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Brisbane City Council has cut power to homeless camps at Kurilpa Point Park and Musgrave Park.

Posted on by L. Dreeye
Brisbane City Council has cut power to homeless camps at Kurilpa Point Park and Musgrave Park.

Brisbane City Council has cut power to two homeless tent cities, leaving them without power sockets or public barbecues for cooking.

Council workers cut power to Kurilpa Point and Musgrave parks, citing anti-social behavior and safety concerns.

Cut wires

The wires to the barbecue and sockets were cut. (Attached: Margarita Auney-Stowers)

Photos obtained by the ABC show the council cutting the wires to public barbecues, rendering them permanently unusable.

The council also disconnected the power board that homeless people used to charge their phones and other devices.

Homeless man Ruan Kruger said he used to rely on Musgrave Park barbecues to get him a hot meal.

The 27-year-old said that was no longer an option.

“People are already having a hard time being on the streets and the last thing they need is a few resources to be taken away from them,” Mr Kruger said.

“I think it’s actually not cool to subject people to even more debilitating conditions than they need to.”

BBQ next to the tents

Homeless people cooked hot food at a barbecue in Musgrave Park. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)

Mr Krueger said any meat donated would likely end up in the trash.

He said he felt Brisbane City Council was trying to push homeless people like him away from Musgrave Park.

Brisbane City Council chair of city standards Sarah Hutton said the power had been switched off to ensure public safety.

“We are genuinely concerned about the serious escalation of violence and anti-social behavior in these camps, including alleged stabbings, fires and vandalism of electric barbecues, and have cut off the power for safety reasons,” Councilor Hutton said.

Homeless man left in the dark

Black woman holding plate of food

Marguerite Auney-Stowers says the lack of electricity makes homeless people feel unsafe. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)

Marguerite Auney-Stowers used to cook for the homeless using a barbecue at Kurilpa Point Park.

Ms Auney-Stowers is the founder of Giv3 Our Time, a charity run by homeless people who prepare hot meals for other homeless people in south-east Queensland.

A former homeless woman said her organization had to bring food in containers because the power to the barbecue was out.

B-B-Q

The council has not said whether it will refurbish the Kurilpa Point barbecue. (Attached: Margarita Auney-Stowers)

She said participants also had to bring their own torches because lamp posts had been out for months, leaving homeless people in the dark.

Ms Auney-Stowers said she was shocked that Brisbane City Council was treating homeless people this way.

“Haven’t these people suffered enough,” Ms Auney-Stowers said.

“I sincerely hope that Brisbane City Council recognizes the urgency of this issue and takes action to support those in need.”

Brisbane City Council did not respond to questions from the ABC about whether it would return power to homeless encampments.

A council spokesman said the damaged lights were not related to a power failure at the barbecue’s power panel.

“The lights you refer to, as well as other municipal properties in these parks, continue to be vandalized and repaired by our officers when it is safe to do so,” they said.