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Long-grassers seen as blight on Darwin's iconic foreshore

  • 28 November 2014

I was sitting on the front verandah of our lovely small flat on Darwin’s Nightcliff foreshore, having invited my adult son and his family over for dinner. We were talking the local Vinnies’ decision to relocate its SOS Van from its highly visible city location on The Esplanade. This followed the airing of safety issues and complaints from members of the community.

As we looked out on the bike and walking path adjacent to the azure Arafura Sea across from our home, he raised the uncomfortable but pertinent question that emerges for all residents when faced with the possibility that the tranquillity and amenity of their beautiful environment is threatened by anti-social behaviour in close proximity. 

Darwin has a small group of ‘long-grassers’ who live rough both in the vicinity of the CBD and the original dormitory suburbs to the north. The Vinnies SOS van has been servicing the needs of the Darwin City based group for many years, with a permit from the Darwin City Council. It offers a meal and hot drinks to homeless clients five nights a week in a spot close to where many of them spend the night. 

It is a highly visible and iconic location, a short distance from the War Memorial that commemorates the bombing of Darwin during World War II. Permanent residents live in high rise apartments nearby and tourists stay in the five star hotels along The Esplanade. Like my own verandah, here are some of the best views in the Top End.

My son and I wondered how a community is to respond to the needs of its most marginalised citizens when their behaviour becomes an embarrassment, and possibly a danger, to other residents and visitors.

Should the interests of tourist entrepreneurs be put before those of the homeless and hungry? Should residents be able to enjoy the their picturesque location without the noise, fighting and litter of the riff raff?

The issue emerged on the day after Italian media reported that the Vatican had installed a shower block for the homeless on the edge of St Peter’s Square. If it is acceptable to cater for the marginalised in that highly visible tourist hot spot, surely there’s a moral imperative to acknowledge the rights and needs of the marginalised in Darwin.

Despite such conjectures, the St Vincent de Paul Society NT decided to relocate, so that it could continue to provide the service in a less visible
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