Arabic version: حادثة صعق بمسدس كهربائي تثير دعوات لوقف إخلاء المشردين

According to The Guardian, a homeless man was shot with a Taser by police after he injured himself during a clearance of a tent city at Pelican Park, north of Brisbane. The confrontation has prompted calls for greater mental health consideration in the use of move-on orders.

On 1 September, Moreton Bay city council rangers gave six homeless residents 24 hours to leave the park, where Martin, 48, had been living in a camper trailer, to make way for a kite festival. Martin said he could not comply because he had lost his driver licence due to a drink-driving conviction and feared his belongings would be impounded. He has prostate cancer and said he had not threatened anyone else before injuring himself.

A Queensland police spokesperson said officers had tried to de-escalate the situation and disarm Martin but were unsuccessful. Police applied immediate first aid after he sustained a serious self-inflicted injury, the spokesperson said. Martin said he woke in an ambulance travelling to Royal Brisbane and Women’s hospital, where he had surgery and saw a mental health worker before asking to be discharged so he could protect his camper trailer.

Beau Haywood, founder of the charity Nourish Street, said Moreton Bay should halt homeless clearances until it could show they were safe and legal. Moreton Bay has Queensland’s longest social housing waiting list, with 5,146 people at last count in 2025. Martin said he has not been offered housing or another place to stay since the confrontation. Queensland has 44,294 people on the social housing waiting list, and a homeless service hopes to tow his vehicle to another park.