OUTRAGE OVER HOMELESS VETS
COMMUNITY leaders are calling on the Federal Government to step in and provide urgent funding to fix an unfolding homeless veterans crisis in Townsville.
Yesterday, the Townsville Bulletin revealed a group of about eight veterans were living in a bush camp cut off from society.
The group’s story is one of many, with Kennedy MP Bob Katter saying he also knew of homeless veterans sleeping rough in the Charters Towers region.
“I am very pleased this has been raised in the public arena and it will not go away,” Mr Katter told the Bulletin yesterday.
“I’ve seen it again and again, I know one of them and I’ve tried to call at least 20 times recently and no one knows where he is.
“He’s not in a very good state of mind.”
Mr Katter said he was outraged by the “lack of action” by the Government and would be using the balance of power in the Senate, with allies like Senator Jacqui Lambie, to raise the issue.
“I’ve got Jacqui Lambie who has agreed to come up and she will unleash hell on what’s happening with the veteran community here,” he said.
“I don’t care what (the Department of Veterans’ Affairs) says, they’re given hundreds of millions of dollars by the people of Australia to look after these people and they better come back with action. I have called on a number of occasions for the abolition of DVA – all I know is the job is not even remotely getting done.”
Peter Hindle, of veterans’ emergency accommodation centre Zac’s Place, said with help from the Government the service could all but eradicate veteran homelessness in Townsville.
“For years I’ve been saying we need a new Zac’s Place because even if we had another 10 rooms we’d fill those,” he said.
“If the DVA wanted to get serious they’d give us a million dollars to help out. The Government can do this, they just need to step up.”
Herbert MP Phillip Thompson said homelessness services were primarily a state issue to manage.
“We provide $319 million to the State Government for homelessness so it’s clear we need to be doing more and find out how much is being used in North Queensland,” he said.
“One homeless person is too much. It’s not good enough there’s veterans living this way.”
The Department of Veterans and Defence Personnel doesn’t offer housing support. However, Minister Darren Chester said $11.5 billion would go towards supporting a “range of services” for veterans and dependants.
“In Townsville, The Oasis Centre will receive $5 million to facilitate and enable integrated support for veterans and their families, and provide access to services responsive to local needs and opportunities,” he said.
“Part of the Government’s response is to ensure these factors are mitigated, before veterans and their families find themselves at risk of being homeless.”