Song For The Homeless - Honest Broken Man

Song For The Homeless - Honest Broken Man - Cold out tonight

sent to us courtesy of :  The Loose Connections -an acoustic rock band from Dublin, Ireland ,making massive strides on the music front. Performing at electric picnic and much more! find out more here   or follow @TLCMusicpage on Twitter ... to be sure, to be sure...

Check out these blogs

http://mialovedotcom.blogspot.com/?zx=882bf94cb8d690f5 by @mialovedotcom 

SydneyHomeless

http://thehardestwayhome.com.au/ @nchristiana

Check out these blogs

http://mialovedotcom.blogspot.com/?zx=882bf94cb8d690f5

SydneyHomeless

http://thehardestwayhome.com.au/

Major Threats to Children Youth and Family

The tragedy which has become a pestilence to children families and communities in many Western and all Christian dominated countries in the last forty odd years is as insidious as a creeping rising damp in a dank basement.The destruction it has wrought in the last five decades makes the Haiti Earthquake seem like a single fatality car accident. The social consequences can be equated to ex South African President Thabo Mbekis controversial methods of dealing-or not-with aids- and the downstream consequences.


 The Major threat to children and families in Australia and First World Western Countries today is Church and Corporate instigated Government interference in community family and in particular, with children. There are many tentacles to Government interference or invasion. masquerades as Child Protection-and is anything but. The infamous Northern Territory Intervention, which masquerades as a response to the highly questionable "Little Children are Scared" Report, is at best repression, at worst, systemic genocide. The base report,constructed by a Northern Territory health worker and an ex Department of Public Prosecutions QC (a senior lawyer) might well be seen to serve the interests of those (and other) government departments.Its worth noting if only for the information of international readers that The Northern Territory is noted in Australia for its abhorrent treatment of aboriginals as second class citizens its high proportion of aboriginal prison inmates, and the beyond third world living conditions imposed on indigenous communities there.  But the then Coalition Federal Government, with bipartisan support from the now Labor Government, while spinning the lie that theirs was a response to "The Little Children are Scared", ignored over 90 of its recommendations. The Federal Government Northern Territory Intervention also sought perpetrators of alleged paedophilia exclusively among aboriginal people when the assertions of the base report were that perpetrators included aboriginal and non-aboriginal, and in particular mine workers.


 Since its implementation 3 years ago the Northern Territory Intervention has received widespread condemnation internationally yet enjoys the ongoing endorsement of Australian Government, opposition and the mainstream media. By and large the Australian public are prepared to let government do whatever they wish with aboriginals- "Who cares?". 


  Unsurprisingly, the federal Intervention has been short on successful outcomes- if the intent was to make a harmonious world for children. Instead,Northern Territory aboriginal children and families have become by and large powerless peons in a zoo monitored and manipulated by hostile anglo trained zealots whose mission is to invade their families,their communities and,yes,even their minds. It has not escaped the notice of any aboriginal communities that at the pointy end of the Intervention are reviled racist police-who have an unbroken history of racist repression of aboriginal people. Accompanying them in the vanguard are "health" workers.   We don't pretend that there are no health issues in remote Aboriginal communities, however many of these are the direct result of inappropriate housing or other services imposed by government. Their measure of success is not that the subject person is fit and well,but that they are able to serve the ulterior information collection agenda of multiple other departments,including the unfortunately named  (known as "fascists"). These so called health "authorities" take it upon themselves to disparage social drugs such as alcohol tobacco and marihuana, while forcing families to take the expensive yet often ineffective chemical concoctions. "Health authorities"- once trusted by communities, yet today despised as State information gatherers, or spies, whose information provided to their superiors is often self serving. Educators, not long ago trusted and respected community members, have today become further objects of valid mistrust thanks to their government imposed role spying on families and communities.Not to mention the questionable standard of education foisted on our hapless youth as education shifts to become a cloning process, a management driven robot assembly line, producing fodder for the globalists who seek all for themselves- and stuff anyone else.


  But this applies just to aboriginals,right?? WRONG!! In order to not be in breach of its international human rights obligations (thats the excuse) , the Australian government has decided to progressively roll out an "all Australian" version -which applies to all in the Northern Territory today. At State level New South Wales has StateAbducted an unprecedented number of children in 2009-2010 - on the basis of often scurrilous allegations by case managers-the very people who profit from State Child Abduction. 


 The most serious threat to children family and community today is no longer lone predators however evil and despicable they may be. That threat has been replaced by your government, working in concert with churches and economic barons to undermine your community and family values, replacing these time tested institutions upon which your ancestors depended, with their objective of monetizing and prospering from people from the cradle to the grave

Homeless help businesses online

  Team Sydney Homeless have spent the past 5 years researching and the past year implementing powerful online strategies which support some of todays most astute professionals and businesses.


 The most popular solutions developed is our successful preferred alternative to ho-hum offshore or expensive onshore call centre support. We can now guarantee to provide your business brand product or organisations support 24 hours a Day,Seven days a week. Our innovative service is Fast accurate and cost efficient bringing very high levels of customer satisfaction while eliminating the negative image many businesses suffer when using traditional accented and ill informed telephony staff.Your Clients no longer face an indeterminable period of waiting for someone to answer the phone.Our clients customers and contacts are further convenienced by our accent free response which is guaranteed to be available within ten minutes of customer initiation of contact,24 hours a day,seven days a week.


 We go to the ends of the earth to understand your business your product or your service and the best

Housing is a Basic Human Right

The UN Special Rapponteur Raquel Rolnik: Housing is a basic Human Right

@SydneyHomeless say: if the Right to adequate Housing is a basic human right then that right should not be "subject to the whims" of economic interests. Where,as in Australia, Housing is a commodity it is inevitable that housing will be unaffordable for at least a part of the community. For that part of the community which lives without housing, whether by choice or circumstance an extension of that basic human right is the right to erect and maintain shelter on non-private property.   

AND HERE SHE DISCUSSES CRITICAL HOUSING SHORTAGE IN THE USA

SydneyHomeless on Rough Sleepers Count

The City of Sydney seems determined to attempt to finesse success out of failure.The following excerpt is their result and analysis of the winter Rough Sleepers Count they condcted. Its worth noting that within a fortnight of that count taking place, police arrived in the dead of night and destabilised many of the rough sleeper campsites in direct contravention of the much vaunted NSW State Government Homeless Protocol to which NSW Police are a signatory,but only occasionally an adherent.

This is email is a little later than our usual communique's to release the results of the Street Count but the results were a little surprising so we wanted to do a little investigation around this. Last August you counted 289 people sleeping rough on the streets of the City of Sydney's Local Government Area (LGA). That's a decrease of 129 people counted 6 months prior to that.

SydneyHomeless Response:There is a cyclical seasonal fluctuation in rough sleeper numbers in Sydney with (unsurprisingly) more in summer than winter months.

Those of you who have participated in previous counts or who track results on our website would know that the number of rough sleepers counted in the February 2010 Street Count was 418, an increase on the numbers of rough sleepers counted in August 2009 which was 399.

SydneyHomeless Response: Unfortunately City of Sydney figures ALWAYS grossly understate the number of Rough Sleepers in Sydney City,for the following reasons.

• City of Sydney Rough Sleeper count is conducted between about 1am & 3 am -many & especially the elderly long term rough sleepers sleep in the day.On our counts the day sleepers identified comprise 40%-45% of sleepers.

• COS count does not include those sleeping in vehicles,or those sleeping on private property with or without the tacit approval of security guards.

• Last COS count also does not include many who explicitly "hid" from counters as per our advisement, due to police action in the aftermath of the previous Homeless Rough Sleeper Count.

• Two long term Asian homeless camps numbering between 40-60 sleepers on any given night have absolutely no contact with ANY agencies.

As we knew many of you would have questions about such a significant drop in numbers, we did a little sleuthing to try to get an understanding of what those results might mean.

The good news is that there is reason to be hopeful that we are witnessing an actual decrease in the numbers of people sleeping rough on the streets of the LGA.  Way2Home the assertive outreach service, and the City's project for housing people with complex needs are able to confirm that together they assisted 37 people to exit the streets and enter long term housing or other forms of supported accommodation in 6 months between the February and August counts (accounting for potentially 29% of the decrease). At the Homelessness Interagency last week a number of agencies reported that they have either assisted people to exit the streets or that they are speaking with people who used to live on the streets and are now in stable accommodation.

SydneyHomeless Response: I would be ashamed of the numbers quantified here were I in receipt of the funding levels these agencies enjoy.Since June 2009 we have enabled 298 previously homeless to exit marginalisation by taking personal control of their financial wellbeing-via our IT based Off-the-Streets Program

The February 2011 Street Count will give a better indicator as to whether we are witnessing a real decrease or not but for now it is great to feel that the combined efforts of everyone is having an impact.  This of course includes you because without your efforts, we simply would not know what changes in the numbers if any are occurring.

In November we will be attempting to carry out surveys with all of the Rough Sleepers across the LGA to create the first comprehensive profile of rough sleepers in the inner-city.  More importantly this will allow us to identify those who are particularly vulnerable and at risk so that we can concentrate on providing them with the support they need as well as opportunities to get off the streets. I will shortly be sending out emails with more information regarding this event for those who are interested in participating.

SydneyHomeless Response: Our advisement continues to be to not complete surveys or other information collection attempts.The information can be used against our homeless community and is a vital index measure for funding- whether we see any benefit or not.Their claimed success (37 plus an unquantified number) is window dressing. There is also the fact that the information collected has been and will continue to be shared with anti homeless agencies.

Thank you once again for your contribution to ending homelessness in the inner-city and let's hope that we continue to track the numbers downwards.

Blogger Issues in Australia

It seems Google are doing Neocon Federal Labor Communications Minister Stephen Conroy's spying for him.Several of our people are now locked out of their blogger accounts.This only seems to be affecting Australian bloggers at this stage.Google/Blogger are demanding mobile phone numbers as the sole acceptable means of verification.Offshore partners assure that this is not a condition imposed on them.It seems to be a Conroy inspired move to track all Australian based bloggers and stymie free speech.While Google espouse openness and free interaction,they are controlled by some arch conservative neocon wanker bankers and have quietly backed away from their much vaunted anti government control position in China... we like and use Google as our preferred service provider..so far...  

Who you pay to run Aussie Detention Centres

Yes, Serco...Never heard of them?? Originally RCA of Recording industry fame's UK cinema services unit, today they provide a range of services to a variety of governments worldwide...

• Serco-operators of Villawood Immigration Detention Centre where a Fijian man awaiting deportation was recently able to commit suicide having climbed on the rooftop---
• Serco are short listed to run NZs jails in association with some iwi groups...the bedmates from hell?? You decide.....
• Serco-At an english jail they run they increased prisoner accommodation by 20% -by putting a bed in each toilet.Smart!!
• Serco-now a second detainee,an Iraqi man, has ommitted suicide after expressing continued frustration at his consultants failure to understand his issues.

Congratulations Year 12 2010 -Schools Out!!

Wooooohooooo!!!!! Schoooooooooools Out!!!!!!!!!! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Party!!!

The Long Suffering Silent victim of Homelessness

  Homeless People worldwide watch in disbelief as  Poverty industry pariahs, bureaucrats and legitimate homelessness organisations jockey for relevance from increasingly distant pedestals cushioned by increasingly thick cushions lined with big denomination dollar bills. 


  SydneyHomeless have raised our voice in numerous posts identifying various organisations and "homelessness strategies" which we consider at best undeserving of public corporate or government support. In reviewing our actions and in the course of our online presence, we noted a glaring gap in our coverage of homelessness and marginalisation issues.That "Gap" is perhaps the key to ending the current and demonstrably unsuccessful strategies promoted and operated at great cost. It has been most remiss of us not to give this crucial silent sufferer more prominence and we hope that this post goes at least some way to redressing our oversight.

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Sydney Homeless Overarching Position

  Followers of our blogs will be aware that we are solution, not maintenance focussed. Our aim is to drive and support initiatives which aim to end homelessness for those who wish to be housed in a manner which addresses the reasonable living and engagement needs identified by the homeless person. We continue to support the choice of the few homeless who do not wish to be housed in any way to remain living outdoors in the area of their choice.


 Looking at the history of Western Capitalist State Homelessness and Social Housing Initiatives over the last 60 years it is fair to draw the following conclusions.

1. Homelessness increases in direct parallel with the per capita growth of "Super Salaried Income Earners."
2. As economies grow, so do homeless numbers.As economies slow,so do homeless numbers-but homeless numbers do not decrease where there is negative economic growth.
3. In English speaking Western 1st World economy nations ,State and NGO delivered homelessness strategies seek to maintain or cycle, rather than end homelessness and economic marginalisation.
4. As in 3,there is invariably growth in marginalisation and homelessness "service provider" assets and revenues.In many cases such growth is contingent upon the growth of homeless/marginalised numbers.
5. We have found not a single instance of an Australian government or NGO initiated program which uses a "future zero" objective target as the framework for analysing timelining measuring and implementing homelessness or marginalisation strategies. Simply put, (to date that we know of) there is no existing strategy known which has the end goal of eliminating the perceived issue- homelessness and economic marginalisation.
6. Because current programs have objectives which fall short of ending the problem or significantly reducing occurrence or recurrence,there is invariably an upward pressure on donors sponsors and government for funds.
7. As self annointed service providers grow and "more professional" management is implemented, the cost of "services" increases while the delivery of "services  identified by constituency as positive" stagnates, or loses quality. The overwhelming majority of these services seek to maintain or mitigate,but not solve,the problem.
8. In Australia assistance options only become available "after the fact." For example, rather than act to stabilise an existing tenancy ( or mortgage) government help only becomes available once the home is lost.Sometimes the unplanned loss of home is driven by a missed employer payment.More often,the driver is increased rent while incomes are locked into legislatively constrained miniscule incremental increases which bear no relationship to increased cost of living. Each is invariably accompanied by a downgrading of the tenants credit rating- and blacklisting on the Register of Bad Tenants,undermining the now unemployed person/families ability to restore housing.
9. The combined "The Road Home" and Stimulus outlay of $6.6billion Tax Dollars by the Rudd-Gillard Federal Government will NOT end homelessness-nor was it designed to. In fact,over 1/3 of this outlay will be spent on improving and maintaining the delivery infrastructure of the relevant (and we submit some highly irrelevant) NGOs and bureaucracies.They have failed to deliver appropriately located affordable accommodation.They have failed to accommodate many of the old frail long term homeless as well as other long term homeless.

The Missing Link
Coalition Leader Tony Abbott recently stated in relation to welfare marginalisation that "There are no Free lunches." He was correct and in being so managed to criticise the Howard Government of which he was a minister and the subsequent Gillard Rudd Labor Government for their incapability to resolve the issue.

 Which brings us to the Silent victims of Homelessness. No we are not referring to the numerous and swelling numbers of homeless children. Nor do we refer to homeless people.

 The silent victims of homelessness are the taxpayers. Always left out of the overall snapshot yet perenially obliged to carry the cost of decades of failed programs.Most homeless people are or were taxpayers too. Governments who have usurped the role of speaking on behalf of the silent taxpayer work assidiously to extend their reach deeper into the taxpayers pocket. We think this is wrong,that a good government would be looking at ways of sparing taxpayers the expense. Take The Gulf States,where in these good times nobody pays income tax.Australias good times are here,now,with huge coal ores and gas exports.Are these ofsetting your tax liability?Not really.Nor is the perpetual call for ever more government funds for a succession of failed homelessness programs. 


 We say that a "zero problem" end game must be the governments objective approach with a 20 year aim of ending homelessness completely.Not by perenially increasing the call on taxpayers, but by ensuring that adequate appropriate affordable accommodation is available in the locations where the jobs are,by postcode.

 For example,statistics show that the City of Sydney has just 170,000 residents but 600,000 daily "visitors." Our research which may not be accurate,calculates 275,000 current employees in the Sydney City area.The simple act of ensuring appropriate accommodation for all employees at rates affordable within those pay scales, within the postcode of employment,will go a long was to alleviating homelessness.If you want to have 40 percent of the CBD workers on minimum wages,ensure there is affordable accommodation at the planning stage.A development levy of 4 percent of development cost for social housing (including civil) to be spent within postcode would also assist.Perhaps most importantly is the reintroduction of affordability to the housing market.Perhaps legislation could be passed forcing lenders to hold a percentage of their mortgages in deemed affordable housing,according to set government contracts,with government acting as guarantor,as a first home buyer option?These are the discussions we need to have, not the perennial failures of the past.These are zero Taxpayer cost solutions with significant urban transport reduction,green and climate benefits.Can taxpayers afford NOT to embrace these strategies?


 We call for The Road Home to be abandoned--its an expensive Road to Nowhere.


 We call for the removal of NGOs from all current delivery structures and their replacement with local council administered social housing structures.


 We call for the devolution of all non-housing functions of current NGO providers to the relevant government departments.


Follow @SydneyHomeless on Twitter

Our Projects update

Who are Sydney Homeless?
Sydney Homeless are Rough Sleepers living in the City of Sydney municipal area.Our mission  is to devise provide or act towards an end to social and economic marginalisation in locally regionally and nationally. We currently do not work with any other organisations or government bodies believing that their current aims objectives and strategies do not seek to end marginalisation, but focus on using marginalised people as tokens to transfer taxpayers funds to their own purposes.


What do Sydney Homeless stand for?
 We stand for ending the drivers which cause economic social and housing marginalisation.
We oppose current Government Homeless Plans as they are exploitative of both marginalised people and taxpayers.They outlay huge amounts of taxpayers money to sustain a ten year plan which will at best result in a further call for yet more tax money to continue what amounts to a band aid "shut the gate after the horse has bolted solution".We consider it a federal government duty to consult directly with the marginalised communities via a process conducted in an environment and on terms conducive to marginalised communities having direct input into a genuinely consultative process; as a preliminary to further consultation with other tiers of government and the business community to arrive at a strategy to implement sustainability in the appropriate supply and management of sufficient appropriately located affordable housing. 


How are Sydney Homeless Funded? 
@SydneyHomeless do not solicit or accept funding donations. We facilitate the direct donation of goods to our constituent community. We offer online promotional & service management to businesses and organisations and signage support to businesses in the Greater Sydney area,supporting ourselves and a growing number of our Sydney Homeless community in this way. 


Need workers in Sydney? A growing number of businesses in the Sydney area are recognising the efficiencies and convenience of being able to contact us often at short notice for one or a team of workers. Our workers are available 24 hours a Day including weekends and have experience in stores, logistics furniture removals, cleaning and construction work. We do not charge recruitment fees and our role is to find work for people who need it. As well as Aussies we have Vietnamese, Bengali and Mandarin and Korean speakers available.


Street Distribution
  Sydney Homeless Street distribution is ongoing providing the opportunity for donors to give direct to the Rough Sleepers and Housed Marginalised with the greatest need. This winter we have been able to distribute over 600 sleeping bags as well as ad hoc bedding to rough sleepers,thanks to the continued support of our donor base, who often receive small thanks for their unselfish efforts.Unlike the Charity sector, our donors do not enjoy the benefit of tax deductibility on their generous donations and efforts.They do however take comfort from knowing that their is no taxation of their goodwill.100% of what they give goes to the people who need it most- not into the bottom line of some multimillion dollar a year Not for Profit or to offset the budget people are told governments and their attendant bevy of NGOs get in tax dollars to fund services to homeless people.We and our homeless and marginalised community thank our donors very much.


Short Term Accommodation:
 By leveraging informal relationships with accommodation providers we have (just) been able to meet a steady unrequited demand for "off the radar" family emergency accommodation.  These short term arrangements have been made available to over 180 family groups since December. Its a study in government incompetence that State or Federal Governments don't make formal arrangements to leverage these often vacant business resources, offering the operators a tax deduction. This would vastly and immediately improve government agencies access to just in time affordable and appropriately hygienic accommodation at little dollar cost to taxpayers while providing a useful tax offset to businesses in return for donating their excess capacity.We know Housing NSW pays premium rates for slums which should be condemned.Bureaucrats and their advisors on huge taxpayer funded salaries simply wait for people like us to connect the dots for them for free, so they can use our ideas to justify their next salary increase.If thats the case peepz,we've connected the dots..get off your fat arses and Go for it.


Our community and beyond zero environmental initiative


 Our Youth Wing are a self managed group of teens who are working towards reintegration into their natural communities while pursuing their studies.We can't say too much about them for their own protection, but it would be remiss of us to not thank the slowly growing but extremely supportive business people without whose support this project would not be possible. 23 of our Youth Wing will be completing their Year 12 studies this term.We are very proud of the manner and dignity with which all youth wing conduct themselves under trying circumstances.


   

Fair Pay for Sustainable Living: The Superannuation Ripoff

The major drivers of marginalisation in Neo Conservative Capitalist Australia are legislated constraints of workers rights to assert for fair pay and the unregulated freedom given to a few greedy directors to rob the population blind. While businesses can and do charge extortionate prices for their increasingly shoddy services, workers are barred by legislation from using any effective methods of lobbying for fair pay,ensuring that they have access to their fair share of the nations wealth.These unequal policies and law combinations have the bipartisan support of the Liberal National Coalition and The Australian Labor Party (or at least its current dominant ultra right wing). 

The Superannuation Trade-off Debacle

 Since the Hawke years, Australian Liberal-National and Labor Governments have foisted the furphy of Superannuation on a gullible workforce as an alternate to Fair Wage increases.The following Keating,Howard Rudd and Gillard administrations have all succumbed to the ease of control Superannuation provides over workers (but not politicians) Superannuation.

Trade Union advocacy for and involvement in the administration of "Workers Super Funds" has shifted Union leadership interests from serving the needs of workers to working collusively with capital. This formula has had the effect of channelling workers compulsory savings into the control of a few neo conservative capitalists who enjoy unfettered access to an ever increasing revenue stream of workers funds - to use as they wish.The entirely predictable result is that workers capital is actually used against their own personal and familial interests, driven in part by the need of Super Fund managers to show returns consistently higher than other forms of investment. The problem is, those largely wholesale borrowers of those super based funds MUST drive even higher returns for their shareholders. With residential property a leading commodity, values inevitably will rise, driven not by the demand of residents alone, but by speculating investors, who want to maximise their return on investment while minimising their outgoings. And thats the point at which the superannuation dog comes back to bite the superannuant squarely on the posterior. The superannuants money, under the control of greedy financial manipulators, has become a mere figure on the excel sheet whose aim is solely to maximise profits-for the borrowing capitalist. The worker has as little effective control of their superannuation as they have over the so called democratically elected governments who govern not for,but over them.

What, you ask,does this have to do with homelessness?? I say it has everything to do with Homelessness- it is among the three core drivers of homelessness and social marginalisation. Superannuation is the government decreed tool which forces you to trade off your right to a Fair Wage now - for an insubstantial "nest-egg" when you're just about dead. Superannuation forces all workers,except politicians, to give over this "savings" to capitalist exploiters-effectively 5 international companies- to control.Several of our homeless and marginalised would NOT be in such dire circumstances if they could access this bounty which a few wealthy financiers get to use as play money in the casino they call the financial markets. And this money comes back to bite your arse with very sharp teeth every time you try to take another step up the financial ladder.Crippling bank practices and rampant fees.The Gillard Rudd Governments sop to the publics outrage at these practices was to regulate brokers but not the financial institutions themselves.


  Workers need this income in their pockets now.Just to keep pace with the cravings of capitalism which under the mastery of a few seeks to gobble and consume all in its path in the name of driving annually focussed profit.

Homeless call for Smart Political Solutions

  As Australia goes to the 2010 Federal Election , the taxpayer is burdened with " The Road Home " $600million plus over ten years -and repayment of $6billion in economic stimulus funding. A substantial percentage (over $2 billion) of this considerable expenditure of your taxpayer funds has gone and will continue to go to bureaucracies and infrastructure within various areas of government and its NGO or NFP partners. Since launching The Road Home to much fanfare in 2009 as fulfilment of Labors 2007 election commitment the Federal government has been presented with compelling evidence that their stated strategic aims (if they were ever about reducing homelessness) are not working. Even on the basis of their statistics (which we believe hopelessly understate the problem),the numbers of homeless people have increased dramatically - in Sydney and, by all accounts, across Australia.


 Despite an expensive cynical band-aid dressing of the visible homeless "problem" in the leadup to Australia's federal elections neither the Federal Labor Government nor their State counterpart have permanent affordable acceptable accomodation solutions for many of Sydney Citys rough sleepers, including myself. The style of case-managed "housing" delivery on offer is a staged process conditional on engagement with organisations whose role is to collect information on clients.Or to put it bluntly,they are spies.We value our privacy and independence,in many cases more than we value having a home. We emphatically do not need our privacy invaded. Another common issue is that of broken trust- Housing NSW and government in general along with their NGO service providers use housing as a bait in their quest to gather information.When they get all the information they want they offer a completely inadequate accommodation alternative-knowing it to be unacceptable-on a take it or go to the back of the queue basis.None are known to have been offered housing in the city, aside from mental health patients.


 I could but won't go on about the issues.Government and NGOs are well aware of the shortcomings which they have purposely put in place to ensure that there is no solution to homelessness and preferably that nobody looks in the appropriate direction to identify appropriate solutions.Why? Continuance of funding,courtesy of you,the Australian Taxpayer, to continuously provide band aid quick fixes which virtually guarantee a continuance of the problem.


 This blog is about solutions to homelessness.
The major driver of homelessness is affordability at location.There are two principal focal areas at the intersection of which is growing homelessness.

• The first and major cause is unregulated and collusive marketing driven valuation of rental (and property purchase) rates.Regulation is needed to set maximum market rentals,based on configuration.
• The second is the failure of local,state and federal governments to ensure that housing stocks available match the labour demand and sector affordability by postcode.
• The third is restrictive regulation of the workforces ability to negotiate meaningful wage outcomes prioritising the interests of bankers and employers.While these conditions are allowed to prevail, look forward to steady growth in homeless numbers. 

 Our intention is to identify solutions for the Sydney City Municipal area.We hope that these solutions identify parallels in other municipalities.


 Sydney City has sufficient accommodation already to house all who live work and live homelessly in this urbanity.The barriers are affordability and designation.Much of the municipalitys residential accommodation is in the form of "Serviced Apartments" , Hotel and Traveller accommodation services.A levy of 4% of available accommodation units in each complex,whether hotels serviced apartments or other accommodation, should be made available for social housing use.These proprietors are hogging an essential commodity in a City which does not have unlimited land to build on.A progressive "phase in" period of 2 to four years may be necessary to accommodate the business projections of affected businesses.

• Develop an accommodation index per postcode.Identify actual incomes and use an accommodation cost of 30% of income to arrive at Accommodation Pricing.
• All New developments including must contribute 4% of their worth to a social housing pool administered by Council,not State.If the development has a residential component then that social accommodation must be taken from that complex.Social Housing allocation offset purchases(for non residential development)must be in the same postcode.
• Transient Workforce Accommodation. Many workers today have skills or work in industries which have short term project life and require constant relocation. Transient workers might consider it preferable and more economical to live in mobile homes, as compared with traditional housing.This scheme would most effectively be implemented via Centrelink and involve a "buyout" of the persons Centrelink and Housing entitlements for a number of years. 
• Housing Authorities should consider keeping storage facilities for tenants who wish to travel for extended periods (such as aged pensioners) 

 The common thread with these proposals is that none require repetitive taxpayer funding. All except Transient Workforce Accommodation require no taxpayer funding at all and obligate municipalities to plan appropriately and sustainably for growth. 

Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan

Featuring:

Bob Carr, Former Premier NSW
Malcolm Turnbull, Federal MP
Matthew Wright, Executive Director Beyond Zero Emissions
Allan Jones, City of Sydney

MC - Quentin Dempster, journalist and broadcaster

Free Entry

You are invited to attend the Sydney launch of the Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan.

This cutting-edge plan, the culmination of over 12 months and thousands of hours of pro bono work by engineers, scientists and postgraduate students, is a collaboration between the climate solutions think tank Beyond Zero Emissions, and the University of Melbourne Energy Institute.

This plan is unique in Australia. It is a detailed and costed blueprint for transitioning our stationary energy sector to 100% renewable energy in ten years. The technologies utilised in this plan are commercially available now.

This free public event will cover the details of the plan as well as the state of renewable energy in Australia more broadly. A panel discussion with technical experts will follow the presentations.

Don't miss out!

If you would like to take a look at the report or synopsis they are available here:
Synopsis 16 pages:
http://media.beyondzeroemissions.org/ZCA2020_Stationary_Energy_Synopsis_v1.pdf


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@CycleRescue on Twitter
The Cycle Rescue Blog

A clean green and heathy path to economic self determination for Sydneys Homeless and at risk of homelessness communities. Check out what they do The Cycle Rescue Blog .

Gillard Regional Estates Plan a sop to Miners,risky investment

Incumbent Prime Minister Julia Gillards regional expansion may seem like reasonable policy to many. Like all other proposals, this one requires serious scrutiny.

 My initial and lasting impression is that the Prime Minister is a tad too close to the Big end of town in the mining industry.Earlier this year she was reported in the Northwest mining belt attacking Unions who were at the time engaged in a campaign for better conditions. Upon her traitorous ascent to the Prime Ministership, her first consultation was with the miners...well...not all miners, but with the big end of town..Rio and BHP Billiton, with little guys such as Fortescue and a gaggle of other miners struggling and unconsulted.Its a fair bet that "independent" MiningSuperTax implementation team member Marius Kloppers will do what is right for Rio (his old charge) .. but the process is very secretive with all other miners aside from Xstrata,BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto shut out of the process.

  So to Gillards regional housing policy, which makes perfect sense for miners. They get workers to pay the cost of housing rather than face the expense of providing or subsidising housing themselves.Workers and private investors should be wary of investing in mining driven towns. The world is littered with mining ghost towns, and your equity invested in premium priced slick marketed property may be worthless in 30years as the mine reaches its use by date.Sooner, if China suddenly decide that they no longer need to pay the generous premiums they do for ores and fossil fuels. This policy is reminiscent of government releases of outer urban estates for housing without social amenities or work availability and the social and personal economic mischief those policies have caused. We know many who are or have been homeless after "investing" in these high risk low investment value properties financed by virtual loan sharks.

Greens challenge Coles on cheap smokes

And we challenge Govt and Greens on Cigarette tax.

Australian Greens challenge Coles over cheap tobacco:   The Greens support of Labors 25% extra Tax impost on smokers is policy which impacts our homeless community and low  income communities Australia wide.The Greens falling into line with Labor on the notional health impact leaves our community concerns on cigarette costs without a political ally.

 I have personally seen, and spoken to several of our community who have noted the effects of this illogical tax grab on not only our community, but a growing number of workers and besuited professionals.These are the Sydney City folk who are regularly seen collecting cigarette butts from the ash receptacles and footpaths of the city.Smoking recycled cigarettes is a practice long associated with Mexico City and Manila slums.We can now report that Sydney has finally caught up. 

 The Cancer health figures are doubtless genuine, but attribution solely to smoking, and unfairly burdening only smokers with this tax is highly suspect.Many of the chenicals added to foods such as colourings flavourings and preservatives have the potential to contribute to the cancer count, but we see no tax on those foods.Then theres the carbon monoxide which our national love affair with cars and #bigoil produce, but no 25% slug on the motor or petrol industries. Or the cancer causing (and climate debilitating) industrial pollutants associated with the array of chemicals burned and used,but no 25% Tax on them either.In fact Rudd / Gillard Labor quietly exempted the biggest polluters from mitigation responsibility in discussions leading up to their abject failure on Climate in the Senate,and their subsequent rating as virtual climate deniers by The Copenhagen Climate conference. Hard to see the level playing field from our kerbside perspective...

 We haven't looked much at the impact on crime, but we know that ChopChop is now freely available along with "Paraguay Marlboro" and some other brands.Carboot sellers pop up doing the 1 man flashmob thing selling packs as fast as they can take the money in. These people contribute positively to maintaining the sanity of many in our homeless community, including myself, who would be driven absolutely mad without a nice relaxing smoke, a diversion from the rigours of corporately driven homelessness and marginalisation.

 I smoke about a packet of rollies a day.If I get cancer,I get it, same as if I get hit by a bus or shot by a cop. Treatment??I haven't been to a doctor since about year 8 so I'm probably not too concerned about it- I'll take my chances.

 The important issue here is freedom of choice, something which Australians have become too used to rich serving governments usurping because they know best & we don't. Freedom is undermined by draconian Tax imposts. i choose to assert my freedom to smoke the cheapest healthiest ciggies I can buy -legally or not

Building Sustainable #Fairpay in Sydney

In our many years of dealing with homelessness and marginalisation, we are yet to see a government supported program which has a sunset clause, a measure of success involving zero ongoing government funding because the marginalisation issue has been successfully and permanently resolved. 


 Under the current Rudd/Gillard #Labor and the immediate past Howard Abbott Coalition Governments we have in fact witnessed a rise in the income bar at which social marginalisation kicks in, a rise in the number of marginalised and a progressive increase in repetitive funding calls on the taxpayer.


 There are no government or Poverty Industry strategies to end poverty and marginalisation. Yet there are billions of Taxpayer dollars spent in the name of Homeless and other marginalised community sectors. The inconvenient truth is that our homeless name, along with that of the long-suffering aboriginal community, children, families and economically marginalised workers, is being used by State and Federal governments and a gaggle of co-dependent NGOs, to bilk the Taxpayer out of billions of dollars annually. This daylight robbery of the working Australian taxpayer has to end - and soon. 


 While State and Federal Governments wax lyrical about "sound economic management" they in fact produce the economic results they claim by digging deeper into the legislatively thinned pockets of working Australians. Ever more taxes, and ever less solutions has been a consistent characteristic of the Charlatan Australian political leadership of the past two decades. A recent example is the 25% hike in cigarette taxes which severely impacts low income workers & Benefit claimants,as it was designed to.
 For every social marginalisation issue,there are swelling numbers of people and swelling government and NGO budgets,but no solutions.Despite the diabolical Patrick McClure inspired "Workchoices" and "McClure Report" Howard era millions spent on NGOs, homelessness and marginalised numbers rose. The Rudd/Gillard Labor "The Road Home" and Stimulus Package spend of $6billion plus in the name of homeless people has seen asset increases for State Governments and NGOs, and an alarming growth in homeless numbers. Surely a sign that this program is not working?? Instead, Government and NGOs promote one self serving scheme after the other-including diabolical families and aboriginal schemes which actually exacerbate the perceived problems. And so with homelessness. The furphy of solving homelessness and aboriginal issues with jobs is undermined by bi-partisan legislation severely curtailing workers rights to organise and lobby effectively for #FairPay. For example Agency workers cannot picket their actual place of employment, due to Howard era anti-worker secondary boycott laws which Labor disliked so much,they kept. 


 I could,but won't,continue forever with a discourse dissecting the disastrous policies of past and present governments, or their NGO parasite friends. I will tell you what we ( and you are welcome to join us) are doing about it.


 Our initiatives aim to provide homeless, at-risk-of-homelessness and other marginalised community members with a self directed strategy to exit marginalisation by building an income base in which the participant owns or shares in the developed equity.Without govenment or NGO support -and without benefits to those parties.


 Our most successful project commenced in June 2009.Our IT based off the streets concept leverages a number of pre-existing online tools and strategies which participants use to derive an income.Our measure of success is an income of $Au1300 per week, which is the minimum a single person needs to live comfortably and make choices in Sydney. We have as of last night successfully helped 245 people to achieve this goal online.Delivery has been manually and we haven't charged for training or anything...but it will be available to all online as soon as we can guarantee it is not usable by parasite JobNetwork NGOs to claim $20000 success fees for doing nothing...or contact us @SydneyHomeless if you're in Sydney..more soon.  


 We are launching @BannerBikes in about 3 weeks - a powerful promotional service commencing in Sydney in August . Further info  This service will allow Sydney Homeless people to participate in and build an income and equity share in a viable workers community controlled collective,providing innovative service partnerships to Sydney and Australian businesses 

Rudd & Keneally,Macklin & Burney Hopeless on Homeless

These politicians just don't seem to get it- As Keneally sets up yet another committee of Pastors and homelessness industry parasites, its clear that the only voices your politicians are really interested in are those they choose-those advocating excessive funding of pariah Christian NGOs and expansion of costly government departments.

 Lets start with Housing.NSW announced 4000 affordable homes built, but waiting lists at least quadruple that. And the social housing comes with draconian strings attached.Todays social housing tenant is not afforded the same rights and protections as other tenants-Social Housing Tenants have special clauses in the Residential Tenancies Act which pertain exclusively to them-clauses making it easier to end your tenancy.Ultimately, a useful tool for governments who don't hesitate to stoop to blackmail as a means of exerting population control.

 Jenny Macklin and Kevin Rudds "The Road Home" is not working,and will not achieve its objective of halving homelessness by 2020.While Stocklands report 200,000 houses short in NSW now, these people focus on how they might give more money to NGOs, to "solve all our other problems." Our perspective might sound exceeding simplistic, but we cannot fathom how the multiple genius NGOs whose speciality is everything except housing, and who are being funded out of this massive mismanagement of taxpayers money, will contribute one iota to lowering the housing shortage.The critical housing shortage, despite the spin emanating from ACOSS,NCOSS ,the parasites they represent,and their bipartisan political allies will not be addressed by proclaimed "mental health experts,"nor any other experts who are not part of the property business.

 Many disillusioned homeless have already walked out, disgusted with the draconian reality of the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) a cynical excercise in using marginalised people as income generators for NGOS.

 Of extra concern is the insertion into the equation of Data Mining by State and Federal Governments, and their contracted NGOs, which accompanies "The Road Home." Relying on Patrick McClure's ( The McClure Report) erroneous, but thus far unchallenged concept of "mutual obligation", the logic is that unemployed claimants should do something in return for receiving allowances such as Newstart.The "mutual obligation" Test was met preceding The McClure Report:Pay Taxes when you work- collect allowances when you don't. Any other obligation is an extra obligation.In addition,we are reliably informed,a contract signed under duress is generally null and void if tested against existing case law.So much for the furphy of mutual obligation -just a Howardly attack on marginalised people.


 While assisting a Newstart applicant with her mandatory Job Network contract recently,I was disturbed to find a clause authorising the Network Service Provider to access ANY personal information the client provided, AND "to use the information...or for any purpose (the Service Provider) saw fit. This amounts to giving the Service Provider carte blanche to sell the information to anyone, for marketing, debt collection or any other purpose.It also neatly ties in with the Federal Governments quiet deployment of new internal surveillance measures. When challenged,the Network case manager quickly called Centrelink, who granted an exemption from using the Job Network to their client.


 If you are asked to sign such a document, as a precondition to accessing essential government services, such as Centrelink or Housing, this amounts to blackmail-You should refuse to sign, unless you are unconcerned with the privacy of your personal information.

 We have noticed in the past 6 months many new impacts upon marginalised living in the city.There have been more ex-mental health patients than ever presenting on the Streets.Some more able to fend for themselves than others.A few TOTALLY unable to take care of even the most rudimentary self care.Many periodically violent, or presenting a threat to themselves and unaccustomed members of the public.All whom we have been able to communicate with tell of recent release from one or another mental health care institution. Simultaneously, State Government signs on a new "Homelessness Services" contract provider in the inner city, Neami Ltd, a Mental Health specialist organisation with NO previous experience of Homelessness management.Using the information we have available, we strongly suspect a callous Federal and State Labor manipulation of mentally ill people, out of the health and into the social housing budget- ahead of prospective tenants who have waited years. A neat little excercise which keeps the NGOs in cashflow,the government departments growing, lowers numbers in Mental Health care (Success-wooohoo!!) while showing a rise in socially housed persons-using the same people,with a few token "genuine long term homeless" thrown in. We note that on the information supplied to us,just 25 housing units are available per year via this new "Inner City Homelessness contractor." We do not blame the contractor for doing what they are contracted to-far from it, we applaud them-its what they are capitalistically contracted to do.But we do question the disingenuous government tactics, and chronic waste of taxpayers money.We also wonder what will happen to other mentally affected people-the residue who will remain homeless.

 We have noted the rise in Political rhetoric from Macklin,Burney and such, painting a wide brush public persona of homeless people as mentally deficient.Quite apart from the unnecessarily disparaging (and often untrue) portrayal of homeless people, Labor politicians strategy is actually leading to increasing homelessness. There have been several who have been recently evicted from long term month-to-month tenancies, because the government is seen (reasonably) by landlords as a more stable tenant.The lie that "properties must be priced at 20% below market value leaves two commercial options for those realtors less concerned with ethics. The first is to reserve the "lowest quality" properties and only offer these options to social housing tenants- but charge the government 20% below the premium quality price for the area.If necessary,let the property (bogus lease,phantom lessee) at that premium price for a month.Option 2 is to just inflate all advertised rental prices,then discount to the premium area rate.Not rocket science. One agent cheerfully admitted doing the second. But the government is renting at Fair Market value? No, they have a closed list of agents who can provide these properties.

  Government Budget measures flowing from the Henry Tax Reforms failed to do away with, or lower the attraction, of negative gearing for residential property investors

 Our humble analysis is that this program will lead to further residential property speculation, and attendant rises in residential property values, prompted by the lucrative and comparatively stable leases offered. It will drive more low income people out of the residential housing market,or into illegal overcrowded occupancies. It will inevitably make home purchases less affordable,and rental a prerogative of those on middle incomes only.

 The Road Home and all other Federal and State Government programmes, do NOT address the issue of turning the tap off on homelessness.
  Federal Labor has failed to legislate wage increases or remove the legal constraints preventing effective worker lobbying. Labor aligned Unions have submitted application for a paltry wage increase of $29 per week.or 70c an Hour, taking the minimum wage to a whopping $15-30 odd an hour-for adults. This level of #wageslavery is unacceptable and unsustainable in any metropolitan and some regional areas.
  As #wageslavery continues to permeate up the income scale, higher qualifications become meaningless tokens. The Prime Ministers spouse Therese Reins former business is a primary Howard era and current driver of #wageslavery.

 The many smokers among our marginalised community are most affected by the "Health NGO & departmentally driven 25% extra rise in cigarette tax. We note that no parallel attempt was made to raise the cost of deadly carbon monoxide producing petrol by 25%, yet we are all forced to inhale this cancer causing toxin as we walk the sidewalks of Sydney. If the Cigarette Tax is a genuine Health initiative as portrayed, why is it not also applied to the products of the nations biggest polluters who cause countless respiratory problems. It is because,like Howard / Abbott, the Rudd Labor Machine attacks those most defenceless, economically.

 The only successes we see in The Road Home are as with its predecessors, as outlined in The McClure Report. The successful expansion of government departments and political power for certain ministries AND the rapid growth of the pariah NGO sector. If that is the Rudd Governments criteria for success then they will succeed magnificently.

 This post should not be read as an indictment of the Kevin Rudd Government alone, but equally of Rudd Labor and the previous Howard Coalition. The Abbott Coalition? Well, their policy is summarised most succinctly by their good leader,Tony Abbott (if we can believe him) "The Poor will Always be with us."

 Our election advice for #ozelection2010 #Ruddfail #Laborfail #abbottcide Vote balance of responsibility. Vote for REAL CHANGE. Why just change drivers when you have the option to change racetracks?

 Don't do it for us!! Do it for your children.Do you want them sentenced to a life of #bank servitude??

TAXING The Miners To Feed the Greedy

For Marginalised, homeless, low to medium income workers, the Rudd Federal Governments take on the Henry Report is a grotesque "feed the bankers" strategy - what we have come to expect from the Rudd - Abbott alliance.
 There is nothing in this Tax strategy which promotes home ownership,or specific investment in social housing . Instead, Federal government has kept the negative gearing applying to residential properties,keeping those people who buy housing to exploit renters for their own personal gain in the market - and excluding your children and grandchildren from the opportunity to own their own home.
 I have read with absolute contempt some Union Tops congratulatory remarks concerning super - or taking a proportion of the extra tax on miners, and placing it for the long term benefit of the approximately five super fund managers who actually benefit from super - they get all the benefits of your hard work now, not when they turn 70. And,by @KevinRuddPM s formula, this windfall Tax will last just long enough to fund the baby boomers retirement.I'd like younger generations to consider that as polling time draws near. Why should the most government pampered and exploitative generation ever, get the 1 off benefits of resources which rightly belong to all generations- including the great great grandchildren of Generation Y.

After 23 years Fred no longer needs Housing

Thats right!! After 23 long years living homeless, awaiting a placement from NSW Housing, Fred no longer requires a home.We attended his simple funeral yesterday.He was 78.Freds problem in getting housing was that, aside from rapidly shrinking finances and rapidly rising costs,and an undemanding demeanour, Fred didn't have any problems.He didn't do drugs, drink alcohol,have mental issues,just get out of jail or have any other socially debilitating conditions.In fact,I have rarely met a more mild mannered,caring and considerate man,who was in such complete control of his faculties.He simply needed a secure,affordable home.

 NSW Housing Minister David Borger can scrub his name from the social housing waiting list, but the question must be raised- why does someone who has done "everything right" have less entitlement to government social housing,than people who,of their own choosing,have an insatiable drugs problem?Or someone who is just being released from jail? Well, according to the priorities which NSW Housing have set, according to "The Road Home" and according to all the crap emanating from MacQuarrie St, thats the case.The several hundred people with simply housing issues have virtually no chance of getting social housing.Why?? Oh, because jail releasees drug addicts and people with a history or diagnosis of mental history have priority.Why? Because they create lucrative "case management opportunities" for NGOs.Who are the NGOs? Rebadged church organisations such as pariahs Exodus Foundation (Uniting Church) and Oasis YSN (Salvation Army), and private organisations like the recently reviewed Niami. Expensive organisations which provide "intangible services" or in other words charge the taxpayer (that would be you) for providing these largely useless services.Every dollar spent on these non housing services is a dollar out of the homelessness budget, which does not provide housing.Do you approve of this use of your tax dollars in the name of homeless people? We have additional concerns that these programs provide discriminatory housing, not on the same terms as other rental housing;possibly in violation of NSW governments human-rights obligations.Alterations to the NSW Residential Tenancies Act 1987 inserted 2007-2010, give "social housing" tenants less rights than other tenants. We question the provisios of combining expensive NGO service contracts with residential tenancy leases,and the extra conditions imposed on the tenant (of agreeing to accept "case management" as a condition of housing).

 By chance, we were about to publish our alarm at the sudden appearance of a large number of clearly mentally afflicted people in the past 2 months, who appear to know each other reasonably well.They are not known to our street communities, and have no long term history of living on Sydneys Streets. Well, we asked some of them.It appears that NSW governments Health department have been releasing medium to long term psychiatric patients into the general community,with nowhere to go (except the streets).This fits rather neatly with Federal Minister Macklin and State Communities ( formerly known as DOCs) Minister Linda Burney 's recent beatup, attempting to pigeonhole our homeless community as "largely people with mental issues." The callous strategy also neatly shifts these people from the health budget to the homeless (or housing budget), a sleight of hand which will allow the wallowing,,directionless NSW Health portfolio to claim a small success by state election time. 

 We are aware that Minister David Borger's NSW Housing is STILL selling off departmental properties in the inner city - well, on 99 year leases, courtesy of Agent Di Jones.These beautiful heritage listed buildings in the Millers Point area, are just whats needed for the many large families being forced out of Sydney by "unavailability of appropriately sized houses".Recent redevelopment of previous housing properties in Walker St in Waterloo are being replaced in part with a Vinnies branded retirement village -more social housing replaced with invasive NGO profit units-at taxpayer expense.

 We want State and Federal Governments to STOP LYING TO THE PUBLIC!! Its time to drop the spindoctoring and stop the lies. The smouldering question relating to Homelessness is; Which question are you trying to solve? If your aim is to fund your university or Labor Party friends masquerading as experts, or finance your favourite church NGO, then you succeed magnificently. If such is the case you should stop lying to the taxpayers- and,cruelly,to the homeless community. You should tell the truth about whom your rash spending of taxpayers funds are meant to benefit. You should show the taxpayer how many homeless people you have accommodated, in what locations,at what expense.Nice,simple accounting.Not the waffle we continue to hear about the next NGO you are funding.  

 If you say you are spending money addressing homelessness, spend the money on houses.If you need to provide extra services to mental health patients, you were already doing that at Callan Park (Which you closed). That is a health,not social housing issue. If you want to build SAAP housing with taxpayers money to pull money in for Vinnies or the Salvos, please tell the public thats your aim - but please stop lying to the public-and please stop lying to Australia's Homeless