Luke Quinn, 36, has been sleeping rough on the Gold Coast for six years, moved on by council rangers up to eight times. He now hides on state-owned land to avoid patrols, but fears even that refuge may soon vanish as the state government negotiates to expand enforcement onto its own property.
Gold Coast Council is in talks with the Department of Transport and Main Roads to allow rangers to clear homeless people from state land, with the state covering the full cost. Advocates warn this would deny vulnerable people one of the last safe spaces near services, creating a 'monstrous catch-22'.
Dianne Kozik, general manager of St John’s Crisis Centre, said her service had directed clients to state land like the beachfront to stay close to support. 'Where does the human go?' she asked, as the council confirmed the agreement is purely about compliance, not welfare or housing.
Meanwhile, Queensland’s Liberal National government has tightened housing assistance eligibility. A three-strikes policy bans tenants from social housing and state-funded temporary accommodation if they breach tenancy rules three times in a year. By March, 84 public housing tenants had been evicted, 495 warned, and 34 banned for two years.
University of Queensland professor Cameron Parsell said the policy punishes people for the very reasons they need help—drug use, mental illness, trauma—leading to evictions and further homelessness. 'That is a real clear systems failure,' he said, noting that those evicted are now also being moved on from parks, as seen in Brisbane’s Musgrave Park in February.
