who arrived and put it out.

On the Fraser Coast, Gina Margaret Rose Boyton, 58, appeared in Maryborough Magistrates Court pleading guilty to two trespass charges and wilful damage.

The court heard on a day between November 26, 2021, and December 4, 2021, Boyton had slept in a cubby house in the backyard of a Maryborough home.

It also heard Boyton had sought refuge in a caravan on another day.

On December 26, 2021, a person had parked their caravan on the side of the road on Bazaar Street in Maryborough, and left as the van had some damage and could not be towed.

CCTV footage captured Boyton leaving the caravan.

Defence lawyer Morgan Harris said his client was homeless at the time, and was looking for a place to spend the night.

The impact of arresting and punishing these vulnerable people is to perpetuate the cycle or make it worse.

Originally published as Housing crisis laid bare in Bundaberg, Fraser Coast, Gympie courts