Tent city won't be in Martin Place tomorrow

Yesterday the state government passed a law through the New South Wales Parliament that will allow them to dismantle the homeless camp that has been in Martin Place for eight months. Today, when I went up there to have a stickybeak, there were two policemen walking slowly east in Martin Place getting the vibe of the camp. They stopped at the east end of the thoroughfare and stood talking with some people.

As I stood talking with two cameramen who had been taking footage of the camp, its residents, and passers-by, a man wearing a red-and-gold tracksuit who had yellow teeth came up to me and asked what was going to happen. I told him I didn't know. He went off toward where the police were standing and about ten minutes later returned to where I was. "They'll be gone tomorrow," he said to me. "Who told you that?" I asked. "The cops just told me," he said.

Not long after this exchange the two policemen made their way back through the camp heading west, and went down the steps to where the government officers were still serving people. I stayed for a bit longer and was interviewed by the guy from Streetwise Media who has been filming people in the area of the camp for the past week or so, then I left to get some food because it was lunchtime.