24 May, 2017. 15:23
ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
A boutique stationery business in Pyrmont has come under fire from civil libertarian groups this afternoon after they installed ‘homeless spikes’ to prevent Fairfax journalists from setting up camp there.
Since Fairfax began offering redundancies earlier this year, the window to take them up on their offer has now closed, leaving many who didn’t take one out in the cold.
Dreams, Words and Life, a small but profitable stationary shop across the road from the Sydney Morning Herald offices in central Sydney declined to comment on the spikes, saying on that having vagrant print journalists sleeping in their cheap suits on the stoop of their shop each night was bad for business.
“There’s plenty of parks and other places to sleep around here,” said Dreams, Words and Life owner Maggie Bean.
“I hope they find a warm place to sleep over winter, otherwise they’ll end up as dead as their print media.”
A 21-year-old Herald reporter, who asked to remain anonymous, said that life’s been tough in light of recent events at the newspaper – but she’s not going to give up on her love of journalism because of a few spikes and a salary barely higher than the ‘MethStart’ allowance.
She’s been sleeping rough outside the stationary shop for the past week and plans to return there tonight in spite of the spikes.
“I stole a bottle of vodka from the Pyrmont Bridge Hotel last night, just waited until the barman turned his back and I reached over the bar,” she said.
“So I’m going to skip dinner and down the whole bottle in 15 minutes then lie down on the spikes. It sounds bad, but it’s better than working in PR.”
More to come.
