A homeless man was shot with a Taser by police after attempting to take his own life during a tent city clearance, sparking calls for mental health considerations when dealing with move-on orders amid Queensland’s homelessness crisis. On 1 September, Moreton Bay city council rangers gave six homeless residents 24 hours to leave Pelican Park north of Brisbane, where Martin* had been living in a camper trailer, to make way for a kite festival this weekend. The 48-year-old said he was unable to comply with the move-on order because he had lost his driver licence due to a drink-driving conviction.
Bring an ambulance and a body bag for me,’” Martin said. He then stabbed himself in the neck with a knife. Moments later he was shot with a Taser at least twice by police.
He said he had not threatened anyone else before injuring himself. A spokesperson for the Queensland police said its officers had attempted to de-escalate the situation and disarm Martin, but were unsuccessful. He said Moreton Bay should halt homeless clearances until they could show they were both safe and legal.
Martin, whose camp is part of a small tent city of about a dozen residents near the waterfront in Clontarf, is a former security guard who lost his job during the pandemic. He has lived homeless in the Moreton Bay area for more than three years, and is on the social housing waiting list. He’s not alone: Moreton Bay has the state’s longest social housing waiting list – 5,146 at last count in 2025 – and a major rough sleeping problem.
Several tent cities in the area house hundreds of people. He said after it happened he woke up in an ambulance on the way to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s hospital. He had surgery to patch up his injuries, saw a mental health worker, and asked to be discharged so he could get back to his camper trailer to protect his belongings.
The next day, the hospital booked him a taxi back to the park. He had not been seen by any health professional since his discharge, he said. A spokesperson for the Metro North health service said it was “unable to comment on the specific details of a patient’s situation to respect their privacy and confidentiality”.
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