Source : Perth Now news
The “heartless” closure of a homeless shelter is driving vulnerable people to sleep rough, return to violent partners or live far from medical help, a federal minister says.
Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy says the closure of Darwin’s 300-bed YiSSA Homeless and Short Stay Facility as a “deep day of shame” for the NT government.
In a speech to federal parliament late on Tuesday, Senator McCarthy said the closure had cast people back onto the streets after the territory government declined a federal funding offer to keep the centre open.
“They’re sleeping rough on the streets of Darwin or in the long grass. They’re sleeping rough on the streets of Palmerston or in the long grass,” she said.
“They’ve returned to partners that it’s not safe for them to be with.
“They’ve returned to remote communities where they can’t get dialysis that they need for their renal needs, and these decisions could be fatal.”
NT’s Country Liberal Party government had made a “callous and heartless decision” to close YiSSA, Senator McCarthy said.
That was despite a rejected federal government offer of $3.5 million to help buy the YiSSA demountables from their owners Ausco.
The NT government instead proceeded with a plan to move YiSSA residents to another shelter in Batchelor, 100km south of Darwin.
Senator McCarthy said Batchelor was a small community of 500 people with limited policing and access to medical services, no public bus and where a taxi to Darwin would costs hundreds of dollars.
“I suggest that the priority was an out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach,” she said.
About 30 people out of the hundreds that were housed at YiSSA had agreed to move to the $18 million Batchelor facility.
NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro defended the relocation, saying the YiSSA facility was a “waste of money”.
NT Children and Families Minister Robyn Cahill said NT Health was working to find accommodation for YiSSA dialysis patients close to Darwin.
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