imcrookonit
Ex Member
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AUSTRALIAN charities are paying to fly homeless Kiwis back to New Zealand in a bid to stop the growing problem of begging on Melbourne's streets.
Twelve New Zealanders have been flown home with the help of Travellers Aid in the past three months at a cost of almost $3900.
"With the cost of actually trying to house someone in a semi-permanent arrangement in a hotel it is actually cheaper to fly them home," Travellers Aid chief executive officer Jodie Willmer said.
A leading charity has told the Herald Sun begging has become an alarming problem, with police figures revealing 296 people were charged last financial year, almost double the number in four years.
Salvation Army Major Brendan Nottle, who has worked in the city for eight years, said he had seen a "significant increase" in beggars over the past year.
"People see other people begging and I think they think it's an easy way to earn dollars," he said.
"But it's definitely not an easy way, particularly for the guys that are really doing it tough - the guys with mental health issues.
"Often it can be a very humiliating experience. But there are other people that beg that know what to do, they know what to say and I think that's why it becomes a lucrative operation for them."
The Herald Sun has found some beggars are earning up to $300 a day, almost triple the daily pay of a worker on the minimum wage.
Acting Sgt Robyn McIntyre, who with the Salvos in August led an operation aimed at beggars in central Melbourne, said people asking strangers for money was also a problem in the suburbs.
"They are earning up to $250, $300 a day some of these people - if not more," Acting Sgt McIntyre said.
He said aggressive beggars were also blocking the paths of young women and the elderly.
Major Nottle said the charity's Melbourne service had seen about 40 needy New Zealanders this year, but this was a small number compared with the hundreds of other clients.
"They just find themselves in fairly dire straits at times because they haven't done their homework before they arrive," Major Nottle said.
In one instance, a family of five was flown back across the Tasman after they were found living in a car.
"In those circumstances, the most dignified option is to help them get repatriated," Ms Willmer said.
Last financial year, 14 Kiwis were repatriated and five other people returned to South Pacific island nations.
"We can't, as a society, have people stranded in no-man's land without support," Ms Willmer said.
Hanover chief executive Tony Keenan said the charity occasionally paid to fly destitute New Zealanders home.
"We are seeing an increase in the number of Kiwis who need support," Mr Keenan said.
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