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Street life ... Homeless man Ken Johnson in the city. Pic. Angelo Soulas Source: The Sunday Telegraph
THE hours are long and the work monotonous, but begging pays well for at least one of Sydney's homeless men who earns up to $50,000 a year from good samaritans.
Ken Johnson, 52, makes his living at George and Market St, outside the Myer store in Sydney's CBD, where he sits for up to 16 hours daily, seven days a week.
On a good day, he said, he takes in $400 from generous passers-by.
On slower days, he still picks up amounts between $75 and $150.
"I'd be really disappointed if I did a long Friday and I only had $250,'' said Mr Johnson, who has been living on the streets ``since the late '90s''.
"I knock off when I feel like it, or if I've done brilliantly. But on those good days, you might be on such a high that you go for a few more hours and get a bit more money.''
Mr Johnson wouldn't say how much he earned last year. But he did reveal that donated coins and notes are stashed in a safe place, before being taken to a bank branch and deposited in his account several times a week. Some of the money is given to a friend.
Asked what he used the money for, he told The Sunday Telegraph he did not smoke, drink nor take drugs, but was raising money to help the friend who needs a liver transplant.
Mr Johnson displays a sign that reads: ``Needing support for major family exp(enses) including just heaps for medicine. Paying up is a big grind. Please leave me alone, if you are the abusive nasty sort.''
When The Sunday Telegraph caught up with him last Wednesday, business had been good. In 20 minutes, he collected $30 in coins and notes. One woman handed him $10.
"I've had three hours off today,'' he said, after treating himself to a breakfast from Hungry Jack's.
"I got a $20 note earlier, so I'm sitting on about $60 for the day and the afternoon rush is still to come.
"There's a general rule in donating and that is that people are more likely to help out when they are towards the end of their day, when they're happy and heading home.''
His tax-free income might sound fine but, unlike most jobs, there's no sick leave nor superannuation plan.
He does not draw welfare because ``it makes you feel like a cripple''.
Mr Johnson said he could not afford to rent and lived on the streets because the money had been spent to pay for bills for his friend.
"Most hostels don't have space to store things and to rent a small unit just costs too much when you're at stress point,'' he said.
Originally from Newcastle, he said he came to Sydney ``in the 1990s'' to fight a court battle against the RTA, seeking to have part of the Pacific Highway at Swansea deemed illegal.
"Inner-city accommodation was, and still is, just off the face of the earth _ it's just too expensive,'' he said. ``I was unemployed at the time, so decided to sleep on some concrete steps while I was in Sydney and I just got used to it.''
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures from the 2006 Census show 27,374 homeless people in NSW.
An Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) spokeswoman said ``rough sleepers'' represented about 16 per cent of the homeless.
She said many turned to begging because government welfare did not cover costs, and ``for those who do receive income support, payments may be inadequate to meet the costs of temporary accommodation and food.
The Newstart unemployment payment is about $32 a day.
"Of those who do sleep on the street, only a tiny minority choose to do so, as a lifestyle choice. For most people who are homeless, there is no choice.''
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