Executive director of Business Sydney, Paul Nicolaou has reiterated his request to elect a commissioner on homelessness as the number of people sleeping rough in New South Wales has begun to rise again.
Mr Nicolaou met with the NSW Premier on Tuesday to advocate for the new role and for an unoccupied state government building in the CBD to be converted into crisis accommodation.
According to The Daily Telegraph, Mr Nicolaou first raised the idea with the former Perrottet government in mid-2022.
“We shouldn’t be having large numbers of people sleeping on the streets while we are spending money on bike lanes… at the end of the day, what’s more important?” Mr Nicolaou said.
The latest “street count” by the City of Sydney council found 277 people were sleeping rough in the local area in February, up from 225 a year earlier — an increase of 23 per cent, as reported by The Daily Telegraph.
A City of Sydney spokeswoman expressed her views on the issue, stating that programs to improve the co-ordination of the many groups that work in the homelessness sector are “welcomed.”
Source: The Daily Telegraph
