Latest news with #PaulSlater
NZ Herald
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
‘RunIt' events under fire after tragedy highlights risks
Participants in a Runit event held in West Auckland. Photo / Mike Scott; Artist / Paul Slater THREE KEY FACTS On the Friday nights of my preteen years, you would find me in front of the TV watching wrestling. Repeating the line, 'don't try this at home' as I leapt from the couch, dropping my best impression of a People's Elbow on to my unsuspecting little brother.
NZ Herald
20-05-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Budget 2025: Govt spending needs to fund communities, not corporate greed
Marama Davidson says her Green Party's alternative Budget invests in people over profits to build a fairer Aotearoa. Illustration / Paul Slater A better world is possible and we make no apology for trying to build it. When we launched our Green Budget, we knew there would be people out there, like our CEO Prime Minister, who would rather sling insults and half-baked hot takes than engage in the substance. We must
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Waterfront photo highlights sad reality for Aussies: 'People will do anything'
As the federal election looms, Australia's housing crisis is at the forefront of voters' minds, with many calling for urgent action on the rising price of homes and the shortage of available properties. In 2025, rental prices remain dizzyingly high. And although in February the national vacancy rate rose to 1.3 per cent, up from 1.0 per cent in January, they're still well below the three per cent threshold typically indicative of a balanced market. This week in Queensland, a shocking video surfaced online, capturing an individual's camp in quite an unexpected location — on a body of water at the Gold Coast. The footage, filmed in Surfers Paradise, shows a tent suspended by rope and supported by two paddleboards, floating on the Nerang River. It sparked widespread concern among responders, with some saying they were "struggling to process" the sad scene. "This is what the housing crisis has come to," one person replied. "People will do anything when there is a lack of funds and care," another said. "There is no affordable housing available in this country," a third wrote. Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, a spokesperson for the City of Gold Coast council said its officers had referred the matter to the Department of Housing and local welfare services, which are equipped to provide proper support. "The City does not provide any direct housing or welfare services," they said. Across the country, it's far from uncommon for Australians to resort to sleeping in tents — though more so on a body of water — with a lack of available resources forcing people to take drastic action. Paul Slater, who runs the Northwest Community Group and manages a makeshift "tent city" in Musgrave Park, in Brisbane's south, said he's struggling to keep up with the enormous demand for his services. Paul gets dozens of messages every week from those seeking help and has supplied over 500 tents to battling Australians last year alone. He said within the last couple of decades, there's been an "absolute failure on all levels of government" when it comes to social housing. "It's clear we're in an emergency," he earlier told Yahoo. "I've got people calling me multiple times per day, sleeping on concrete with nowhere to go. "I've got one lady... she's been searching every day for rentals. She's been to 100 inspections and can't get anywhere within her budget for her and her two children. She's not getting any support, and she has two weeks until she's homeless. "I got a call last night from another woman out at Redcliffe who's sleeping in her car with three children, 8, 10, and 14 — three girls. She's been sleeping in her CAR." Despite this, homeless people in Brisbane's tent cities were earlier this year given 24 hours to pack up their things and leave, amid a crackdown on temporary housing on public land. The move was announced by Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner in mid-March, stating the public had raised concerns about the safety of people sleeping on public land, particularly at Musgrave Park. Real estate agent's 'disgusting' post highlights dark problem in Australia Rough sleepers in tent city face uncertainty as upcoming festival threatens community Wild weather exposes 'real problem' struggling Aussies living in tents face The idea sparked widespread condemnation, with Gabba Ward councillor Trina Massey branding the decision "cruel and hypocritical". "The Lord Mayor's cruel and opportunistic stance, criminalising homelessness just days after vulnerable communities were exposed to severe weather, does nothing to support those facing domestic violence, substance abuse or others falling through the cracks," she said. And tent living is not just a Queensland issue, with similar "cities" popping up right across Australia due to a shortage of adequate accommodation. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
The Guardian
13-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Brisbane council accused of ‘cruel and ‘heartless' crackdown on homeless in wake of Cyclone Alfred
For a year and a half, Paul Slater has helped provide homeless Brisbane residents a place to live. He's handed out hundreds of tents; during the city's worst housing crisis in living memory, they've proven a residence of last resort for many. On Thursday, Slater, the head of North West Community Group, was threatened with a fine by Brisbane city council if he persisted. 'The council has essentially told me that I had 24 hours to remove the tents from Musgrave Park, and that I'm not allowed to put tents on public land any more, and that they would be enforcing the laws, which allow them to fine up to $8,000 for putting tents up,' Slater says. 'They're trying to make it illegal to be homeless, which is the same thing that the Moreton council have done.' In the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Alfred, Brisbane city council on Thursday announced a plan to crack down on rough sleepers, asking police to 'ensure anyone living in a park who has refused accommodation is moved on within 24 hours'. The lord mayor, Adrian Schrinner, said the council would also 'remove unused empty tents'. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email He's not the first; a similar crackdown by the City of Moreton Bay went into effect on Wednesday. Schrinner said his action came in response to reports 'people who are homeless by choice' are planning to 'pour into Brisbane' from Moreton Bay. Condemnation was swift. The Greens called it 'cruel and hypocritical'. The Labor council opposition said it was 'heartless'. In Melbourne, another council is considering the same hardline approach to homelessness. The City of Port Phillip, which spans a number of inner Melbourne suburbs including beachside St Kilda, voted last week to investigate changing local laws to prohibit people from sleeping rough on council land. It said the move came in response to pressure by residents complaining about antisocial behaviour. Laura Mahoney, executive director of homelessness solutions and impact at Launch Housing, told Guardian Australia that on any given day it had about 800 people across metropolitan Melbourne waiting for a bed in crisis supported accommodation. Peter McGrath, the Salvation Army's state manager of homelessness in Victoria, says Port Phillip council's decision to investigate changing laws will be a 'costly exercise' that will 'cause more harm than good'. McGrath warned that resources required to enforce the laws, including police and the state's magistrates court, would only divert resources away from more serious matters. Crystel, a First Nations woman residing in Launch Housing's 15-bed supported crisis accommodation in St Kilda, has spent stints sleeping rough in Melbourne. 'Everybody who is homeless has suffered some sort of trauma … Now they've got the council looking down on them,' she says of the City of Port Phillips potential move. 'It's kicking someone when they're already down. 'I don't think it's right. It's not right at all.' As Tropical Cyclone Alfred bore down on south-east Queensland, hundreds of homeless people abandoned their tents, taking shelter in temporary evacuation centres. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The government has repeatedly claimed that all homeless people taking shelter were offered emergency accommodation in the meantime. That appears to be incorrect. In at least one case, housing staff never attended a centre at all, Guardian Australia has been told. Some of the shelters closed before the rain even stopped. Schrinner has used the incorrect claim to suggest that 'people are living in parks, in tents by choice'. Only those people will be targeted by the crackdown, he has said. He says all council is doing is asking North West Community Group not to put up any more tents, and that council has instructed staff not to threaten homeless people with fines. 'What council can do is we can make sure that there are no tents in parks, and so we'll give 24 hours notice, once we have a chance to talk to each individual, that the tents will be removed, and we will be removing those tents,' he says. The chief executive officer of Micah Projects, Karyn Walsh, says of about 261 people it registered as seeking accommodation during the cyclone, 146 have been denied it due to a lack of identification. Another 44 with identification are still waiting for accommodation. A minority, only 71 people, have received accommodation, she says. 'People are still waiting because not everyone was offered accommodation.' Nourish Street founder Beau Haywood, who feeds street sleepers in Moreton Bay, says he has the names and phone numbers of 57 individuals who never received an offer. 'They've put their names down with housing multiple times. They engage with housing constantly, and they've not been offered a thing,' he says. For those who have refused, there are often good reasons, he says. One person he met was offered a home so far away he would have had to surrender his full-time job. Brisbane Youth Service CEO Pam Barker says 'homelessness is never a choice'. 'As of yesterday, there were no available safe options in temporary accommodation for young people in Brisbane,' she says. 'When safe options aren't available, young people are forced to find the least dangerous alternative – grouping together in public spaces, staying awake all night to avoid harm, or couch-surfing in unsafe environments that put them at high risk of exploitation and further trauma.' Barker said banning tents without providing an alternative only puts homeless kids in greater danger. Walsh is concerned about a race to the bottom, pushing them from one council to another, forcing each in turn to crack down. 'The race to the bottom is if we criminalise it, and Moreton Bay has said they're going to issue fines; Brisbane hasn't. We don't know whether that's true or whether there will be a consequence of fines,' she says. At last count, there were 47,820 people on Queensland's social housing waiting list. The average wait is two and a half years.
