| Adelaide Homeless Gossip is archived by the National Library of Australia Home Calder Calls the Police Homeles Hot Gossip 4 Latest 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Oldest Fan Mail The Adelaide Gossip and Rumour Column (from 15 June 2007 to 3 September 2007 Send your latest insights to [email protected] The most recent message appears at the top. Updated 3 September 2007 The "Short Fuse" Was that Monica Lewinsky seen with the "short fuse" from Street to Home? Speaking of Bill Clinton, Lucky Jackson of the northern Adelaide suburb of Elizabeth heard that Bill was a little depressed so he invited Bill to pose with him in a photograph. Lucky wanted to help Bill regain a little of his previous prestige just as many famous media stars seek out Lucky when they're in career meltdown. 3 September 2007 Child Fund Those sleazy "fundraisers" were outside parliament house again last week. I heard a woman ask who "Child Fund" was and the sleazy answer was, "check out our website". What sleazy scammers they are with their complex donation contracts. One must admit they are smooth operators with their smiles and official looking uniforms. They may be out of work actors maintaining their skills while degrading the benevolent industry. So different to St Vincent de Paul: It would be hard to accuse St Vinnies of high pressure fundraising tactics. 3 September 2007 Inconsistency of Service The amount of respect by homeless organisations for their clients can be measured by consistency of service. If something breaks and it takes a month to fix it then this is disrespect. When a scheduled service is delayed because of some mechanical defect or administrative problem then the amount of time it takes to repair the problem is inversely proportionate to the amount of respect the organisation has for its clients. There are exceptions but this rule generally applies. 3 September 2007 Speakman Can't be Trusted In 2000 Speakman and Associates, Adelaide recruitment specialists connected with Select Personnel, told job applicants on their website that: "Your Information is treated as confidential. We make no approaches to third parties without your full approval." Norm Barber applied for a job with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, who had hired Speakman to select suitable candidates. An employee of Speakman passed on his application to Centrelink saying that Mr Barber was not really trying to find work. Centrelink stopped Mr Barber's payments though he later won on appeal. Mr Barber attempted to get hold of the letter Speakman sent to Centrelink, via a Freedom of Information Request. Centrelink refused to hand it over under threat of legal action from Speakman. There was also an order in The Administrative Appeals Tribunal, instigated by Speakman and Centrelink, to prevent Mr Barber from publishing details of the story. Not any more. Speakman are now part of Tanner Menzies and are still at the original Speakman address at 12 Pirie Street, Adelaide. The moral of the story is: Don't trust any organisation that promises to keep your details confidential. Well, at least not Speakman. 3 September 2007 Pretending to be Friends Kevin Naughton, former Chief of Staff at the Sunday Mail and ABC presenter has taken on a new role as Senior Media Advisor to the opposition leader Martin Hamilton-Smith. I wonder if John Green will continue to tell people �Norty� is his �good friend�, prior to asking them for a large loan to help his �children�. Kevin says that rather than being friends it is "quite the opposite". 3 September 2007 Breath of Fresh Air on Fred�s Van Last night, where normally all the special stuff is grabbed by 5 or 6 people, who prevent others accessing it, the guy in charge insisted they took one, and went around again .... or Fred's would leave ... and once he did that. So the smart ones tried him out and hurled insults at him. People in the line grumble about how they get treated, but the abuse that the volunteers get in trying to be fair is one side your "column" rarely *(mentions). But it may well explain why no one wants to do any more than they are doing now, and I can see why. You said that Brett Grant got refused at the Salvos, but it wasn't just a find a bed for the night project, you had to agree to give up drugs and alcohol. His friends say that he didn't want to. The rules were set by the Gov with the grant, and whether it was empty or not depends on who you believe ... Cappo's Mob or the Salvo's. I believe the Salvos as I've spoken to some guys who *(were) there ... they were on TV, and lots of them. There is only one way to give up alcohol ... cold turkey. Brett would have died anyway ... his massive brain damage was the results of his substance abuse ... it was only which day. As soon as his death was announced it was pointed out he had been taking drugs and alcohol that day, and he had massive medical problems, but wouldn't take his medication. In June, 4 other people from Hutt Street Centre also died ... in bed ... of alcohol, drug problems ... one a girl just 16 years old. 50 to 60 people from the homeless/disadvantaged circuit die each year and have an annual memorial service. It is sad, but you can't get brain transplant, and if it is your kidneys or liver, transplants are rarely available and you probably won't get one if you still drink as it will automatically fail. The sad fact, but inescapable, is that huge numbers of Australians kill themselves each year from smoking, drug abuse and alcohol (and kill or maim others in drink/drug driving or in murderous rages *(fuelled) by drugs and alcohol). Brett's death was very sad, but he pulled the trigger, not anyone else. Remember that over 90% of the population can drink, drive, *(and gamble) etc without killing themselves or others or becoming addicted. No one can smoke or take drugs without causing harm. People can give up addictions but they have to do the "Hard Yards." No one can change behaviour *(except) the person that is having the problems, and it is tough changing, but many alcoholic and drug addicts are living on very precarious borrowed time, especially with brain damage. In excess, alcohol is a cruel and deadly poison: remember it is used to pickle specimens; it pickles the brain, kidneys and liver, and damages the blood vessels, which in Brett's case burst in the brain. You then die or if you ever recover you are a sad, hollow shell of your former self ... a life of "vigor mortis" which is next worse to "rigor mortis." I've seen these "Dead Men Walking" too many times. Dr X 28 August 2007 Strategic Analysis The Government should provide more drying out facilities that just provide safety for the night, and then provide counselling to help people make the longer term decisions about rehabilitation ... for which some people may need to make the three steps forward and two steps back till they reach their goals. They used to use prisons to dry people out, but maybe better is just a simple small room setup, with just the basics and a brekkie and maybe a chat with a trained person, and just basic supervision. The Salvo project is a more comprehensive project for people with a more advanced degree of motivation ... but "one size doesn't fit all" even in socks, let alone rehabilitation. The same as some people aren't ready for H-Trust immediately, but maybe some staged, assisted steps along the ways. I am sure many more lives could be saved in a flexible, humane process, without being hamstrung with complicated bureaucratic red tape, and impossible guidelines. Rehabilitation can be tough, but do you don't have to make it in one go, individuals vary. Brett could have been saved with more care earlier, as his work in Hutt Street showed, but sadly often when people's medical conditions deteriorate too far, they sadly lose. Dr X 28 August 2007 Prison Numbers Increasing David Cappo ("the next Pope") trumpeted a decrease in homelessness in South Australia by fifty people in South Australia between 2001 and 2006. He didn't mention the continuous increase in prisoner numbers especially those charged but not convicted because of a clogged court system. 28 August 2007 The Meths Guy The Meths Guy (aka Lloyd), splashed the last half of his litre of methylated spirits on the bricks in Gawler Courtyard last night. �Take me to Detox,� he shouted at soup kitchen volunteers, some of whom veered away in fear, not knowing The Meths Guy is as safe as gold. A more experienced volunteer known as Mrs Everedge tried to get the Mobile Assistance Patrol or the Emergency Medical Technology ambulance but they were unavailable. Police eventually took The Meths Guy in a paddy wagon to Detox. 28 August 2007 Just Another Lie In Bob Ellis� movie, Run, Rabbit, Run the Premier of South Australia is saying that upon election in 2006 he issued an edict that there would be no further selling off of assets. Yet his government continually sells off public housing flats, units and houses to developers: they don�t hide this fact. It�s like Rann doesn�t care if he�s seen to be lying. 28 August 2007 Bad Weatherill The Minister for Destroying the Housing Trust, Jay Weatherill, has flagged the further selling off of public housing beyond the 8000 scheduled over the next ten years. He�s blaming it on reduced funding from the federal government. 28 August 2007 Systemic Corruption and Dysfunction Tonight will be a cold night for the 150 people sleeping outside in the Adelaide CBD area. Tonight there will be dozens of halls, foyers, rooms, porches, courtyards, board rooms, restaurants in Adelaide kept locked and empty. They're all owned and/or controlled by homelessness agencies and missions. 22 August 2007 Sweet Talking Deceiver Jay Weatherill, The Minister for Destroying the Housing Trust announced last fortnight that the sell-off of 16 Trust homes per week for the next ten years would now include sales to low-income people. Prior to this whole suburbs were sold to developers and even the tenants were not offered a choice to buy: it was simply, Get Out. This enabled the developers to make money from the redevelopment then sell or rent the houses back to poor people at a higher amount. Developers will still get big sections of suburbs, especially around Elizabeth where hundreds of houses will be knocked down, the tenants shifted elsewhere, then new houses built on the sites that will be rented or sold to military industry people. The �next Pope� was strangely, but not uncharacteristically silent on this type of issue. 22 August 2007 Hyphen-Smith and her old job ��the joy and simplicity and short term satisfaction of a dead body.� Jane Lomax-Smith talking about her old job of doing autopsies. 22 August 2007 Coastlands Keeping An Eye on Green A certain staff member at the Coastlands Christian Community Church was keeping an eye on John Andrew Green last Sunday at the free meal for homeless people at Gawler Courtyard. Especially when he got near the volunteers: they're Green's favourite target: well meaning and with wealth from a lifettime of working. 22 August 2007 Missing In Action? Peter J? The former footy and race tipster from the Melbourne Truth; an icon in the homeless scene: Where is he? 22 August 2007 Scam Monitor Rumour has it that the ACC public libraries IT section is logging and monitoring emails and messages sent and posted by John Green. Green can often be seen at the Grote Street library during weekdays, aggressively pushing his chair back if someone peeks at what he is doing. 21 August 2007 Pokies Player Prosecuted The Sky City Casino is prosecuting a pokies player who won over 20k on a pokies machine that Sky City Casino allege was faulty: he shouldn�t have won. 21 August 2007 Calling all Homeless Adelaide SkyCity Casino �earned� a lousy $98 million last year, a slight drop on the previous year despite raising the price of their Caf� Junction meals to $5. They can�t get too much more from the homeless scene unless they get more homeowners to sell their houses and blow it in the Casino. 21 August 2007 Inspired Recipe No 2 Street Charity Collectors Two of those dodgy charity collectors from Child Fund Australia, operating outside Parliament last fortnight, were seen in a city pokies joint playing the one-dollar minimum machines. 20 August 2007 Gambling A man in the homeless scene was saying how he won $32k at the Melbourne Casino. When he was leaving the table a Pit Boss tried to get him to stay in a hotel room that night compliments of the Casino. He said he was leaving and returned to Adelaide. "They wanted me to go back the next day and lose it," he told me. 20 August 2007 Disease Gambling is a huge disease plaguing people in the homeless culture. The problem is that the staff are welcoming; losers are often rewarded with quality coffee from the bar rather than the cheap and nasty free stuff. One man even brings roses for the change counter at one place. 20 August 2007 Vague Talk If you want to experience vague replies ask the Sky City Casino employees at the Action Station to explain how their points system operates. It appears to be in their interest that people don't understand the hidden clauses. For example: the Casino was advertising in Messenger newspapers their two-for-one offer for meals at Caf� Junction. So one would assume their $5 lunch would be two meals for $5. Oh, no. A clause at the bottom of the ad said, "Not valid with any other offers." This included the Action card discount which usually reduces the meal price to $5. So if you can't use the Action card the two meals would be $8.00. This is a slight discount but definitely not two-for-one. 20 August 2007 Strangely Alert Cleaners Those cleaners who dress up in Port Power colours and check in nooks and crannies everywhere aren't simply cleaners. Watch them closely and you'll see they do very little cleaning. And when you look at them you might discover they're already looking at you then they'll look away, not wanting to make personal contact at any level. 20 August 2007 Preying on the Addicted Last week's Woolworth's grocery flyer had one page advertising fruit and vegetables and five pages of alcohol. 20 August 2007 Drug Dealers have it Easy A person on the dole earning seven dollars an hour at some odd job like mowing lawns may lose forty-percent of this amount to Centrelink. This is often 40% of the gross amount so the actual amount earned may be reduced to two or three dollars an hour. Yet a Drug Dealer earning a few hundred dollars a week needs to declare nothing because that activity is illegal and doesn't involve ABN numbers and tax payments. And getting caught doesn't seem to be an issue when you consider the thousands of small-time dealers here in Adelaide and how few of them are caught. 20 August 2007 "Where's Philthy?" Someone looking for a scrap collector who had been working with dirty matrials that day. 17 August 2007 Mystery Man Reports "Australia is a lucky country. We got everything we need. We should appreciate everything we get. Government put a roof over our head. We shouldn't complain. In my book heads would roll." Mystery Man at a church homeless centre. 17 August 2007 Inspirational Recipes No 1 Make me Laugh, Joe Women like men who make them laugh. They treat men better who play the clown for them. Aunt Agatha and other women at the Hutt Street Centre should remember not to disfavour men who choose not to make them laugh at the compulsory $2 lunch interview. 16 August 2007 Flu Vaccine Ray, who uses Hutt Street Centre (The Daughters, says they're giving away free flu vaccines there. Some of the other homeless joints also offer a free flu jab. 16 August 2007 Thanks The former editor of this column acknowledges the supply of documents from anonymous senders and which he regularly passes on to me. We never disclose sources and destroy physical packaging and email details upon receipt. 16 August 2007 eBay Mystery Before John Green was turfed out of eBay http://myworld.ebay.com/shortyjag he'd received 96 complementary notices from customers for his dolls, shoes and clothing plus three complaints from people saying they'd paid but not received the goods. The mystery is where does a man who lives on the streets obtain his supplies. And how could he sell items for such low prices, lower than wholesale? 16 August 2007 Galloper the Innocent A new Pope gets a new name when ascending to the position. Any suggestions for "the next Pope's" new name? 16 August 2007 Human Destiny The most important experience for human beings is to consciously live their individual destinies. If helping the "homeless" involves forcing a human being to consume psychiatric drugs that anesthetise the brain permanently, then that help may be an evil act. 16 August 2007 Cappo's Deceit As Cappo was spruiking his report on the Gang of 49 Media Mike's government announced it was cancelling a $520,000 grant to Classic Cars at Beyer Road, Elizabeth South. Classic Cars was a car repair joint where young "offenders" would repair car wrecks back to new then donate them to victims of crime. Of 90 "offenders" who faced charges of car theft, assault and home invasion in the past 18 months just one has since "re-offended" after going through the course. So what will the government do with the saved $520,000? Well, it will keep the office bureaucrats of the Social Inclusion Unit, in the State Administration Centre, going for just over ten weeks: enough time to churn out another report. And what of Cappo's recommendations for the Gang of 49? The bottom line appears to be longer jail sentences and the treating of minors as adults in South Australian courts. And what is the usual result of prison sentences? It's more re-offending for the majority of people coming out of prison. 13 August 2007 Gang of 48? Some time back one of the Gang of 49 was killed. Does this mean the Gang should be designated the title: Gang of 48? What happens if the Gang recruits four new members? Should it be renamed the Cappo Meal Ticket Gang? 13 August 2007 Positive Response Teen Challenge has responded favourably to suggestions that they park the rusty truck pulling the Raven Trailer Ministry on the grass under a tree in Hindmarsh Square opposite the RAA. It was previously parked in a parking spot on the street. It still isn't ideal because the Council has removed most of the seating and knocked down the toilets. 13 August 2007 "The Galloping Next Pope" �The next Pope� could increase his efficiency by using horse steroids. Steroids change a slow walk into a breakneck gallop. �The next Pope� could gallop from his bedroom at the Archbishop�s House to Catholic Central in two minutes flat. He�d also become famous like the �Galloping Gourmet� of the 1960s; he�d become �the Galloping Next Pope�. As to �Cappos�s Cure for the Gang of 49, well, it seems he must have pressed �auto text� on his computer and printed some old report: Lock them up, drug them out, offer education courses like in the Job Network and start an �Arts Festival There appears very little change in the homeless scene except the hiring of new bureaucrats. We never see them except the luminaries at events like the Christmas Party at Hutt Street Centre when �the Galloping Next Pope� and Media Mike turn up for the cameras then piss of once the shooting is finished. 8 August 2007 Ooh, what poor people, ugh, derelicts A man and woman aged about sixty, well dressed, walked inadvertently amongst fifty of us lining the footpath opposite the RAA building last Thursday. We were waiting for the cooks from the Jasmin Restaurant to bring the boxes of food to the rust-covered Teen Challenge truck. The woman was shocked seeing so many �poorly dressed� people in one place. Her face went into �compassionate mode� then disgust and fear at finding herself amongst �needy people� then back to compassionate. It was both touching and disgusting to see the human side of such hypocrisy as the couple walked, eyes straight ahead, through us. When the food arrived almost everyone took a container then pissed off. Who wants to eat standing up as office commuters walk by with such unbelieving yet angry gestures? posted 6 August 2007 People with food stains on their coats You can pick Fred�s Van clients. We�ve usually got food stains on our coats from eating while standing up and being jostled in the crowd. Or we�re wearing those striped, high-quality beanies, all of similar design and given away at Fred�s Van. 3 August 2007 Dominick�s mother died last week. 3 August 2007 This week�s food report It was Tandoori Chicken again at the Teen Challenge Meal. It was superb food from Jasmin Restaurant though the venue � across the road from the RAA � was horrible and almost everyone took the food containers and pissed off. Fred�s Van forgot the rice and curry last night and the cheese sandwiches were just cheese and margarine � no tomato and lettuce. But the fruit was high-quality, not throw away junk. The mood at Fred�s Van was excellent, too. The mood was also good at WestCare and a slice of orange was provided for the horrible fish though it needed tomato sauce and vinegar to kill its �flavour�. The bread was plentiful and �day old� rather than �week old�. The staff are respectful of the diners just like a real restaurant. 3 August 2007 Horse Steroids �D� was saying his �you-know-what� was getting big then would get small, really small and he wondered what was wrong. He blamed it on �J� but I said it was his age. �What can I do?� he asked. �Get some horse steroids from one of those fitness gyms,� I answered. �What does it do?� he asked. �When you try to walk slowly you gallop down the street,� I replied, adding "There are other symptoms associated with stallions. " 3 August 2007 Strange �Officials� outside Parliament Charity collectors standing outside Parliament House were getting people to sign contracts allowing automatic monthly debits from their bank accounts. The �good cause� was child welfare or something like that. Donors probably aren�t aware that the first $45 goes to the person who signs them up; the next $45 goes to the agency that hired the collector. Only after that does the charity actually receive anything and this is still only a percentage of what is donated because by signing the contract the donor becomes �a product� of the collections company. On average just 15% of what is donated actually gets to the charity. This is because the donors often get sick of the monthly debits and this often happens before a cent reaches the charity. Save the Children Fund and a whole lot of major charities hire these collection agencies. The collectors mentioned above were acting as if they were Parliamentary officials, greeting people as they entered Parliament. 2 August 2007 Oysters �I like Kilpatrick better than the Oysters in �Oysters Kilpatrick�.� Sandra, Port Adelaide 2 August 2007 Courage and Discretion There is open disbelief from homeless bureaucrats about Cappo�s media claims that �homelessness� has gone down. Why don�t they have the courage to publicly dispute �the next Pope�? 2 August 2007 Afton House Redevelopment Here is the backyard of Afton House. Does it give you that warm, cuddly feeling looking at the picture? It appears there won�t be any backyard. I wonder who will work there. Maybe Lady Adolph from East Park Lodge will be tempted. 2 August 2007 The Chinese Student There was a mature-age Chinese student desperately trying to contact the Barmera Scam Artist, John Green. The student had worked fifteen-years in China saving money to study Accountancy in Australia. He came to the homeless scene to practice his English. John Green was having quiet meetings with him elsewhere and then Green was laughing that the student kept phoning him and that he, Green, wasn�t going to reply. Big Joke, it seems. What was it about. 2 August 2007 Getting the mix right New York real estate agent, Roseanne Haggerty, when she was "Thinker-in-Residence", recommended a mix of business, �homeless� people, students and artists for buildings like the proposed "Vanity House" in Light Square. But Adelaide middle-class art students tend to rage throughout the night while ex-homeless people are trying to get off alcohol and drugs and make up for chronic sleep deprivation. The mix rarely works well. Ask the staff from Spectrum when they tried to mix African refugees with ex-Glenside patients. So perhaps the Social Inclusion Unit will have to fudge the books, so-to-speak when they fill "Vanity House": Something that will make it look like the $250,000 spent on the New York real estate agent was actually acted on: that elusive mix of business, homeless and artistic people. It would require quite an amount of �spin�. They could hire �Hand Job� Hancock, Street-to-home's spin-doctor-on-call. He might recommend filling Vanity House with homeless people exclusively, but like any �spin doctor� worth his or her salt would be able to put a different spin on the situation. He might recommend asking each one if they've ever drawn a picture in Reception or Primary School, whatever. Those answering yes could be classed as Artists. Or, conversely, Vanity House could be filled with TAFE art students. Each one could be asked if they've ever been camping. Bingo: Problem solved. But how could they add fictitious business people to the mix. Perhaps by asking either group if anyone had ever sold raffle tickets. Those answering yes would be Vanity House�s new �business people�. 30 July 2007 ************************************************ The Ian Cox Tradition "This worker at Hutt Street Centre helped me a lot. I was three days in St Vinnies, phew, and yesterday moved into East Park Lodge. Three floors up to a cell-like room," said the new inmate. "At least it's clean," I replied. "Do they still have unisex showers?" "Yeah," he shuddered. "I was in and out early. You wouldn't want to take chances with some of those sheilas there." "Does Lady Adolf still work there?" I asked. "I don't know. Like I said, I only moved there yesterday. 30 July 2007 At Fred�s Van *********************************************** More about the other side of child protection "She can sue them [the perpetrators] when she becomes an adult," says Gale quoting a social worker responding to her claim that her nine-year-old daughter had been sexually molested twice while in foster care. Gale adds, "FACS [FamiliesSA] knew this but didn't tell me for three years. After five years [In Care] she was five-years-old and they sent her to a psychiatrist - she's so mixed up." Gale is trying to regain custody of her daughter who was taken away at birth when Gale suffered post-natal depression. "The problem is that most social workers haven't had children; they don't know what it's like to lose your child," says Gale. Gale and Jason were at Chat'n'Chew in Port Adelaide. 30 July 2007 ************************************************** Last person out please turn off the lights Staff at the Disability Information and Resource Centre were heard talking about retrenchment payouts: 1.3 weeks of pay for each year of employment. DIRC has lost half their government funding that appears to have been redirected to �the next Pope� at the Social Inclusion Unit. 30 July 2007 ********************************************* The Xanax Kid �I�ve had ten full-strength Xanax this morning and they�re not doing a thing. That�s equivalent to 60 Valium. I should be overdosing,� said �J� at a WestCare lunch. �What happens if you don�t take them?� I asked. �I get violent,� he said, adding, �I was in Goulburn [Prison] for sixteen years.� But �J� is congenial and recently lost seven front teeth while helping a drunk stranger across West Terrace. The drunk thought he was being attacked and punched the �J� in the mouth. The drunk appeared in danger of being hit by a car. �J� has blood clots around his heart and has had a heart attack and is due to go into hospital within a week � for a short stay. 30 July 2007 ********************************************** Reactions to John Green in the Adelaide Homeless Scene �He should be stopped. He could kill someone: if they had a heart problem or something.� Person 1 �Call the police. If you don�t, I will.� Person 2 �He looks evil.� Person 3 �Oh, he�s around the place, all over, uh, so I�ve heard.� Person 4 � A Green Supporter �I can have him bashed for you,� Person 5 30 July 2007 ****************************************************************** Barmera fraudster�s latest activities John Green has been operating an eBay account since January this year He was selling shoes, jeans, jackets, dolls not the sort of things you�d think a homeless man would have on hand. Customers appeared satisfied until May, 2007 when three complained they�d sent money but not received the items. Green�s eBay account http://myworld.ebay.com/shortyjag was quickly cancelled just five months after he began �trading�. He operated his eBay business from the Grote Street library and the Hutt Street Centre and might have had a female accomplice from Hackham West, a southern Adelaide suburb. His user-ID was �shortyjag�: �shorty� is the nickname from his football days in Barmera, South Australia; �jag� stands for John Andrew Green. 27 July 2007 Vanity House The $10 million "Vanity House" for homeless and artistic people will fit between Light Square Studios, The Australian School of Ballet and Club 69/Rise at Light Square. A fitness gym is around the corner where some guy once sold horse steroids. The Remand Centre is also nearby and Offenders Aid just up Morphett Street. Talk about product placement: drugs next door; young girls on the other side for the perverts; Remand Centre when you get caught and Offenders� Aid when you get out of the slammer. Of course, while the construction plans have already been broadcast by "the next Pope", the actual completion date is years away. PS: Let's hope "the next Pope" doesn't develop a taste for horse steroids. 26 July 2007 New Green Picture Latest Homeless Count The latest inner city homeless count shows that 82 "rough sleepers" were counted by four homeless agencies on 19th June 2007. This compares with an inner city count last year by Greg Calder and Roseanne Haggerty of just 37 "rough sleepers", a figure promoted by Haggerty in "Smart Moves", a book published by the South Australian government. Even more surprising is that the figure of 82 came from just three homeless agencies, Byron Place Community Centre, Hutt Street Centre, and WestCare plus Street-to-home. It didn't include "rough sleepers" who didn't attend the three day centres that day or those who evaded Street-to-home. There were also nearly fifty people who refused to answer or were incapacitated when asked if they were sleeping outside. Another 15 indicated they were "rough sleepers" but didn't say if they lived in the inner city or suburban areas of Adelaide. A further 11 "rough sleepers" indicated they slept outside of the inner city area. The Inner City figure may actually be close to 150 "rough sleepers" according to anecdotal estimates from people living in the homeless scene. A strange anomaly with both surveys is that they were conducted by teams that included Greg Calder, an employee of Street-to-home who, if rumour is true, knew that the figure of "37" was false yet didn't contradict it for fear of annoying his boss, John Forward, or Social Inclusion Commissioner, David Cappo. Thanks to the Central Northern Adelaide Health Service for help in compiling this report. The Homeless Count is conducted by the four agencies for the Social Inclusion Unit. 23 July 2007 **************************************************** Boom Box Baby Gary, aka Gaz, whose favourite word is "Cock", was playing his Boom Box loudly in arcade at the Central Markets. He wouldn't turn it down so the guards grabbed it and threw it in the dumpster. Gaz reached in to get it out and fell into the bin. We hope he is alright. 23 July 2007 ********************************************* "Good old" Tay �Tay? She didn�t get that job due to intellect.� An Adelaide City Council member referring to Tay Parker, a social development officer with the Council. 23 July 2007 ***************************************************** The Next Guy? Diners at one table at the Hutt Street Centre meal last Friday were talking about a second man who died of hypothermia while sleeping in the South Parklands. 23 July 2007 **************************************************** She fell off the roof �I feel sick,� said the woman at a charity meal. �Oh, oh, vomit,� I warned everyone. She fell off her faulty roof the day before. HousingSA maintenance won�t fix it though, to be fair, she was on the roof to remove a dead bird. But HousingSA maintenance levels are a disgrace. 23 July 2007 ******************************************************* The Good Man �He's a good man; he had a wife and house and then something went wrong; he played the machines (pokies) and now he has nothing.� An old guy talking about the old Asian man who sometimes goes to Fred's Van. 23 July 2007 ******************************************************* That strange hospital Dominick got kicked out of the Royal Adelaide Hospital last week. He was trying to visit his dying mother (probably stomach cancer), but couldn�t. He complained to the customer complaints guy at the RAH who then called four security guards who arrived as they were putting on surgical gloves. �Why are you doing that,� Dominick asked the guards. �So we don�t get our germs over you,� one guard answered. Dominick ran away, chased by the guards. He said he did say nasty things to the complaints guy. He also says he�s so worried about his mother's decline. 23 July 2007 ****************************************************************************** Peter Reports "Just some info I thought you might like. On page 2 of yesterday's Advertiser (Wednesday July 18) it is reported that the homeless statistics used by the South Australian State Government are inaccurate. "As luck would have it Cappo himself was on ABC Radio National this morning quoting those same inaccurate figures and saying what a wonderful job he and his friends are doing. "For a long time now it has been well known that Rann idolises Tony Blair, well Cappo said Rann got the idea of the "social inclusion unit" from Blair's own policies. "Also, Rann is doing something (I'm not sure of the details) about some Greek or Cypriot people forced from their homes on one of the Greek Islands (I think) yet he is also evicting pensioners from their homes here so that the dwellings can be developed and sold. Small groups of housing trust workers are attending homes and explaining why the tenants need to be re-located. One worried woman I know of was told multiple times on the phone that there was no plans for her own house. She made a freedom of information request and found the architectural plans for the redevelopment of her property! What none of these people are being told is that the Housing Trust don't have the right and can't under their own rules and regulations evict or transfer tenants simply to redevelop a property. Ignorance is bliss as far as Rann, Cappo, Weatherill and Kalamaras are concerned! 23 July 2007 *************************************************** Media Mike Peter's Second Report "Mike Rann has a habit of getting himself into films his government provides assistance to. He even has his own 'Internet Movie Data Base' page (any negative comments get deleted, Mikey knows where to complain). He uses the Office of Premier as a blatant self-promotion on the national and international stage with the encouragement and support of Labor lacky left-overs like Bob Ellis. Methinks these two stooges have an eye on "The Lodge" or even a job at the U.N. like Tony Blair himself? Ah, to dream the impossible dream! But then as little Mikey knows with duo citizenship and a British passport, the sky's the limit when South Australian taxpayers are providing the funds." 23 July 2007 *************************************************** Dirty Politics �It�s discrimination,� answered a government employee to the question of why the Adelaide City Council keeps rejecting WestCare�s application to build accommodation units on their church mission property near Whitmore Square. �Units are going up everywhere in the Southwest corner, my informant said, "It�s the people WestCare wants to accommodate that is the problem.� �Can Cappo step in?� I asked. �Doesn�t he have the power?� �It depends on who actually has the power,� the employee responded. 23 July 2007 ******************************************************* Menstrual Cycles and the Listerine Kid It is said that in any female group the subservient women synchronise their menstrual cycles with that of the alpha female. Could this phenomenon be taking place with David Waterford of the Social Inclusion Commission? He's rapidly growing bald as if copying his master, "the next Pope". 16 July 2007 Location, location, location The new showcase homeless centre costing ten million dollars next to the the School of Ballet in Light Square is just around the corner from the Remand Centre. How convenient is that? 16 July 2007 Crim Track or Homeless Track? Having to provide ID to sit at the two-dollar meal at Hutt Street Centre isn't just the humiliation of having to do the charity case dance for Tabitha Collings. It is also part of the Social Inclusion tracking system where the movement of people who use homeless joints is being recorded so a map can be made of their everyday routine. This is great for police, street-to-home types, etc, when they want to grab people, but it doesn't make the Hutt Street Centre look so sweet. 16 July 2007 Rumour Rumours persist about a homeless centre closing down. Ian Cox of Hutt Street Centre better check regularly any noise in that empty lot next door. It could be "the next Pope" firing up a bulldozer, figuratively speaking. 16 July 2007 Rotten Charity Food I felt guilty at home discovering the Coles Chocolate Nobles given out at Fred's Van on Thursday night were stale, inedible. The reason for my guilt is that I gave two packets to a man sleeping in a doorway in James Place, near the Cheap as Chips entrance. He was very happy receiving them but I gave him rubbish. It was sort of like kicking a person when they were down. 16 July 2007 The other side of Child Protection Gale was saying at Chat'n'Chew in Port Adelaide last week that the foster mother of her daughter didn't provide the kid for Gale's scheduled access visit because she decided to take her somewhere else. Gale says the social workers are useless. It is sort of like when one partner denies access to the other partner except that the foster "mother" is paid by the government to look after Gale's daughter. Gale and Jason, along with Anne Bressington, are trying to get her daughter back. Gale was declared bi-polar many years ago and has been stable for years but the stigma of the label means she hardly ever sees her daughter. 16 July 2007 Driller Jet Armstrong need not apply WestCare had a problem with metal spoons from their dining room being used to mix and cook drugs. They solved the problem by drilling holes in the spoons but patrons complained about soup dribbling on their chins and clothing. WestCare finally switched to little plastic spoons. However, if you're a volunteer and have the right contacts with the kitchen staff you get metal spoons. Perks of the office. 16 July 2007 Disquiet Amongst the Diners "That's it, next week Hutt Street," said a client at WestCare's fish and chip meal last Friday. The fish had been overcooked three weeks in a row because the Cook shot through. The fish also smelled horrible until David doused mine with ketchup to kill the taste and smell. 16 July 2007 St Vinnies Night Shelter "It's run like a prison. The Manager is an ex-screw, that's how bad it is," said a resident at St Vinnies Night Shelter in Whitmore Square "Much improved. You have your own room and key and two meals a day for five-dollars," said another resident. 16 July 2007 ******************************************************** Comedy at the House of Evil Dominick and Jill were sitting next to "Big Al", the famous comedian, at the Casino on Thursday night. They didn't go to the Teen Challenge meal perhaps because Dominick was still unhappy about falling over last week, or because they decided to take advantage of the one-dollar beers at the Casino, which was happening at the same time as the Teen Challenge meal of Chicken Tandoori. 16 Julyt 2007 ********************************************************* Unsweet Logic An African twenty-year-old was trying to register for housing with HousingSA, and get a place so he could move out from Mum's place, but the office worker said he didn't have enough income from his partial Youth Allowance to pay HousingSA rent. She suggested he move out then apply for a Centrelink payment as someone who was living independently: a higher rate of pay. Can't you just love the logic? Of course the whole scene was played out at the front counter: no privacy, no respect. Most staff, but not including Dot Casey, are so used to behaving with such insensitivity that they no longer realise they're insensitive. 16 July 2007 Job Creation Another man told them he wanted to remove one area from the list of five areas previously approved of by Housing SA. Another office worker said he'd have to get a doctor's letter to say why he didn't want to be offered housing in Area 7. He said he didn't want to move there (Rosewater, etc) because of crims and drug addicts. "You can't say that," the office worker responded. He asked for the address of the Housing Appeals Panel but the staff wouldn't tell him where it was. The Housing Trust isn't simply being destroyed by selling off housing: it's the selling off the respect of its clientele. 16 July 2007 That old pervert at Fred's Van "Do you have nuts," Ray, the old, fat volunteer shouted at me, his face close. I gasped in horror then looked, strangely, at the two teenage girls serving food. "Do you have a bag?" the pervert shouted as I fled the scene while he handed out bags of cashews. 16 July 2007 New Talent Dominick said he was thinking of becoming a comedian. He looks like one and people laugh when he talks. That's a very good start. 16 July 2007 The human spirit *** ******* was saying last week that she will live outside until she solves the problems that drove her outside in the first instance. This echoes the Social Inclusion philosophy where housing and the reasons for living outside are dealt with together, or so I thought until reflecting the differences. But the woman was talking of letting her mind and emotions deal with her history while the Social Inclusion response invariably involves degrees of institutionalisation and pharmaceutical subjugation. The woman living outside said there is no pointing in dumping people in housing if the reasons that drove them outside in the first instance have not been resolved. She said the worst thing about government housing is that people are offered units in ghettoes of drug addicts, criminals, often the types of people that the person living outside was trying to escape by living outside. She got pretty emotional after this and I can't remember much else of what she said. 16 July 2007 Brett Grant A person at the Casino says that Brett Grant was trying to stay at the Salvation Army Detox joint days before he died of hypothermia while sleeping outside. He was working days, unpaid, cleaning up Hutt Street so the richer folk would think those living outside were really nice people. He knocked off some wine from a friend's house in Walkerville and that got him over the .05 limit required to enter Detox, the person says. It's strange that while many beds were empty in Detox Brett Grant was sleeping outside and dying. 16 July 2007 Euphemisms from the Sleaze-Meister himself "Some agencies may continue to do what they do while we might ask others to rejig a little. The Council and inner city service providers have been very supportive of Common Ground and Rosanne Haggerty's recommendations. I hope this continues." "The next Pope" appears long since past using clear frank language that people not "in the know" can understand. 16 July 2007 More Deceptive Language "Over the past four years, 12,609 homeless people have been helped through a range of initiatives." "The next Pope" gives the impression his Social Inclusion Board 14-point plan has somehow done the work. Actually, things were happening before "the next Pope" got his Commissioner gig. And of the 12,609 number I wonder how many were actually living outside? And the few that actually moved from outside to under a roof, I wonder how many returned to living outside, then back inside then back outside and then classed as two homeless people finding housing despite the possibility that the one person may be back outside, anyway. Rumour has it that the Minister for Destroying the Housing Trust is selling off part of the Parks Community Centre to private businesses. If true, no doubt this will be promoted as "saving it". 16 July 2007 Where does the "Social Inclusion" money actually end up? Dominick couldn�t get from the road to the footpath at the Teen Challenge van outside the RAA building last Thursday night. The 12cm rise was too much. He asked someone for a hand but during the process fell with his full weight on the concrete. He was worried his trousers had been ripped: they weren�t, luckily. Tony was there, too. He was having bad headaches. He�s had two strokes and can hardly speak: so soft and muffled, but he�s always pleasant to be around. An inspiration. The Christian fellow who lost a lot of weight recently can�t walk properly anymore because his spine, misshapen from birth, has begun affecting his legs, but he can get around on the bicycle he bought for $35. There were some half-melted Kit-Kat bars at the Teen Challenge meal. Some dude stole a loaf of bread: the bread that is served with the food. No big deal but a little rude. 12 July 2007 Calder the Comedian �Haw, haw, haw,� said a social worker when told the Social Inclusion Unit is still pushing "the short fuse" and the New York real estate agent�s �37� figure for �rough sleepers in the Adelaide CBD. 12 July 2007 �Homeless� numbers down 5%???? �The next Pope�s� media release said, �The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that 852 people were counted in the 2006 National Census as sleeping rough in South Australia � a five per cent reduction.� But the strange thing is you don�t hear the various agencies that work at the homeless coalface corroborating �the next Pope�s� 5% reduction theme. It appears �the next Pope� is isolated at the top of the power structure and has little idea of what is going on in the homeless scene. He relies too much on those few ambitious bureaucrats in the Social Inclusion Unit that want to succour favour with him. When he does get amongst the �peasants� he�s so often accompanied by his photographer, the �Minister for Destroying the Housing Trust� or media Mike. 11 July 2007 **************************************************** Indira Naidoo�s Sister �The next Pope� is sending a woman around trying to get homeless agencies to provide ongoing housing/homeless histories of its clients. �Indira Naidoo�s Sister� wants clients to be identified using part of their initials and birthdate and the information supplied electronically for easier tracking later. Homeless agencies have been reluctant to provide this information electronically in the past but take seriously New York real estate agent, Roseanne Haggerty�s threat that some people will lose their jobs if they don�t adapt to new requirements. 11 July 2007 �The next Pope�s� photographer It would be interesting to see how much �the next Pope� spends on his photographer that seems to follow him around and take his photo for the Social Inclusion Unit�s newsletters and other propaganda. It wouldn�t be remotely close to the $750, 000 that is being taken from the Salvation Army at Whitmore Square but it perhaps it could be measured in blankets or gas that is used at Hutt Street Centre where showers are limited to five minutes. 11 July 2007 Questionable Statistics Rumour in the homeless scene is that �the next Pope� has been going around saying that homelessness is down 5% in South Australia. The Bureau of Statistics says their homeless data won�t be available until 2008 but if I wanted to pay $350 they�d provide it right away. The employee of the ABS said the State Government (including Social Inclusion Commission) has paid to get early data. If so, would �the next Pope� like to publish this data on his website? I�ve asked his spin doctor, Danielle Gordon, to provide the data. Why shouldn�t they? It would show how wonderful �the next Pope�s� program has been. It would also be interesting to compare the Adelaide CBD �rough sleeper� data with Roseanne Haggerty and �the short fuse�s (Greg Calder) count of �37� last winter, at about the same time the Census was done. It would also be interesting to see if putting that barbed wire topped cyclone fence around some Aboriginals camping in the sand dunes outside of Port Augusta changed their classification from �homeless� to �not homeless�. from the former Editor 9 July 2007 High Rollers Welcome The Adelaide Sky City Casino failed in its attempt to kick out Peter Bagdi for life. Their initial accusation was that he was a danger to other patrons after he circulated a note inside the Casino saying that Sky City Adelaide was being used by dubious people like money launderers and criminals, etc. Commissioner Pryor of the Liquor and Gambling Commission decided Peter was not a danger to other people. Peter was accompanied by three advocates while the Casino was represented by one man who gave his name as �Steve�. 4 July 2007 Community Groups Losing Funding The Disability and Information Resource Centre has lost $100,000 in funding from the State Government, according to one source. This is said to be �50% of the budget�. The Aquatic Centre has lost funding for much of its youth swimming training. A whole range of other organisations have lost funding. Meanwhile, millions will be spent on �showcase� projects for homeless people, like that Light Square thing. �The next Pope� is saying he will be visiting homeless centres to help them ��rejig� their services. In Social Inclusion NewSpeak this usually means replacing people who provide basic services to those living outside with bureaucrats who withdraw these services unless a person complies with �rehabilitation�, which usually means sacrificing privacy rights (allowing bureaucrats to get information from anyone at all about you), agreeing to use psychiatric drugs, and �counseling.� It�s a bit like the �starve them out� tactic in which those who don�t conform will find life living outside even harder than it is presently. Of course, �the next Pope� could explain precisely what he means but such frank speech is beyond this type of snake. 29 June 2007 Teen Challenge Hindmarsh Square Meal Moves to old RAA building in Grenfell Street. Teen Challenge was kicked out of the area in Hindmarsh Square, outside the building where Eric Gassy did his work. Either the bureaucrats or landlord pressured the Council to pressure the Jasmin Restaurant who gave Teen Challenge the hard word who told us that food would now be served outside the old RAA building in the dark. It is at 5:30pm on Thursdays. 29 June 2007 Two Black Eyes The man who got two black eyes and busted facial bones at Fred�s Van last week says two men jumped him. One later came back to nail him further but ***** says he got him back good. The other guy is still �walking around�, but not for long, another source says. ***** will undergo surgery, he says, next week, for facial re-alignment. 29 June 2007 King Canute �How dare you insult your betters and elders,� shouted a man looking skyward outside WestCare on Friday, just before lunch, to the cloudburst sky. 29 June 2007 Green hiding John Green has either been kicked off the dole or suffered reduced payments for not meeting Centrelink�s Activity Agreement. This usually means not doing work for the dole or looking for work. His Personal Support Program Case Manager has advised him to plead insanity and go on a Pension. Green is also avoiding the Central Markets when Kevin Norton, Chief of Staff at the Sunday Mail, is there drinking coffee. Kevin says Green cheated him of lots of money some years back when they met in Darwin. 29 June 2007 Million Dollar Writers Centre woman Barbara Mcfadyen, aka Barbara Wiesner, is celebrating receiving over a million dollars while being a non-writing employee of the South Australian Writers Centre in Rundle Street. She has earned more than most famous published Australian novelists during the same period. There must be a lesson here. 29 June 2007 The Great Stake-Out The police staked out Gawler Court on the weekend especially during the Fred�s Van hours. One officer was hiding in his unmarked car but when the Coastlands food van arrived it smashed into the police car. 27 June 2007 Recipe Section Coming Soon�Cappo�s Crazy Recipe of the Week. 27 June 2007 Rainy Night Blues They forgot the sausages and went back for them: it took thirty minutes. The spaghetti soup was burnt on the bottom giving the whole lot a burnt taste. 22 June 2007 That thin fellow who was charged with encouraging his pit bull terriers to attack someone on the parklands is back with another dog. First he replaced the two adults with a puppy pit bull terrier but someone stole it. Last night he was at Fred�s Van with a Queensland Blue Healer puppy. �What sort of person would steal someone�s dog,� he asked us. 22 June 2007 Who is the Social Inclusion Board? Three academics and four public servants and �the next Pope�. No one from the church-based agencies that actually have everyday experience with people living outside. The Board consists of Bettina Cass; Kerry Colbung; Bill Cossey; Graeme Hugo; Alwyn McKenzie; Mary Patetsos; Tanya Smith and �the next Pope�. 22 June 2007 All you can Eat �Sir, would you like to view our menu: barbecue meals, all you can eat for $28.00.� A spruiker on Gouger Street, Adelaide speaking to a man going to Hurtle Square for Moore Street Day Centre soup van. 20 June 2007 Thanks to the young woman who snuck up on me in Hindley Street last Thursday night and gave me a copy of "Smart Moves" witten, perhaps, by David "Listerine" Waterford in the State Administration Centre, under the name of Rosanne Haggerty. 19 June 2007 Artists to the Rescue? The government of South Australia continuously suggests that large renovated apartment blocks will house artists and homeless people. This doesn't sound realistic. Most artists I've come across hate homeless people, mental patients, ex-crims. Most artists are middle and upper class people. Spectrum, an off-shoot of the old Housing Trust, put African refugees and foreign students into housing developments with ex-psychiatric patients. It didn't work well at all. The Writers' Centre in Adelaide has for decades actively discouraged underclass writers from using the place. It is true that crims, psychiatric patients and homeless people are the most interesting people in the world, and that artists use these people as models. But living near them? Hardly, the upper-crust artists use them as fodder then shoot back to their more comfortable abodes. "The next Pope" may get around this problem by reclassifying some underclass and "homeless" people as artists then claim, yes, artists are happy to live in the same building with "homeless style" people. 19 June 2007 New York Real Estate Agent Threatens Homeless Centres? "They must now face the possibility that their jobs, and the future of the organizations in which they work, are at stake." From "Smart Moves" by Rosanne Haggerty, and published by the South Australian Government. P 26 Ian Cox of Hutt Street Centre feels the heat of this little threat from the Social Inclusion Commission. His church boss, "the next Pope", David Cappo, won't help retain Hutt Street Centre's independence and the nuns have been shipped out and are mostly retired. There is also that pesky rumour of the Hutt Street Centre being bulldozed, and replaced with a block of units for homeless people and with government welfare offices and a checkpoint at the front door. Ian might be retained if he switches sides, so to speak. Let's hope the rumour has no foundation. The fact that the Social Inclusion Commission's favourite psychiatric agency, Street-to-home has open access to client files is an ominous sign. 18 June 2007 Don't Unpack Your Bags? "�transitional residences such as Afton House�" From "Smart Moves" by Rosanne Haggerty, and published by the South Australian Government. So much for the housing security of those people who were living in Afton House. Many are under the impression they will be moving back to live there permanently once the renovations are completed. They're now in various temporary housing and may move back to Afton, but only temporarily then they'll be shipped off to somewhere else where they will be "assertively managed" or, if they don't play the game, back on the streets. 18 June 2007 �I wonder who will be next.� �J� asked our table at the WestCare Fish and Chips lunch today. We were talking about his friend with leukaemia who has moved in the Mary Potter Hospice. Also, Brett Grant, the unpaid worker in Hutt Street who died of apparent hypothermia while sleeping near Pulteney Grammar school. 15 June 2007 Foreign Material? �What�s all this black crap in the custard,� asked a patron at the same meal. I picked one without black crap in it, I laughed. �Look, again, said Gideon at the next table. He was right. My custard had black crap in it, too. 15 June 2007 Our former Editor reports �Rose�, an employee in Centrelink in Currrie Street wouldn�t accept some stuff from me because it was written in pencil and would give me a stamped copy as a receipt. I said, �Well, I�m leaving it here. You can toss it in the rubbish if you want.� She raised the pitch of her voice and replied, �Fine,� and made a gesture towards the floor as I walked out. She passed it on to another person in the office though I still phoned the Centrelink Complaints Hotline and told them they are too petty. 15 June 2007 Unwelcome well-intentioned Guests Seven police stormed the Teen Challenge meal at Hindmarsh Square: four men, one with arthritis, and three women, one with a charged camera and pants that pushed her buttocks upwards and outwards. The arthritis man said it was a PR exercise though it cast a gloom over the meal. To be fair there was already some gloom from people who were going to be sleeping out that night. One guy was sick. The police were at Fred�s Van, too. Someone said it was because someone got beaten up at 5pm that day at Gawler Court. One police detective, (the woman who looks like she�s on a mission for the Jehovah�s Witnesses), said they wanted to know if there we knew of any standover merchants threatening people living outside. She asked if I minded telling her my name. I said I did mind it and didn�t tell her. Heidi told the police her life story about her family losing their home in Germany after the war and also about her no-good ex-husband. It was a real gloomy meal, also, because even though the police were trying to help, almost everyone is suspicious of them especially after that person was beaten up in front of the Flinders Street Police Station and the police wouldn't come out of the station. 15 June 2007 Thanks, Norm, for the above. �I call him John Greed. I respect the word �Green� too much.� A former friend talking about the Barmera Scam Artist. 15 June 2007 Show Case Housing "A high-level support group has come together to raise $5 million in private support to match the State's $5 million pledge." Does this quote from "Smart Moves" by Rosanne Haggerty sound beautiful? The support group raised $5 million. Wow, what generosity. What isn't clear is whether the $5 million in private support was a donation or an investment. And was the government's $5 million a donation to the land developers like Theo Maras? Those sleazy politicians, like "the next Pope", at the Social Inclusion Commission, won't answer questions like the above. 15 June 2007 �Oh, God, no, that would be criminal.� An employee at the Bureau of Statistics on whether Street-to-home (Manager: Greg Calder), got access to the completed homeless Census2006 forms filled in by people living outside then used this information to build the Street-to-home dossier list on �homeless� people. 15 June 2007 The New Game "�identifying the chronically homeless and requiring that all placements into government-assisted housing be drawn from this prioritised list until all are housed�" From "Smart Moves" by Rosanne Haggerty and published by the South Australian Government. This is what "the next Pope" has been talking about for years. "Smart Moves" was published in January 2007. In June 2007 this still hasn't been implemented. A few people who are classed as "primary homeless" and others "at risk of homelessness" have still not got rental housing because it is still going to Category 2 and 3 people on the HousingSA waiting list. There is resistance to the "the next Pope's" desires because the number of "homeless" in South Australia could absorb the total allocation of government housing to people on Category 2 and 3. The government could no longer maintain the lie that those waiting on Category 2 and 3 had any chance of obtaining government housing. Therefore, don't expect "homelessness" numbers to change very much. 15 June 2007 "37" "A total of 37 rough sleepers were found." From "Smart Moves" by Rosanne Haggerty, a New York real estate agent hired for a reputed $250,000 as "Thinker in Residence". Haggerty said she, Street-to-home, and some university students went around counting people sleeping outside last winter and found 37. So if there were just 37 people sleeping outside in the Adelaide CBD in 2006 then Census 2006 results published this year should show a similar number. But everyone I've spoken to who is employed in the homeless scene says there are many more than this. One source said rough sleepers counted in 2006 for the Census were 135 so to keep the official numbers lower the Bureau of Statistics will need to either doctor-up or, rather, doctor-down the numbers to make the Social Inclusion Commission look good. 15 June 2007 Home |