Walking from Melbourne to Canberra, Salvation Army Major Brendan Nottle is committed to raising awareness of Australia’s homelessness problem.
The trek will take 40 days, and will cover 700 km. The Salvation Army’s Walk The Walk For The Homeless aims to raise $200,000. At the time of publication, they had reached the halway mark, with $100, 304 raised.
Upon reaching the capital, Nottle will ask the Federal Government to create a plan for homelessness and its causes.
Nottle told the Herald Sun, “Homeless people are the forgotten people of our community. They’re the voiceless.”
A petition is being circulated that supports a national strategy that will address the root causes of homelessness in the community.
Nottle told the Herald Sun he hoped the petition would recieve “105,237 signatures — one for every person experiencing homelessness now.”
While the election in 2016 neglected the issue of homelessness, there were a number of rallies earlier in the year after the city of Melbourne enacted a ‘rough sleeping ban’. There was overwhelming opposition to the plan from the public and charitable orgnanisations.
Major Nottle takes his first steps in Melbourne with @billshortenmp . #walkthewalk #walkforthehomeless pic.twitter.com/qLNPTghVei
— Anissha Vijayan (@anisshavijayan) September 8, 2017
