TEARS BY THE SEA
Baby girl’s cries heard as she slept rough through winter cold Family known to authorities Two-year-old brother taken in after death
A BABY girl found dead on Surfers Paradise beach had been heard crying through the winter cold, sleeping homeless with her family just a short distance from the ocean. It can also be revealed the family were known to child safety authorities, who yesterday removed a two-year-old boy from their care as police tried to piece together how the tragedy unfolded. Shocked community members yesterday paid tribute to the girl, leaving a note “R.I.P little angel’, flowers and a soft toy at the scene.
THE toddler found dead on a Gold Coast beach spent her first months crying through this year’s winter cold, homeless in a park within walking distance of the heart of Surfers Paradise.
She slept on a wooden platform behind barbecues in Sydney Hamilton Family Park on Garfield Tce and was so close to the beach she could hear the ocean at night. Beside her were her father, 48, her mother, 23, and her two-yearold brother.
“They had blankets at that time but I would hear the newborn crying in the early hours of morning,” a Surfers Paradise resident told the Bulletin yesterday.
“Why was the baby left with the parents – just why?”
The distraught resident wrote to the Gold Coast City Council on May 18 fearing the worst: “I’m very concerned about the welfare of a young couple with a baby that have been sleeping on the wooden platform … They’ve been there the past three nights. Can you link them with some support please?”
Council staff replied five days later, apologised for the lateness and advised the “council was not the governing body for assistance”. Details for several agencies were provided.
“It is truly hoped this family has made contact with someone and found support,
especially with the chilly nights we have been experiencing,” the staff member wrote.
In the meantime a support worker from homeless services visited the family in the park but sources claim the parents refused to seek shelter. They knew where to get food handouts.
“The police came to the park early on a Saturday morning in June. They took the father and baby in a wagon,” the resident said.
“I called police to check the baby was not going to be released again with the family to sleep rough. A female services liaison officer from Surfers (Paradise) police said that Child Services were aware of the family’s situation but it was difficult to remove children and keep track when they are homeless.”
The baby’s father had been known to Gold Coast welfare service agencies and police for more than a year.
“I know they were living at Cascade Gardens (Broadbeach). We were feeding them before she had the baby,” a welfare services source said.
“He (the father) had accessed the service on and off over the years.
“He met this lady subsequently to that. It is thought they met in Victoria. “They relocated here. “He doesn’t usually live here. He calls in. They are transitory.”
An emergency services source revealed: “They’d been living in a car (at one stage). They had been referred to Child Safety. The department was managing them.”
When asked about the family’s plight, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk last night said she “wanted answers”.
“Queenslanders want answers,” she said.
Reverend Jon Brook, from Surfers Paradise Anglican Crisis Centre, said the number of homeless people living in the Glitter Strip’s tourism heart often shocked people.
“It’s there. I could take you to half-a-dozen squats a kilometre from here,” Rev Brook said.
“I’ve had people say they had no idea there’s homeless people. Unless they have a mental illness or an addiction, they are invisible.”
Police investigators yesterday were questioning the parents as they attempted to build a profile of the couple’s movements. They often moved from the border with NSW to Surfers Paradise, it is understood.
Just on the eastern edge of Sydney Hamilton Park, hidden in bush in the dunes, is a tent full of clothes and fishing gear but it is unclear if it was the family’s home.
The parents were found in Broadbeach after their toddler was found unresponsive “on the edge of the surf” opposite Staghorn Ave about 12.30am by a passerby.
Detective Inspector Marc Hogan, of Gold Coast CIB, confirmed the parents were “known to police”.
There were no visible signs of injury to the baby girl.
Police are looking at CCTV footage from Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach.
They have appealing to the public for any information about the couple.
No charges had been laid last night at the time of going to press.
THE POLICE CAME TO THE PARK EARLY ON A SATURDAY MORNING IN JUNE. THEY TOOK THE FATHER AND BABY IN A WAGON. I CALLED POLICE TO CHECK THE BABY WAS NOT GOING TO BE RELEASED AGAIN WITH THE FAMILY TO SLEEP ROUGH. CONCERNED RESIDENT