Confusion reigns over Clover Moore's homeless tent city deal

The Lord Mayor of Sydney told media she had reached a deal with the organiser of Martin Place's tent city, but now it's shrouded in uncertainty.

Clover Moore

Future of Martin Place's Tent City uncertain after a press conference held by Sydney Mayor Clover Moore, August 7, 2017. Source: AAP

Uncertainty hangs over a deal to pack up a tent city in Sydney's CBD after a spokesman for the homeless contradicted an announcement by Lord Mayor Clover Moore that an agreement had been reached.

Cr Moore held a press conference on the steps of Town Hall on Monday evening where she said a deal had been done with Lanz Priestley, dubbed the Mayor of Martin Place.

She said council would help pack the camp up from Tuesday morning and transfer the approximately 70 residents to a "communal safe space" until temporary and permanent accommodation was found.

"I'm pleased to report I have negotiated an outcome with Lanz Priestley," Cr Moore said.

"Accommodation has been offered to people and they realise pressure is mounting and the crisis was really developing."
But as the press conference wound up, Mr Priestley appeared on the steps and cast doubt on the deal, saying the proposed safe space did not include beds.

"My understanding is that we have somewhere to transition the people to," he said.

"If we don't have somewhere for them to sleep we will have the same problem.

"If, in the Lord Mayor's mind, we're talking about a different concept, I think we need to have another discussion."

NSW Family and Community Services and council would chip in $100,000 each to establish the space, Cr Moore said.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian issued a final ultimatum to council earlier in the day warning them to remove a homeless settlement in Sydney's CBD, or the state government would.

Share
2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world