Beggars in Adelaide

[Will]

Having recently had an alfresco dining experience ruined by beggars, I feel we need to discuss this growing problem affecting the attractiveness of our city

Will, I am interested to know where you experienced this? The main culprits seem to be Rundle Street and Gouger Street I find. As somebody who visits these precincts frequently, I have to agree, this is becoming a real problem and seems to be getting worse.

I was recently dining outside of a Gouger Street restaurant when a clearly intoxicated indigenous woman approached myself and a friend, asking for money. After telling her to leave us alone as we were in the middle of our meal, the woman began to insult me and my friend. A waitress who happened to be nearby overheard this and asked the woman to move on. The woman then proceeded to shout racial slurs at the waitress and told her to "go back to where she came from" (the waitress happened to be Asian). I was pretty appalled by this completely antisocial behaviour and the waitress was visibly upset by the confrontation.

And to that, I have lost count of the amount of times I have been approached for money by beggars along Rundle Street. One beggar who I have seen around frequently recently approached me, shouted "hello" in my face and attempted to shake my hand while I was clearly eating and holding a knife and fork. It is also very common whilst sitting outside the Austral or Exeter for somebody to whisper, "hide your smokes and wallet" amongst the table, as a beggar winds their way between chairs asking patrons for money or trying to scab cigarettes.

I remember years ago, The Parade used to be really bad for beggars, but it seems to have improved since then. I would be interested to know why and how this occurred. O'Connell Street, on the other hand, seems to have gotten worse, even in the last 12 months.

Despite all this, I do not necessarily feel as if the presence of beggars is affecting the attractiveness of Adelaide as a city. This is probably a problem which most cities around the world have to deal with, and we are nowhere near as bad as cities I've been to in Asia and South America.

It was at the Stag.

It has completely put me off eating alfresco again in the CBD.

Not only was I as well as my companion harassed by 3 separate beggars, 1 of which actually abused my friend because he didn't give the required $5 note, to top off the night, a group of 10 clearly intoxicated Indigenous people decided to have a fight on the footpath next to where we were eating. One of them landed on our table, spilling one of our drinks.

Absolutely disgusting.

[Mants]

It was at the Stag.

It has completely put me off eating alfresco again in the CBD.

Not only was I as well as my companion harassed by 3 separate beggars, 1 of which actually abused my friend because he didn't give the required $5 note, to top off the night, a group of 10 clearly intoxicated Indigenous people decided to have a fight on the footpath next to where we were eating. One of them landed on our table, spilling one of our drinks.

Absolutely disgusting.

Unfortunately, I would say that most locals would have similar stories to share, but when people are actually deterred from dining alfresco because of it, something needs to be done. On top of this, most people I know who regularly frequent Rundle Street at night, do so to avoid the drama of Hindley Street, so it is disappointing to hear of alcohol fuelled violence on such a scale occurring in the East End.

The problem of often intoxicated, abusive and aggressive Indigenous people in the city really needs to be dealt with in some way. Their behaviour is a burden which all Indigenous people have to bear. I know plenty of Indigenous people who are hard working, honest and all round nice people, and they are absolutely sick of these individuals absolutely rubbishing their reputation and fuelling the stereotypes. An Indigenous colleague of one of my parents was walking through Victoria Square some time ago and was approached by another woman who proceeded to ask, "Hey sister, can I have a cigarette" to which she replied "I'm not your sister, go get a f***ing job and buy your own".

Whatever reasons people have to beg, in a country like Australia, I just cant see a need for it. Our leaders have been ranting on about a fair go, etc. for decades now. There are options for people here which surely negate the need to engage in begging.

[StephenJones]

Having beggars in the streets is a reflection of how our society is. The government should be responsible on how to deal with them and create a program that will maintain the welfare of these individuals.

Helping people is already in our nature specially if we saw their physical condition. But we should think that if we give them the money they will only spend it for one day and do the same thing over and over to survive. I give donations to trusted charity institution because I am sure that my money will be spend the right way.

[pushbutton]

In Australia we have:
- Plenty of opportunities to get legitimate paid work (not necessarily a plentiful supply of GOOD jobs, but if you have little experience and few skills you shouldn't be too fussy. A job's a job to get you started, then you can work toward something better).
- A variety of very generous and unlimited government handouts which you don't even have to pay back.
- An array of charities and both government and non-government support agencies to help people get back on their feet and find work or start a business.
Because of all the above, there is no legitimate need for anyone to beg.

I've visited other places, such as the Philippines, where people beg because non of the above services exist. Even then, most of the beggers try to offer at least some small token of their appreciation for any help strangers give them. For example they'll "sell" hand-made simple things like daisy chains, or they'll sing a song for you when you give them money. Those are beggers I am actually more than willing to help! Some are begging for food and it was a genuine pleasure to actually go into a cafe with them and buy them a simple lunch, and even to eat it with them. Gave me a chance to learn first hand a bit about their lives and culture. Wonderful friendly people, and most of them are full of genuine happiness even if they have nothing!

The economies of the more developed world may not be doing as well as they were a decade or so ago, but we are still very wealthy and should appreciate it more.