Gary Gray (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to talk today about the Abbott government's cuts to community service organisations and the devastating effect they are having on my community of Brand and the communities of Rockingham, Mandurah and Kwinana. Once again Tony Abbott and the Liberals have targeted the poorest and most vulnerable in our community. The Abbott government has cut over $270 million from the Department of Social Services discretionary grants program. That program delivers funding to community organisations providing a broad range of vital services assisting struggling families and individuals. Thousands of community charity organisations relied upon this funding to provide families and individuals facing crisis with emergency relief such as food parcels, bedding, clothing and vouchers.

We cannot tackle poverty, homelessness or family violence and create a flourishing society without supporting strong yet frugal community organisations that provide emergency relief for our most vulnerable. For instance, Rockingham Emergency Relief in my electorate of Brand was one of the organisations affected by these savage, heartless and poorly thought-through cuts. The Rockingham Emergency Relief service run through Anglicare from the St Nicholas Community Centre was forced to close its doors on 30 June this year, after its funding through the discretionary grants program was cut and it had exhausted all of its private funding. It had provided the homeless and disadvantaged with food parcels, bedding, clothing and vouchers when available.

Importantly, it also helped give emotional support to people who had been hit hard and who had hit rock bottom, providing them with dignity and friendship and care in times of need. Volunteers have told me:

More people than ever before appear to be struggling financially through no fault of their own.

They tell me:

Money just doesn't seem to go far these days. When you have a low income, have lost a job or experienced an unforeseen event such as a sudden illness or injury, it is unlikely that many people will have sufficient financial reserves to fall back on.

Indeed, the people of whom I speak have nothing to fall back on.

Last year the Rockingham emergency relief service helped over 1,600 individuals and families as part of their walk-in service. These emergency relief services are not there to provide a supplement to people on a weekly basis; they are there to give a helping hand to those at their lowest and most vulnerable point.

Thanks to the hard work of the volunteers, such as Gillian Harris, a new organisation providing emergency relief will hopefully reopen soon, with private funding and community donations. Unfortunately, the community has already been damaged by the centre's closure and this limited private funding will only go some of the way to filling the void left by the Abbott government's cruel and unnecessary cuts. The closure of this service has caused agreements to be cancelled and the flow of donations from individuals to local businesses has stopped.

I call on the minister to reverse these unfair, short-sighted cuts to community organisations to ensure that the Rockingham emergency relief service and many others are able to continue. (Time expired)