Crisis needs more than promises – it needs pace

Editor’s View by Cameron Outridge

The community, frontline services, local leaders and people sleeping rough agree on the direction. What’s missing is system-level speed and, perhaps, transparency.

Nicklin MP Marty Hunt, Mayor Rosanna Natoli, Minister Sam O’Connor & Cr David Law. The leaders have the will, but can they overcome red tape and legislative gaps to deliver urgently-needed short term solutions?

Paul Slater’s call for a Royal Commission into the Department of Housing matters precisely because it comes from the coalface. 

When an experienced advocate alleges “too many layers of bureaucracy, too many mixed messages, and too much dishonesty about what’s really happening on the ground,” it warrants scrutiny.

Helen Tagg’s point is equally clear-eyed. If decisions sat with the people doing the work in Nambour – the services, the community, the homeless community, and willing political leaders – short-term answers would already be in place. 

Instead, practical options are jammed by rules never designed for an emergency that is now in plain sight.

This isn’t a contest between compassion and safety. Residents like Deborah Burgin, herself a victim of a traumatic attack, have shown both: empathy for people in crisis and a common-sense warning about risk. 

Nambour’s character is not the problem. The siloed system is.

Mr O’Connor’s commitment to double outreach and explore supported sites is welcome. Mr Hunt’s push for coordination and long-term stock is necessary. But measurable short-term outcomes are needed now – safe, managed locations with sanitation and services; rapid pathways off the street; transparent reporting. No more circular referrals while families avoid parks and volunteers withdraw from reserves.

“We need to stop hiding behind statistics and start delivering real solutions.” On that, Mr Slater is right. Call in the sunlight. Fix the rules that block common sense. And match Nambour’s will with the urgency this matter deserves.