‘Nowhere to go’: Rough sleepers removed as golf course work restarts
Rough sleepers have been evicted from the Adelaide Park Lands as work recommences on the North Adelaide Golf Course following a Federal Court verdict.
North Adelaide Golf Course redevelopment works recommenced on Thursday afternoon, just hours after Federal Court Judge Natalie Charlesworth dismissed claims that the $45 million project violated national environment and heritage laws.
Construction workers have fenced off John E Brown Park, where a new driving range is expected to be built as part of the new course.
Footage circulating on social media shows homeless people locked out of the North Adelaide park by security guards, leaving their tents and belongings inside.
Parklands protester Mij Tanith told InDaily that several rough sleepers were told by security guards to quickly retrieve belongings and were left with no alternative accommodation.
“They had nowhere to go. There were no emergency services set up for the men who were kicked out of the park,” Tanith said.
“We helped him set his tent up, gave him something to eat and a hot drink, and he spent the night, and he’s still there this morning.”
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Tanith said she advocated for another rough sleeper to retrieve his belongings at 11 pm after being denied by security, which led to SA Police being contacted to resolve the matter.
But a state government spokesperson said “every effort was made to engage respectfully, sensitively and with appropriate support” to assist people experiencing homelessness in John E Brown Park.
The spokesperson said Toward Home Alliance, the Department of Human Services and Salvation Army had engaged directly with people camping in the area in the week leading up to the court decision.
“When a number of people remained within the area, further engagement took place over the following days, including direct conversations about the possibility of upcoming works and the need to ensure the area could be managed safely,” the spokesperson said.
At a press conference this morning, State Development Minister Chris Picton said security guards at John E Brown Park had “a complex job to undertake” in moving rough sleepers.
“It sounds like with protesters and the Gum Leaf Alliance and all those sorts of people around, it was quite a tense situation. But ultimately, arrangements were put in place to make sure that somebody was able to get their belongings, and it’s certainly the government’s intention that people are treated with empathy through this process,” Picton said.
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“Obviously, we wanted to get on with the job. Obviously, we want to make sure that we deliver this project to South Australia.
“But in relation to homeless people on the site, there have been works that have been undertaken for many months, and particularly in the last week or so, with those people on the site to make sure that we could support them and make sure that they were safe.”
Last week, the Adelaide City Council declared a homelessness emergency across the CBD and North Adelaide, with councillors saying the city was experiencing “unacceptable levels” of homelessness and rough sleeping.
Latest numbers from the Adelaide Zero Project show that just in the city of Adelaide there are between 200 and 240 people now sleeping rough every night, camping in the park lands, sleeping in doorways or seeking out shelters.
Adelaide Park Lands Association president Mat Monti claimed he witnessed fences being put up at John E Brown Park less than an hour after the court judgment, saying it “encapsulates the priorities of this government”.
“This government had flatbed trucks full of temporary fencing headed into the park lands, had construction equipment moving in, workers on site, security on site, and I literally watched as some of these security and site staff asked homeless people to move on,” Monti said.
“We can’t spend enough money to fix homelessness in South Australia, but we can spend $45 million on a golf course.
“I think it’s pretty crystallising in that moment to see $45 million being used to move homeless people out of the parklands rather than find them a place to stay.”
Picton said the golf course upgrade would deliver economic benefits that would be used for homelessness services.
“We need to improve homeless resources. We invest over $10 billion a year into our health system, and at the same time, it is important to make sure that we attract major events like the Australian Open, which deliver economic benefits for our state, deliver more jobs, more tourism, so that we can get more revenue to pay for those other services as well,” he said.
“You have to do multiple things at the same time, and I think in the scheme of things, this is an investment which will pay off in spades for our economy, and ultimately make sure that the government’s in a position to be able to deliver better public services.”
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