The topic was debated at Politics in the Pub at the Astor Hotel on Monday night.

Specifically, the question posed to the panel and audience was "Why do we have homeless in Goulburn?" 

The answers to this vexed question varied.

Some said Goulburn had a housing affordability crisis, with most of the city’s rental accommodation beyond the means of people on social welfare such as Newstart. 

Others said Goulburn needed to attract more industries to provide more employment.

Some said it was simply a problem of supply – that if more incentives and tax breaks were offered to landlords then more houses would come onto the market that would keep rental prices down.

Some said the state government needed to provide more social housing, which it does appear to be doing – in recently announcing it will spend $1b on homelessness and committing to providing 27,000 more affordable houses in NSW over the next 10 years.

Will any of this astonishing amount of money filter down to places like Goulburn? Or is it just an election-year boast? One would some of this money actually does flow here. 

Others said councils could do a lot more to assist the situation in policies such as the Housing Land Strategy to try and ensure a more varied mix of housing in the city. 

Some of the more interesting ideas to emerge on the night were these: (1) that the state government should acquire land and build Tiny Houses for people on lower incomes and (2) that the community should step in to assist.

Tiny Homes have been built for military veterans in Kansas City, USA to great success. 

“The community and the council can do a lot to assist – for instance the council owns buildings that could be thrown open to accommodate the homeless,” real estate salesperson Peter Smyth said on the night. Not a bad idea is it? 

Finland solved its homelessness problem through a policy called Housing First. The basic idea is to offer permanent housing and needs-based support for homeless people instead of temporary accommodation in hostels or in emergency shelters. Thinking outside the box is required to solve this.