A homeless encampment has sprung up in the heart of Canberra, upsetting locals who say the city centre is in decline and now looks like a slum due to the left-wing Labor government.
A shocked resident shared photos on Sunday showing the makeshift camp outside a former National Australian Bank branch on the corner of Ainslie Place and London Circuit, about 100 metres down the road from the brand new ACT Government Office.
The bank building is now covered in graffiti, strewn with rubbish, and piled with belongings in trolleys and suitcases, while homeless people appear to be living at the site, with bedding hanging from a glass railing.
“What’s happened [to] Civic in Canberra? Looks like these homeless people could use some support and help maybe?” they wrote in the caption.
Other locals responded by saying the city was is “looking like the Bronx” , it was a shame to see such scenes in the nation’s capital, and that the Civic area had become “the slum of Canberra”.
“What has ever happened to our beautiful city. The capital of Australia, what a embarrassing view to see this. Who do we blame?” wrote one Aussie.
“Andrew Barr and Labor/Greens is what happened to Civic and given this is the former NAB branch it’s just around the corner from the flash new ACT Government building so perhaps the growing number of homeless could go and camp there as well,” another said.
“There’s plenty of programs to access. I walked past this place a few months ago and was also saddened by what has been going on. It just feels like a wasteland,” a third local wrote.
“Maybe we need to get rid of all the non-Australians and house people that are actually Australians and only allow Australians to buy businesses and houses and get rid of our stupid drug policy cause clearly that’s the problem,” wrote another.
Homelessness in Canberra has increased by 20% since 2017, according to housing peak body ACT Shelter, which said last month that the crisis was increasingly affecting young people.
Header image: Left, right the homeless encampment (Facebook).
