Private security guards funded by the NT government to patrol Darwin streets have been unlawfully moving homeless people out of the city. FOI documents reveal these guards don't have the power to deal with illegal camping, noise, begging and loitering.
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00:00 They've patrolled these city streets since 2019, but private security, known as the Blue
00:07 Shirts, brought in to stamp out anti-social behaviour in Darwin CBD, have been revealed
00:13 to be taking their duties too far.
00:15 These people are sleeping on the street, they wake up at 4 o'clock, 5 o'clock in the morning
00:20 to get up and move from where they're sleeping.
00:22 And I've experienced that a few times.
00:25 Rosemary has a home, but when there are problems, she joins other families living on the street.
00:29 Coming here for breakfast at Osmond House, where demand is growing at alarming rates.
00:36 The city council sometimes hunts us out to another place, we move to another place.
00:41 Rodney doesn't understand why, and says it's unfair because there's nowhere else to go.
00:47 The Blue Shirt, they think they're copper or something, and they wait in the bottle
00:51 shop and they tell you what to do.
00:54 Now documents leaked to the ABC show they've been unlawfully moving on people sleeping
01:00 rough.
01:01 The documents show a letter from former Chief Minister Michael Gunner in 2019 requesting
01:06 the Darwin City Council authorise private security guards to deal with illegal camping,
01:11 noise and loitering under its Local Government Act.
01:15 Mr Gunner saying it is entirely within council's jurisdiction to enforce its bylaws to prevent
01:21 unacceptable behaviour in public places.
01:24 But after seeking legal advice that found there was a reputational risk, the council
01:29 rejected that request, saying it wasn't willing to make that authorisation, only granting
01:35 the guards permission to operate on council land.
01:38 People are demonised and unfairly put into the anti-social and crime bracket, but the
01:43 reality is we don't have enough accommodation.
01:46 However, the NT government says the guards are aware of their obligations and several
01:51 business owners say they help maintain safety.
01:54 [BLANK_AUDIO]