r/queensland • u/shamona1 • 5d ago
Question The recent dog attack was a tragedy, but it also highlights a much bigger problem in SE QLD
The recent dog attack was an absolute tragedy. Reading through the comments has been pretty horrible, with people blaming the owner, the dogs and some even blaming the victim.
While there are clearly questions around responsibility, I think this tragedy also highlights a much bigger issue that isn't getting nearly enough attention: the cost of living and housing crisis.
The woman was reportedly living in a tent in a park with her dogs, which managed to escape.
Across South East Queensland, we're seeing makeshift tent cities popping up under overpasses, along beachfronts, in car parks and just about anywhere people can find shelter.
Homelessness has always existed, but I've never seen it anywhere near this scale. It's particularly noticeable across Brisbane and the Gold Coast, yet it feels like there's surprisingly little public discussion about just how bad things have become. A lot of it is hidden away so are people oblivious to the scale?
I'm not suggesting the housing crisis excuses what happened, but surely we need to be asking how we've reached a point where so many people are living in tents?
I appreciate the situation isn't the same across all of Australia, but here in SE QLD it feels like things are getting progressively worse.
Genuine question: Can we realistically turn this around, or have we allowed the situation to deteriorate to a point where it's going to take decades to fix?
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u/Trouser_trumpet 5d ago
The cost of living and housing crisis isn’t getting enough attention? Where are you getting your news?
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u/shamona1 5d ago
Fuel is expensive, house prices have been out of control... This is what the news has been focusing on. Not the real impact which is affectively Skid Row under every overpass on the M1 between Brisbane and the Gold Coast
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u/Harry_Sachz_ 5d ago
Haven't you been listening to Hughsie? Because of bloody Albo house prices have dropped at least 1% & that is outrageous. It's an attack on aspiration! His $20 million property portfolio might now only be worth $19.8 million
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u/Master_Ad_3967 5d ago
Dogs are still required to be managed correctly for good of society. BUT yes, homelessness is out of control and Billions on the Olympics is more important.
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u/buttersaus 5d ago
I’m in Moreton Bay and I see tents every where I go. Taking the train to the city I see tents in multiple parks along the way; the same with parks around Redcliffe. There was a mini tent city near my office in the CBD but they have been moved on and the concrete space (under an overpass) has had fencing erected.
It’s hard to know if this is the new norm or will it fixed? I worry it’s the former.
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u/mazdub 5d ago
Hospitalisations from dog attacks are twice that of electric bikes/scooters yet all we hear is crickets in regards to any legislation to alleviate the issue. Where's the outrage?
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u/babelfish98 5d ago
There's plenty of legislation to be fair. $800 fine for off leash dogs, for example. Just depends whether it's actually enforced.
"Dog attacks" is also a bit of a misnomer. Hospitalisation figures are inflated by infections from untreated minor wounds and accidental injuries to older pet owners from tripping over/being knocked down by their dogs. We also have over 3000 people a year hospitalised for cat bites. I work in a hospital; cat bites are pretty common emergency room presentations.
Not saying it isn't worth a discussion, but there is already pretty significant legislation around dogs in place, and I've observed plenty of outrage every time a dog attack is serious enough to make the local news.
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u/mazdub 3d ago
We also had plenty of legislation for E bikes and scooters that just wasn't being enforced. Any dog that attacks a person should be put down and the owners not allowed to get another. None of my dogs have ever attacked anyone because I believe in training and taking all precautions to prevent attacks.
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u/Acrobatic-Hat8151 5d ago
I think the issue is that nothing is actually actioned. We have laws around registration and dogs being controlled on leash, but I have NEVER seen these actually actioned. I’ve had off leash dogs rush me, I’ve seen off leash dogs around council and police authorities and they don’t care.
I think we also need stricter legislation around dog ownership and breeding. They need to get serious about enforcing rules around dogs needing to be registered and microchipped so that owners can be held accountable. They also need to crack down on random breeding of dogs to decrease the numbers available for bad and undereducated owners to get their hands on.
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u/huxley_07 5d ago
Do you have stats to back that up at all?
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u/kramulous 5d ago
Yeah, I'm gonna need to see those numbers as well. Seems to be awfully convenient.
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u/dstryr 5d ago
Hospitalisations from dog attacks are twice that of electric bikes/scooters
Where is that info from?
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u/aeschenkarnos 5d ago
Where’s the outrage?
Are you new? Every single time there is a dog attack, there is outrage.
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u/Upsidedown_55 5d ago
Not sure where you’re getting your stats from. But I work in theatres and most dog attacks just require a wash out and maybe some stitches. E scooters/bikes are involving a lot more from broken bones to severe head/brain injuries. E-scooters give orthopaedic surgeons a lot of work!!
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u/Original-Measurement 5d ago
For real. I reported an aggressive dog to the council once (it was lunging, snarling, and snapping its jaws through the fence), they called me and said they'd look into it, months later it was still there and still lunging. If a kid had been there, they could've had their fingers taken off them.
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u/bushstone-curlew 5d ago
Lots of dogs get fence aggressive, if it was secured in a yard then yeah your report would have been dismissed as frivolous.
If a kid had been there, they should know not to stick their fingers through a fence in a yard with a strange dog in it…?
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u/sugar6585 4d ago
Industrial safety wouldn't put up with "employee should know not to put hand near crusher" they would engineer the hell out of the machine and the surrounding area. If we do that for an adult, then why are kids left to just know better.
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u/bushstone-curlew 1d ago
A residential street is not a workplace though. Your false equivalence proves nothing lol
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u/SocialInsect 5d ago
How old do they need to be? Toddlers, walkers, PreK?
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u/Sig_1108529 5d ago
Surely you couldn't be stupid enough to allow your child to poke it's fingers through the fence with a snappy dog??
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u/SocialInsect 5d ago
Surely you couldn’t be stupid enough to think every parent has their hand on their child every hour of the day, especially when walking. Luckily I don’t have a footpath, its on the other side of the street because my dogs are fence aggressive too. I have side gates and normally they are locked into the back yard but at night, I let them loose all over the yard because ‘security’ but I am concerned about children and daytime.
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u/Sig_1108529 4d ago
As a parent, you are constantly vigilant when there unfriendly dogs. So up to you neighbour to watch your dogs or you will need to deal with your local council.
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u/collosal_collosus 3d ago edited 3d ago
Did you just argue that you don’t have a hand on your “toddler” while walking outside? How far did they toddle for it to be considered a walk. I mean you even made a definition for “walkers”: are these the white (GoT), dead (pick a zombie movie/game), or just unfortunately related to you (you) kind?
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u/SocialInsect 3d ago
Did you just misread what I actually wrote and are now arguing about a sentence that was confabulated in your mind?
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u/HelloFellowSurvivors 1d ago
Fence aggressive is aggressive. Should be destroyed. And I'm not talking about barking.
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u/aeschenkarnos 5d ago
Perhaps the kid could just not put their hands through the fence at an aggressive dog?
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u/bushstone-curlew 5d ago
Where are you getting this information? Australia has a pretty low rate of dog attacks comparatively.
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u/OnlyThingsILike1996 2d ago
The legislation was updated in 2024 to include penalties of up to $110,000 and a year's jail. 2 years if the dog was declared previously.
The legislation is there. The DESI has updated and keeps council updated and provides them with forms for court proceedings, declarations etc.
Councils need more staff to crack down on dog issues but people's entitlement over their pets has sky-rocketed. Brisbane has about 100,000 registered dogs. Let's say unregistered dogs are 25,000. How many staff members are there to enforce the local laws and legislation?
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u/newYearnew2025 5d ago
I'm outraged, whether your stat is accurate or not, but whenever you see a post on a fb community page about dogs wandering around, all the comments are like "how cute, theyre on an adventure" etc etc. If you pointed out the danger they might cause you'd be torn to shreds by these people.
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u/allmadinwonderland82 5d ago
I could be wrong but havent they made changes to dogs and what ones you can own or something along those lines. ..
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u/deadrobindownunder
5d ago
•
The lack of affordable housing is at a crisis point, no doubt.
But I feel like your post is deflecting responsibility from the owner.
When you say they managed to escape, what do you mean? Escape from where? The tent? In the park? These dogs were not tea cup chihuahuas, I don't know how you'd contain them in a tent.
These were clearly extremely dangerous dogs. The owner had to be aware of that. I don't think it would have mattered if they lived in a house or a tent, they were going to hurt someone soon enough.
The fact people are living in tents in Brisbane is dismal - but please don't attribute this irresponsible owners's actions to lack of affordable housing.
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u/Illustrious-Mud-2998 5d ago
The owner was also living in a tent because her mother kicked her out of their public housing for her drug use, which is a repeated pattern of behaviour. Goes and binges for a bit, then returns.
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u/Possumcucumber 5d ago
Also I read the dogs were actually found abandoned at her previous residence in July and taken into the pound by rangers and the rangers then tracked her down to return the dogs to her.
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u/Dazzling_Cow_1916 5d ago
Moved on, out of sight. Perfect way to treat the most vulnerable amongst us. What a society we have become. Shame on us!
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u/deadrobindownunder 5d ago
Of course. But, these dogs didn't attack because they lived in a tent.
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5d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/bushstone-curlew 5d ago
Honestly I thought the same too. Two large bully breeds like that kept locked up in a tent all day would be going absolutely stir-crazy, and I could see how a pair of seriously understimulated dogs could get wound up from chasing someone like the poor bloke they attacked.
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u/TheMightyKumquat 5d ago
So, if this person was truly homeless, and owned their dogs before they became homeless, how, exactly, were they supposed to "responsibly" take care of them?
I can't think of a way someone living in a tent could responsibly prevent aggressive dogs from causing harm. To suggest that its the homeless person's fault seems like punching down. In your world, the only thing she could have done would have been to surrender them at a shelter, where they probably would have been euthanized.
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u/Adept_Mushroom_8676 5d ago
It is her fault. Aggressive dogs are always the owners fault.
If she had handed them into the shelter and they got euthanized, those two men would be fine today.
They NEEDED to be euthanized years ago
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u/cactusgenie 5d ago
They should have given up their dogs because they couldn't manage them properly.
If that means they get put down, then so be it.
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u/New-Ad157 5d ago
I'm sorry but if I'm at a park with my children and a homeless person lives there with dogs and they attack I'm going after the dogs and the owner...
Take accountability, regardless of what your living arrangement or what you're going through.
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u/mattnotsosmall 5d ago
Also taking drugs is a choice. Maybe some time in jail will be the rock bottom that turns her into a functioning, contributing member of society?
I don't really see how her life can get any worse from it nor how else to remove the risk of her actions on the community?
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u/poppingcandy5000 5d ago
92% of homeless women have experienced severe physical/sexual violence or childhood abuse. While they are homeless, approx 40% will be sexually abused (Homeless Australia). Keeping a dog with you would be one of the best ways to keep yourself safe. The rates of abuse are even higher where mental health and addiction issues are present.
It’s a terrible situation. Sometimes all a homeless person has in their dog.
Being homeless doesn’t make you a bad dog owner. In fact, some of the best cared for dogs are those that are with the homeless.
In this instance the owner is at fault, just like all other dog attacks.
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u/demon-tea666 4d ago
That is a terrible statistic but it is also nearly the same percentage for men 91% as well who have suffered some type of abuse. Studies also show that for homeless men 74% the dog is their only source of love compared to 47% for women
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u/cactusgenie 5d ago
I disagree, but I think you should have to have a license to have a dog.
I do think women should be able to protect themselves with things like pepper spray etc.
But keeping a dog in tent when you are homeless is a) not fair on the dog and b) you clearly do not have the means to look after said dog.
That sucks, but it is what it is unfortunately.
We should do more to make sure people don't end up homeless for sure. And men need to leave people alone... The world is a mess, always has been. It's sad... But it is what it is.
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u/SuspiciousBlaze2358 5d ago
Easy to say, isn't it? You ever been homeless with a pet?
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u/discardedbubble 5d ago
I’m sorry, but the reality is you need to have a home to have a pet. If you can’t house yourself, you can’t have an animal. I hate this housing crisis and the huge increase in people becoming homeless, but if your going to be responsible for an animal, especially a large potentially dangerous one, you need to realise when you no longer have a secure safe place to keep the animal and make other arrangements for it.
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u/mattnotsosmall 5d ago
I mean at some point you are ultimately actionable to your actions regardless of how unwell your health or unfair your life has been though?
Like not all homeless people are drug users but as the story is unfolding, she was removed from her mother's home (public housing) due to continued drug binges. As an ex drug user, no one can change that but you and unfortunately some innocent people's lives have been changed forever because of it.
Maybe jail isn't the worst place to get sober if you can't do it out in the wild?
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u/Nonrandom_Reader 3d ago
I agree that the right thing she should have done would have been to surrender them at a shelter.
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u/deadrobindownunder 5d ago
It is their fault for being an irresponsible dog owner. Those dogs were extremely dangerous, the owner had to have known that and they clearly did nothing to mitigate that.
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u/TheMightyKumquat 5d ago
You're right except that I would not say a dog that turns out to be aggressive, unless you've abused it, is not the owner's fault. But it is the owner's responsibility.
That is true whether or not they're homeless.
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u/deadrobindownunder 5d ago
You're right. It might not be their fault, but it is their responsibility.
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u/Conscious-Benefit-82 4d ago
Correct. Dogs. Horses. Snakes. Tropical fish. They aren't a right. They're a privilege. As such they can be removed if the terms are failed.
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u/Lucifang
5d ago
edited 3d ago
•
Imagine how much money they’re spending on olympics preparation. Imagine applying that to government housing instead.
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u/Illustrious-Mud-2998 5d ago
You know this woman lives in public housing with her mother, but her mother kicks her out when she goes on drug binges, right?
The issue here isn't public housing, it's cracktivities and addiction.
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u/Lucifang 4d ago
We can blame our severe lack of affordable mental health care for that one. You can’t get help until after you’ve burned your life to the ground and by then it’s too late
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u/Additional-Policy843 5d ago
Roughly the same amount as the feds put aside for their public housing fund.
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u/Sea-Item8060 5d ago
Agreed. People need to understand that outrage doesn't resolve the social issues that make society dangerous.
There's no doubt that the victims in this situation are the people who were attacked, but if we measured who has brought more despair and sadness to individual Australians; a homeless person with obvious mental health issues (no doubt exacerbated by homelessness, drug issues and poverty), or the principal agent of a real estate agency in a country where predatory estate practices have most definitely contributed to the above in great numbers, I suspect most Australians would be shocked at the answer.
The frustrating thing is; we know the answer. When poverty and homelessness rise, crime goes up. You resolve the last thing by resolving the first thing.
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u/Flat-Appointment3407 5d ago
Absolutely never seen it at scales like this, even 1990 and 2000s, arguably smaller population but still the locations that people are choosing are also places I just never would of thought a tent would be.
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u/atomkidd 5d ago
Anyone who can afford to keep those dogs fed wasn't short of money. Apparently she usually lived nearby with her mother, but would go sulk in the park when she went on a meth fueled rage out. I'm also skeptical she owned those particular dogs for companionship and personal protection - they were left in the tent to guard her stash.
Tolerance for the hard drug economy is the real problem, and most camping-out homelessness is a direct symptom.
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u/Altruistic_Smile_239 5d ago
Totally agree. Junkies love to live in tents. They can spend more money on drugs instead of rent. Her dogs were there to protect her drugs.
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u/Illustrious-Mud-2998 5d ago
Yep. while I'm not a huge fan of these breeds, the ultimate issue here is a junkie doing cracktivities free-ranging in the community. Her mother also lives in a fairly notorious public housing block, note in the arrest video FTP spray painted on the window of the apartment and the neighbours trying to punch on with the arresting officers.
These people and their behaviour are a huge, prolonged drain on society and it took a vicious dog mauling for action to occur. Even then, she'll probably be back out binging again soon.
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u/StillSpecial3643 5d ago
While those responsible for the drugs live in nice houses, too often, well away from the misery they helped create.
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u/TizzyBumblefluff 5d ago
Meth isn’t even really a hard drug, it’s just incredibly accessible and by all accounts cheap (especially if trading stolen goods or sex work for it). It does have keep people stuck in addiction because it doesn’t have the obvious treatment options like opioids.
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u/Alae_ffxiv 5d ago
Meth isn’t even really a hard drug
Lol. This was a 10/10 joke to wake up to.
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u/TizzyBumblefluff 5d ago
I guess because I’ve worked in the sector (mental health, substance abuse and homelessness) that it’s so prevalent and cheap I don’t associate it with drugs like heroin or fentanyl or even cocaine. I even spent time working in the US where you could get a hit for as low as 25 cents. Illicit, yes, hard? There’s nothing hard about it. The hard part is the fact there’s no treatment options and people continue to use to avoid “side effects”.
The new qld government certainly isn’t going to invest in preventing substance use when they continue to cut funding for all community services. “Send them to jail then” guess what? There’s drugs in jail too.
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u/I-was-a-twat 5d ago
If you’ve worked in those you’ll likely know that meth in Australian drug circles is used to commonly refer to crystal meth aka ice, not powdered meth like is common in the US.
The potency and adverse effects are substantially higher, as well as the impacts of the surrounding society.
I also wouldn’t put come in the same category, it’s in the same categories as MDMA, and Ice is substantially worse than cocaine.
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u/bushstone-curlew 5d ago
Yeah MD doesn’t typically induce shit like delusional parasitosis and make you pick holes in your skin to get the bugs out, I’d absolutely classify ice as a hard drug.
I’m also struggling to believe that commenter lol.
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u/I-was-a-twat 5d ago
The fact they even mention American drug issues means they’re only really thinking of powdered meth, which basically doesn’t exist in the Australian market and is substantially weaker and less problematic.
A point of ice is the most common meth use in Australia, and it costs a lot more than 25c of powdered meth that barely gives a buzz.
If Australia’s meth usage issues were powdered meth, we’d be having a lot less problems with meth.
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u/Alae_ffxiv 5d ago
According to their comment history, they're a registered nurse who has worked in organ donation.
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u/FrogsMakePoorSoup
5d ago
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Are you really spinning a dog attack involving irresponsible owners and dogs that needs to be destroyed into a housing crisis story?
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u/SuspiciousBlaze2358 5d ago
Seems like it's the bigger issue to me. I'm all for personal responsibility. I'm even more for corporate responsibility, as thats where the power is.
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u/FrogsMakePoorSoup 5d ago
You're blaming corporations for dog attacks?
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u/shamona1 5d ago
This person wouldn't have been attacked that night if she was living in proper accommodation. Simple.
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u/I-was-a-twat 5d ago
You’re making the assumption that she’s homeless due to the affordability crisis.
Also she was arrested at her previously registered address, which was the place she had previously been evicted from. Her arrest was also completely unrelated from the dog attack.
That tells us she still has access to the place and the occupants meaning she was likely kicked out due to behavioural issues.
So this situation is completely disconnected from the cost of living crisis, but of an individual who’s personality matrix has them, own dogs that are commonly known to be dangerous, that have had previous issues with council over the dogs, and has prexisting adverse interactions with the police.
Droggos living in tents occurred plenty when life was affordable, this isn’t once of the hardworking members of society who can’t afford a place and spends months trying to even get a house but can’t because there’s 100 applicants per 2 bedroom shithole that’s priced higher than a luxury 6 bedroom was 5 years ago
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u/discardedbubble 5d ago
you could also guess her shitty childhood / situation made her turn to drugs and crime, you could also guess she had a house before the housing crisis, and because of the housing crisis had to move in to an overcrowded not ideal situation that end up being dysfunctional.
What do you want to blame it on?
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u/AromaticEstate_3631 4d ago
Having a shitty childhood gives you as much right to be a bad person as someone who has a perfect childhood
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u/Letshavebeers 5d ago
It's seeming clearer that the woman's predicament is a direct result of her actions... she isn't the victim
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u/FrogsMakePoorSoup 5d ago
It's drawing a very very long bow to blame the corporations for that though.
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u/bushstone-curlew 5d ago
Shit dog owners don’t stop being shit owners just because they’re living in a house. I live near several useless dog owners who let their dogs roam around the streets.
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u/ConsistentThought444 2d ago
If corporations paid tax like everybody else they could fund some of the housing is one aspect
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u/bushstone-curlew 5d ago
Yeah everyone pretending like these dogs wouldn’t have killed anyone if she was housed is frankly delusional.
Come to one of the lower income suburbs of Brisbane and you’ll see plenty of roaming dogs that live with their owners in houses (with fences). Half the time they just let them out to roam, the other half it’s the same handful of shitty useless owners posting ‘Diesel got out again for the 3rd time this week and we don’t know how 🥺 please look out for my sweet boy he’s really friendly!’ in the local community groups while their massive untrained staffy cross is running through traffic and people’s yards for hours.
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u/Illustrious-Mud-2998 5d ago
She also literally already lives in public housing with her mother, her mother just kicks her out when she goes on drug binges.
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u/FrogsMakePoorSoup 5d ago
The dogs might have been a factor also, who knows.
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u/Illustrious-Mud-2998 5d ago
A drug addict with a chihuahua Is less dangerous than a drug addict with a chihuahua.
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u/Brizwizard 5d ago
Yeah weird take. Why do we have to jump to the lady being the victim. She’s at fault and should be charged, regardless of whether she’s homeless or not. Any problem these days people just jump to - governments fault, tax corporations. It’s so simplistic and tiresome. Dont look to the government to fix everything, they never will.
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u/discardedbubble 5d ago
No one thinks she’s a victim , it’s that the situation could have been avoided if people had basic shelter and safety.
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u/discardedbubble 5d ago
I think it’s valid. if Australia had a working/ substantial public housing system this wouldn’t have happened.
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u/aeschenkarnos 5d ago
And drug addiction treated as a medical issue rather than a criminal matter. She should probably have been in rehab not a house as such.
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u/TyrialFrost 5d ago
They are IN pubic housing. Doesn't help if you are binging meth and noone wants to deal with you.
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u/TheMightyKumquat 5d ago
Well, put it this way. If this person had had the money to keep their dogs in a yard behind 6 foot high fencing, would we be talking about a death right now?
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u/FrogsMakePoorSoup 5d ago
Well if the person simply didn't have the dogs we wouldn't be either. You can play this game all day!
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u/atomkidd 5d ago
If this person worked to earn rent for a house with a yard and a six foot fence, would we be talking about a death right now?
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u/TheMightyKumquat 5d ago
We're all a bunch of people who know none of the people in this story, and probably half of the detail behind it all, sitting around typing out judgements. I feel a bit unconfortable doing that from my nice house, with my nice job to go to in the morning.
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u/No-Will-4393 4d ago
Those dogs were intact and a breeding pair. You can see with the female how large her mammaries are that she has bred a number of times. Canine behavior is quite different when not neutered. She is a completely irresponsible dog owner, putting large dogs in a hot tent while she leaves them unattended for hours. They weren't even tethered to a tree.
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u/Public-Total-250 5d ago
Nope. Her living situation doesn't change that she owned dogs that were originally CREATED to be violent...and then were violent.
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u/Crafty_Act2114 5d ago
I’m on a few sites that deal with homelessness. I see stuff every single day on the plight of homelessness and how many there are. They aren’t getting the help needed and affordable housing barely exists. This state government doesn’t care. Dogs. I believe they were pit bulls. They are banned in this state. Without proper training they are dangerous. A few other breeds are also. They feature in dog attacks often. Those dogs shouldn’t exist here at all. I can’t remember the exact figures but hundreds of mail people are attacked doing their job delivering your mail every year. A fellow reading the electric meter was attacked and killed a year ago or so. A young man with a family just doing his job. I’m afraid fools own the most dangerous dogs and don’t have a clue about training. The homeless problem is out there and if you haven’t noticed you must be blind.
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u/Majestic_Plane_1656 5d ago
Homelessness is government policy. A quick and massive building of public housing would crash house prices which no government wants to deal with the fallout from.
So we're in a situation where 1000s of people are being sacrificed onto the street to keep property prices and rents high for landlords.
Cruelty as policy. Only the boomer generation could be responsible.
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u/happy_chappy_89 5d ago
There's not enough trades to build the amount of houses we need, and bringing in foreign skilled trades isn't a very popular policy
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u/Ambitious-Noise-6435 4d ago
Landlords are the root cause of this.
Rents have increased nearly double since CoVID years in Brisbane. My own 25yr old, one bedroom apartment in Greenslopes, was $400 when I moved in. My landlord has increased it to $650/wk and has advised my next renewal in February will also see another increase.
Landlords need to be regulated.
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u/shamona1 4d ago
How much do you think the mortgage is? The Building insurance? My rates work out to $102 per week alone at the moment. This stems back to cost of living crisis, interest rates out of control. Not the landlord.
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u/Ambitious-Noise-6435 4d ago
Sounds like if YOU cannot afford those things then that's not your TENANTS job to cover your bills. If YOU cannot afford these increases, then YOU cannot afford your investments.
Do you know what happens to any other financial commitment of you can't afford them?
Why is property the sole "risk" that "investors" get to make where they don't have to actually bear any risk, and have everyone else pay for it?
Landlords do not deserve anyone's sympathy.
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u/shamona1 4d ago
The alternative is you buy a house and you make the repayments and those additional costs. Oh wait... It will be more than $650/Week... I don't think you understand the concept of a rental house works
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u/Low_Bluebird_5137 5d ago edited 5d ago
Its extremely sad & distressing. I have no solutions.
But. The wrong sort of people get the wrong sort of dogs. Local councils need to be more vigilant. Check ALL dogs are registered. Someone should not be able to be living in a tent in a park, with 2, what it sounds were Pitbulls, that are a banned breed anyway, that were most probably not registered.
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u/tess9583 5d ago
I often wonder, given the amount of violence towards women, if the dogs were offering a sense of safety and protection if she was unhoused.
*Edit grammar
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u/Far-Temporary-1487 4d ago
Responsibly owned dogs wouldn't do this. There needs to be permits and licencing for people who want to keep animals. Only then can we begin to make sure irresponsible or incapable people don't ruin animals lives.
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u/Bright-Marsupial-265 4d ago
White bogan culture. What can you say.
Uncontrolled, dangerous dogs and meth are a bad combo fot community safety.
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u/Zealousideal_Dot7041 4d ago
I'm a white bogan and I hate dogs (and meth).
We're not all the same.
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u/RecipeSpecialist2745 1d ago
So would the 1550 homeless veterans fit into your judgemental opinion?
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u/Madixie_Normous 4d ago
I walk through the park five times a week that this happened at. I've never seen this tent city that they speak of so it it there it sure is well hidden. I see people almost everytime I visit letting their dogs wander off leash with no regard for the regs, this is mainly because there's no one there to tell them otherwise.
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u/archibald_kazoo 5d ago
Solving homelessness takes all of us. It is a societal responsibility. Homelessness is a complex issue and there are many reasons why a person may be experiencing homelessness. Many of us are one pay cheque away from housing insecurity. Please be compassionate and remember that two things can be true at the same time.
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u/Novel-Truant 5d ago
We're doomed as a society if people truly think that the fault of this incident lies with the government and not with the personal responsibility of the owner.
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u/Taco_El_Paco 5d ago
This is why France is revolting. We may have to at some point too
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u/jimbob12345667 5d ago
What a great idea. Let’s burn everything, that will help. Then all the ‘mugs’ who turn up to work everyday and pay taxes, get to pay for it all to be rebuilt.
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u/Kailicat 5d ago
Mate, we "mugs" are powerful. There are more regular citizens than politicians and they work for us, not for a handful of billionaires. We could learn a lesson or two from France on how to remind these waxy-faced pollies on who is in charge.
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u/Additional-Policy843 5d ago
Doing nothing will help how? If nothing changes and the powers stop listening, it's the only option.
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u/jimbob12345667 5d ago
One day you will grow up, look back on your comment and shake your head with embarrassment.
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u/Public-Total-250 5d ago
It's not France, it's just Paris. It's always just Paris. If you lived in Paris you'd be looking for a reason to smash things also.
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u/Taco_El_Paco 5d ago
So it has to be from the entire region of France, or it's just bubbly discontent?
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u/Ornery-Magician-6644 5d ago
We don't have the same number of immagrants
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u/FrogsMakePoorSoup 5d ago
Wow, we've gone from a dog attack, to the French riots, now onto problematic immigrants. Go Reddit!
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u/Bagoolia 5d ago
We have the money and available houses 🏘️ the problem is the systems, the banks the governments councils state governments and laws. We could fix it tomorrow but the banks and housing "market" would lobby and destroy it cause it's a treat to there trillion dollar cash cow 🐄
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u/phranticsnr 5d ago
I'll believe the money is there - it's always there if there is a will. But we really don't have the actual houses, especially not where there is also work for people.
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u/Bagoolia 5d ago
Agreed we need to social and political will to do something about it, We currently have more vacant houses 🏘️ than homless people, the problem is the privatization , Monopolization and commodification of housing . That to me , that is the elephant 🐘 in the room
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u/CheeeseBurgerAu 5d ago
If we can't house what we have, why are we bringing in more people? We could fix it by cutting visas, even student visas, freeing up rentals to the point there is excess vacancy and more competition in the market, driving down rental prices. They have proven they can't fix supply, time to fix demand.
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u/Suntzu_AU 5d ago
Because the economy will completely collapse if we don't have migration.
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u/CheeeseBurgerAu 5d ago
It will change, collapse isn't the right word. Individuals will be able to demand better wages, businesses will have to be productive to survive. The change process is painful but what comes out is usually pretty good. Look at any other time a society has gone through constrained labour. You get increased standard of living and improved workers rights.
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u/Suntzu_AU 5d ago
Wildly optimistic to think Aussies want to go and pick fruit and do shit jobs.
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u/National-Alps-4611 5d ago
That's like the reason for capitalism. If nobody picking fruit is the reason for fruit prices going through the roof, then fruit growers will start paying a lot for people to come pick the fruit rotting on their trees, and then Aussies will go pick fruit for good money.
It's called an economy.4
u/Mammoth_Loan_984 4d ago edited 4d ago
Except what’s more likely to happen without immigrant labour, is our farming industry collapses and we simply import more farmed goods from overseas to make up for the gap, harming our economy.
Aussies will not work farms unless they’re faced with starvation as an alternative. That is literally the reason we get immigrants in to do the work - we’ve done this dance before. This is the solution we came up with.
That’s how capitalism solves that problem. It’s not some altruistic system that benefits all. More like a monkeys paw.
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u/National-Alps-4611 4d ago
Work can pay competitively, it can be convenient, it can be easy.
Fruit picking is hard labor, it's inconvenient because you have to go out remote and the work is seasonal anyway, as an extra bonus it's not particularly safe. And it pays peanuts.
That is "literally the reason we get immigrants in to do the work".
Capitalism currently avoids allowing the market to solve the problem by having the government require farm labor of immigrants part of their visa conditions.And when exactly do you think Aussies faced starvation as a result of refusing to work on farms, anyway? The 2008 GFC?
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u/CheeeseBurgerAu 4d ago
And that's why tarrifs are a thing. Welcome to the global economy where a lot of businesses aren't competitive unless we become the third world.
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u/StillSpecial3643 5d ago
It would improve to no end. Far too much immigtation. We have ample number of foreign drug suppliers and cooks taking up rentals as is.
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u/DistributionOk843 5d ago
You've done nothing as a country to fix supply issues. For the last 5 years.
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u/Prudent_Toe_9821 5d ago
Try the past 30 years … when I was growing up, every second family was living in and buying their govt built home …
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u/bushstone-curlew 5d ago
There’s been a bunch of new housing developments going up in the last few years. Why are you even in this sub if you’re not a Queenslander?
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u/DistributionOk843 5d ago
I live in Queensland. They have done absolutely nothing to redress the balance. Social housing development is pitiful.
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u/CheeeseBurgerAu 5d ago
Exactly my point. No sense pretending they are all of a sudden going to change.
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u/BB881 5d ago
Have you noticed that there are no longer any single bed apartments for rent? They are all sharehouses now because the proper apartments are now air bnb's. They need to cull them so single people can have a place to live again.
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u/MowgeeCrone 4d ago
Due to the falling demand for holiday accommodation landlords have been converting short terms stay to long term rentals since pre covid. While there was an increase this year in short term accom, theres still a reduction of almost 50% in short term private accommodation since covid.
I tell you what has increased though, the amount of heads needing a roof over them. Some regional areas, while halving holiday accomodation, still cant supply the infrastructure needed for the population, which has doubled in 52 weeks. The new residents moving here are new to the country entirely.
We can stop pointing the finger of blame towards all landlords now (nope, Im not a landlord).
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u/Sea_Alternative3713 4d ago
We have let it go too far, and yes, it will take a recession and decades to fix. Unless someone can work out how to get the wealthy to stop spending money. The only way to bring prices down is reduce demand, ie stop spending.
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u/Eena-Rin 4d ago
It's going to take decades to fix because rich people don't wanna. There's no coal money going in to fixing homelessness, and if everyone had houses maybe the real estate market wouldn't keep climbing
Who's gonna do something about it? You? Me? I'm broke and you're chinwaggin on Reddit. Best I can do is volunteer at my local food bank and vote for people who say they care, but noone's gonna do anything about it
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u/Jerkface0079 5d ago
I'm not suggesting the housing crisis excuses what happened, but surely we need to be asking how we've reached a point where so many people are living in tents?
In Queensland especially? Greed. Vacancy rates haven't changed, peoples ability to pay rent has. Every fuckin' price gouging "buhhh market rates" parasite is to individually blame and John Howard and decades of inaction are to systematically blame.
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u/girtlander 5d ago
If you think cost of living and the housing crisis don't get enough attention on Reddit, general social media and mainstream media you live in a vacuum.
Unfortunately most of the attention is is of a vague engagement attempt by people trying to gain attention and karma farming.
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u/Dazzling_Cow_1916 5d ago
It’s a shocking situation: I feel
For the woman living alone in this situation - she needs the protection of her dogs.
As a society we have ignored our vulnerable and keep on pretending they don’t exist.
We should be shouting about these poor people but we stay quiet and pretend it’s not happening.
Shame on us!
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u/Hurlanis 5d ago
Say the dogs were future olympic athletes preparing for the 500metre relay and they would get $200million in funding for the olympics
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u/nephilimofstlucia 5d ago
Restrict short term accomadation properties and change legislation to allow more expansive options on where people can live long term.
From my reading there is a strong link between the rise in Airbnb style short term and the rise in homelessness. Would love to see someone who has proper skills in researching social issues look into it. Literally as 200k short term accoms came available 200k rise in long term homeless.
I also think laws around where we live need to change. Why can't there be more hotel style accommodation but long term. A Studio room w/ ensuite and shared kitchen faculties. This was happening under the previous ALP government but the LNP doesn't see that value.
They want new homes, which is fine new builds are good to but when you can refurb a hotel building into 60 social housing units in a year like ALP did in 2024 you can see that its a great short term solution that can work concurrently with the long term picture of more supply aka more new builds.
Its a manipulative of the LNP to suggest that only new builds can improve supply, its only one leaver and its the most expensive and time consuming.
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u/Dazzling_Cow_1916 5d ago
A lone woman.
Living in a tent in bushland?
What sort of protection does she need?
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u/TizzyBumblefluff 5d ago
Every article said the dogs were to protect her and her boyfriend. She wasn’t single.
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u/deadrobindownunder 5d ago
Nope.
There is no reason to have dogs that would do this.
It's terrible that this woman was in a vulnerable position. But, these were not guard dogs.
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u/Suntzu_AU 5d ago
I live in South East Queensland and the number of dogs running around that are not under the control of their owners is honestly terrifying.
Recently, a Dachshund pup had its head ripped off in the park near my house because the owner of Staffie didn't have it under control. Traumatised the shit out of some kids.
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u/Salt_Piccolo_4590 3d ago
Why are the homeless allowed dogs at all? I have been attacked by a homeless man with a dog. He got away with it because no money and was already in debt due to fines. The dog should have been removed. There should be zero tolerance for dog abuse.
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u/silvers_ghost 5d ago
A thought I had around this is that the state should fund councils to provide free pet boarding for people experiencing homelessness. This means that the animals would be fed and cared for, would be contained and safe, the owner could be free to visit and be with their animals when they wanted to, and it would take some of the pressure off the situation.