Wilks Park isn’t part of the official Wagga tourism campaign, but Vickie Burkinshaw has made it part of hers. Photo: Chris Roe.
We all remember Wagga Wagga’s “Double the Fun” tourism campaign.
Well, local businesswoman Vickie Burkinshaw has put her own spin on it, given the ongoing controversy over the treatment of rough sleepers at Wilks Park and the broader housing crisis facing the city.
Ms Burkinshaw’s satirical piece below uses the tourism slogan to poke fun at the way homelessness is being managed in Wagga.
VISIT WAGGA WAGGA
The place of many homeless people and a council determined not to let you see them.
Come to Wagga, where we carefully manage the location of homelessness so visitors can enjoy our beautiful public spaces without having to think too much about the people living in them.
STAY AT WILKS PARK
Tourists with cars that work and vans that move can enjoy 72 hours of free camping before heading off to their next destination.
Because apparently 72 hours is camping when you have somewhere to go.
For everyone else?
It’s homelessness.
And don’t forget your souvenir.
Perhaps a little parvovirus to take with you to the next town.
Nothing says regional tourism quite like a touch of biosecurity roulette.
Shar-peis living at Wilks Park died due to suspected parvovirus. Photo: Supplied.
COME LIVE IN WAGGA
Where rents are inflated, affordable housing is scarce and homelessness is increasingly treated as an amenity problem.
Bring enough money and you’re welcome.
Run out of money?
Please vacate the park.
Because we care deeply about the appearance of our public spaces.
Humanity?
Well … that’s a little more complicated.
WAGGA WAGGA — WHERE AMENITY COMES BEFORE HUMANITY
Where we don’t necessarily house the homeless.
We just move them.
Where we don’t necessarily solve the housing crisis.
We regulate it.
Here, homelessness is not a housing crisis.
It is a compliance issue, an eyesore, an inconvenience to be managed.
Never mind that people are sleeping rough because there simply aren’t enough affordable homes.
Police officers and Wagga Council workers recently moved through Wilks Park issuing compliance letters. Photo: Supplied.
If you can’t afford Wagga, apparently the solution is to move along.
Where a fine can be found for someone who has nowhere to live …
… but a home remains much harder to locate.
So come visit Wagga.
Stay 72 hours.
Take some photos.
Enjoy the river.
Enjoy the park.
Enjoy the freedom of knowing you have somewhere else to go.
And when you’re ready, pack up and move on.
Because that’s what we expect from everyone at Wilks Park.
WAGGA WAGGA – DOUBLE THE FUN
Come for the camping.
Stay for the irony.
Leave before council finds you.
