Since the 1980’s I have worked both in Burnie on the North West Coast and now in Triabunna on Tasmania’s East Coast. With this experience I was appalled to read in last week’s Weekend Australian Magazine article “Down & Out” ( By Greg Bearup in The Australian here ), of the simplistic, callous response of Local Member Brett Whiteley, to the unemployment issues facing the once-thriving industrial town of Burnie.
To liken the implementation of proposed employment measures to “controlled crying with young children” and to say “Some people will cry a little longer than others but it is for their own good in the long run” is beyond justification.
Certainly those who find themselves without income support for up to six months with families to support, food to put on the table, rent to pay and, of course a car to run because there are such limited transport options, will be doing more than crying.
Many will spiral further into poverty, depression and suicide. Remember this is a policy aimed at those of up to 30 years of age.
I wonder if Brett Whiteley used “controlled crying” on his own children, who I understand live interstate.
We talk judgementally about third and fourth-generation unemployment but let’s not forget many caught in this cycle were retrenched or made redundant and never chose unemployment as part of their life journey.
Blaming schools for children’s low academic results is another simplistic response.
In 1987 the Tasmanian Education report “Secondary Education: The Future”, stated that about one third of secondary students have experienced some form of family breakdown and that, the emotional disturbance generated by such events can seriously affect the capacity of some students to benefit from school.
Underfunded schools rarely acknowledge these statistics, or if they do, find it impossible to redress as they battle with Naplan Testing, National Curriculum demands and increasing numbers of dis-enfranchised students who realise they are not being prepared for a future characterised by uncertainty and challenge. We must not forget that in the nineties, Burnie itself had the highest youth suicide rates in the Southern Hemisphere.
Saul Eslake pointed out in this article that many other Australian towns in non-metropolitan areas are facing futures similar to Burnie.
These towns must embrace change and recreate themselves, if they wish to survive in an ever-changing world.
However, this otherwise insightful article, did not comment on the many innovative, proactive responses Burnie itself has initiated since the early nineties.
Most recently, Burnie has been one of 10 towns funded across Australia through the “Better Futures, Local Solutions” Project and communities across Australia are waiting eagerly for the release of the final evaluation report as it documents many solutions to responding to this complex issue that we all have some responsibility to redress.
Please let us all heed the CEO of Brotherhood of St Laurence, Tony Nicholson, who says government’s proposed policy of facing a six-month wait before getting the dole is fraught with danger.
We know that the number of families who are becoming homeless across Australia is already a critical issue.
This is a “stone age” employment policy and we MUST speak up now before it is too late.
Well known futurist, Robert Theobald, once wrote, “Not only is the Emperor wearing no clothes, he is making obscene gestures.”
This is one of those gestures!!!
*Jane Teniswood has extensive experience in working with individuals, families, school systems and communities across Tasmania. In the nineties, Jane set up consultations for the national children’s and youth law centre, the Australian Youth Foundation, the Human Right’s Commission and for the Peter Nixon Inquiry. She has given evidence to several Senate Inquiries on issues relating to literacy, unemployment, training and youth suicide on the North West Coast & to the reconvened Burdekin Inquiry in Melbourne. Jane was involved in setting up Lifeline in Hobart and Burnie, establishing a state funded community based Youth Alcohol & Drug Service in Burnie, which she later managed, the North West Sexual Assault Service and a new model for youth shelters. She was Chair of the Burnie Business Enterprise Centre for four years and an alderman in the Burnie City Council for five years. From 1993 until 1998 Jane established and managed the Creative Living Centre in Burnie. The aims of the Creative Living Centre were to reduce the numbers of students going through the school system unable to read and to reduce increasing youth suicide on the North West Coast. Jane managed the Creative Living Centre from 1993 until 1998. The Creative Paper Mills (now The Makers in Burnie) was initially established through the Creative Living Centre as an employment opportunity for young people. From 2003-2008 Jane was a Regional Director on the Area Consultative Committee for Tasmania. Jane is currently involved in evolving “The Village” in Triabunna, an East Coast Regional Development Organisation project which is based on the model of the Creative Living Centre.
EARLIER on Tasmanian Times …
• Lost opportunity the real NAPLAN Story
• Idiot Tax Blog: When you have no economic value Local Liberal stooge, Brett Whiteley bagged the seat at the last election on the “he’s not Labor” vote and was up in arms about the article. Whiteley too wanted a focus on positivity. Look at his motivations and it’s easy to understand why. He’s walking a fine line. The sunshine and lollypops routine is needed or else his unwavering support for brain dead welfare reduction schemes becomes farcical. Playing on the lie that jobs exist and the unemployed are little more than children who need a paddling, allows him to puff his chest out and offer the following … The type of blindness you’d expect from a certain type of Liberal. The type, who as far back as I can remember, has been under the employ of the local, state or federal taxpayer. I couldn’t put my finger on one notable thing he’s done. And in 25 years time, when he croaks, we’ll be encouraged to remember his “loyal public service”. While the CEO of the Brotherhood of St. Laurence raised the prospect of the poor becoming destitute under the new welfare regime, Whiteley rejected it. Whiteley also likely rejects poverty being the parent of crime and revolution. Brett loses either way, because if it’s not social upheaval, maybe it will be political. • Read more HERE
