A homeless encampment has sprung up at an airport on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast amid Australia’s mass immigration-driven housing crisis.
Locals said the illegal camping and rubbish dumping at the Caloundra Aerodrome is causing safety concerns, and an aerospace technology company based at the airport claimed it first reported security issues related to the squatter site to police and council six months ago.
But Sunshine Coast Council said that while it had engaged support services to offer assistance to those living on the site, it “does not consider homelessness to be illegal camping”, the Sunshine Coast News reported.
“[Homelessness] is a significant, distressing, and ongoing issue for some people in our region, especially at this time of the year,” a council spokesperson said.
“The initial approach from our teams is to talk to those experiencing homelessness to help connect them with services best placed to provide immediate support and access to services.
“Council shares the community’s concerns and is committed to safer public spaces and better outcomes for people experiencing homelessness.”
Councillor Terry Landsberg said it was not an issue of homelessness alone, and said the site needed to be cleaned up to protect workers at the airport.
“This matter is escalating, and we need to relocate this illegal encampment to another location,” he said.
“I understand that businesses at the aerodrome have raised multiple complaints to police in relation to this matter, property has been destroyed, and assaults occurred. Not sure what we are waiting for, but the writing is on the wall for something more serious to happen.”
The situation at the airport has sparked debate in the local community, with some residents expressing sympathy for the campers while others called for them to be moved on.
“Councils and government probably believe its better to provide housing to migrants from countries that only want to impose their religion on us than look after our own,” one woman said.
“Slow clap to the fwits who voted Labor! Elections have consequences! Homelessness didn’t start in 2022 but it has got a whole lot worse under Albo’s watch! Can anyone guess why?” said another.
“It’s heartbreaking to see our elderly and working families in the community not be able to secure rentals and be living in tents in parks and besides highways… this is acceptable according to the people who run this country,” said a third.
Almost 2 million immigrants have arrived in Australian since Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor government was elected in May 2022, pushing up housing and rental prices and contributing to stagnant wage growth.
Header image: The Caloundra Aerodrome encampment in December (Sunshine Coast News).
The post Homeless encampment springs up at Queensland airport amid housing crisis first appeared on The Noticer.
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