Western Australia may be flaunting a $2.5 billion budget surplus, but the real story in the regions tells a different tale — homelessness is only getting worse. In a report by Yousuf Shameel of the South Western Times, the grim numbers were laid out in parliament: homelessness is up 8% since 2016, and rough sleeping has more than doubled since 2020. He urged the State Government to act on its own homelessness report from two years ago, which remains untouched while more families are left living in cars and tents. Advocates say the crisis is especially severe in regional towns like Bunbury, where the only consistent roof over a man’s head might be the local prison.

Local groups such as the Bunbury Addressing Homelessness Working Group, with more than 2300 signatures behind them, have long pushed for a crisis shelter — but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears. One Nation’s Rod Caddies echoed their concerns in Parliament, saying WA now has a new class of homeless: families and full-time workers priced out of rentals. Advocates Jane Anderson and Ingrid Hilario argue that the State Budget favours the wealthy, while the “Housing First” policy excludes working poor who don’t qualify as chronically homeless but still can't afford a home. They’re calling on decision-makers in Perth to visit Bunbury, listen to locals, and face the reality — because the housing crisis isn't going away, and neither is their fight for a proper shelter.