Eurobodalla Mayor Mathew Hatcher is still waiting for a response from Dominic Perrottet, after writing to the NSW Premier earlier this month requesting urgent assistance with the homelessness crisis at Moruya's North Head campground.
“The NSW Government is responsible for crisis and social housing, and they must step in and help us solve this issue,” he said.
The Mayor managed to meet briefly with the Premier in Moruya on Friday 20 January, where he again raised the matter.
While it was scheduled to be a longer, informed discussion, the Premier wasn't prepared to commit to more than the time to have a coffee with the Eurobodalla Mayor, Mat Hatcher, to discuss the homeless and housing affordability issues of the region, given that the State Government is solely responsible for crisis and social housing.
Unfortunately the Premier was unprepared for the meeting and had failed to bring with him any responses to the Council's formal letter written in December 2022.
Mayor Hatcher wrote to NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet in December, outlining the seriousness of the situation and asking the Premier to urgently find housing appropriate to the needs of the people currently making the campground their home.
The Premier was advised that the campground is managed by Eurobodalla Council, who is allowing the growing number of people living there to stay beyond the NSW Government’s mandated 50-day per year rule.
Mayor Hatcher told the community on January 13th 2023 that Council was showing discretion and compassion in not enforcing the regulation because there is nowhere else for people living there to go.
“The NSW Government is responsible for crisis and social housing, and they must step in and help us solve this issue,” he said.
“These are primitive campgrounds, meaning there is no permanent hot water or enclosed showers. They simply aren’t a suitable place for people to be living permanently.”
Council has been working with local homelessness agencies and case managers are visiting the campground weekly, where more than 50 people experiencing homelessness are currently living.
“The local agencies are doing great work in terms of providing support, but what no one can offer right now is a suitable place for these people to live,” the Mayor said.
“We need the Premier to act quickly. The NSW Government could buy a motel or a block of units to temporarily house people in a crisis.
“The situation has become critical and now is the time for the NSW Government to do something.
“I don’t want people living in freezing cold tents again this winter and the local council installing temporary hot showers to provide some small comfort and dignity.
“In Australia in 2023, everyone should have a roof over their head and the security of a place to call home.
“I’m asking the Premier to provide this basic human right for the people living at North Head campground.” The Premier came to the region with nothing to bring to the table. Having just come from an invitation only 'campaign' lunch in Narooma to show support of the local Liberal candidate in the upcoming State election the Premier showed gross disrespect for the Mayor and Eurobodalla community by having nothing prepared for what was the briefest of meetings. Adding to that disrespect the Premier had invited the Liberal Candidate to assist in the ribbon cutting ceremony of the new Moruya Emergency department demountables. Note that the Liberal candidate is the Mayor of an adjacent shire. Leaving the coffee meeting with the Mayor it is understood, as reported in the Bay Post (Jan 27th 2023) that Mayor Hatcher advised "He said we would have a response within a week." Meanwhile NSW Labor Shadow Minister for Housing and Homelessness, Rose Jackson MLC and Member for Bega, Dr Michael Holland MP visited the team at Mission Australia Bega on Wednesday February 1st 2023 to discuss the current housing crisis impacting the South Coast.
Current demand for rental properties on the South Coast highlights the crisis, with Mission Australia working with some clients who have applied for in excess of 100 private rental properties, with no success.
Requests for assistance in January alone has ballooned, with many families finding themselves experiencing homelessness and living in insecure housing. A lack of housing options means many regional communities are also struggling to attract and retain key workers.
Dr Holland and Ms Jackson also held discussions earlier in the day with the executive of the Eurobodalla Shire Council regarding the numerous residents currently living in a primitive campground at Moruya Heads.
“It’s unfathomable that longstanding residents in our community, many of whom are employed in the local area, are unable to find a secure roof over their head” Dr Michael Holland said.
“The Eurobodalla Shire Council have been calling on the State Government to step up and take action for more than a year now, yet nothing has changed. If anything, we have seen the numbers at Moruya Heads increase”
"Moruya based service provider, The Family Place has been working with residents to try and find more suitable accommodation, but 12 years of chronic underinvestment into social and affordable properties means there is nowhere to turn" Dr Holland said.
“We need a State Government that is willing to address this crisis and help implement short, medium, and long-term solutions for the area,” the NSW Labor Shadow Minister for Housing and Homelessness, Rose Jackson MLC said.
“We have numerous vacant properties around the shire with no long-term residents. Nullica Lodge down in Eden is a prime example of a purpose-built facility sitting empty that could house some of our most vulnerable people. I’m still yet to receive a response from the Minister for Homes on this matter” Dr Holland said.
Eurobodalla Mayor Mathew Hatcher is still waiting for a response from Dominic Perrottet, after writing to the NSW Premier earlier this month requesting urgent assistance with the homelessness crisis at Moruya's North Head campground.
