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