Page 2500 - Week 07 - Thursday, 3 August 2017
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As recent migrants to Australia who were unfamiliar with the social landscape and lacked a strong community network, we pretty much had no support. Courageously, my mum found an affordable rental property—this was back when poor people like us could actually afford to pay rent—and then proceeded to move herself and her five children into this small flat.
The flat was located about 20 or 25 minutes away by foot from our home, but feet were all that we had. So Mum borrowed a shopping trolley from the local shopping centre and we proceeded to make dozens of long trips to and from the new flat, taking whatever we could in each load. This was the beginning of many years of doing whatever she could to support her family, including working hard and long hours. We made it, thankfully, though sometimes only just. But it sure would have been nice to have a bit more support along the way.
The Canberra Liberals believe in a number of principles that relate to supporting single-parent families. First, we believe in the innate worth of the individual and in the right to be independent, to own property and to achieve. We also believe in equality of opportunity, with all Australians having the right to reach their full potential. Being a single parent should not make a person into a second-class citizen. We should all work together to remove obstacles that could stand in the way of anyone’s independence. Single parents, for example, should have the same opportunities as anyone else to obtain education and skills, to work hard, to make choices that are good for their families and to even own their own homes.
The Canberra Liberals also believe in a just and humane society where those who cannot provide for themselves can live in dignity. Along the pathway to independence, many of us will experience phases where we need a bit of support, including things such as housing assistance. It grieves me personally to read just this week about how many people in Canberra currently have nowhere to sleep. This includes a large number of women, some of them single parents, who have taken to living in their cars. There is nothing dignified about sleeping in a car.
It is imperative for the ACT government to address the crisis in affordable housing that is hurting our community and that disproportionately harms single-parent families. Supporting these families is crucial, because the Canberra Liberals also believe in the family as the primary institution for fostering the values on which a cohesive society is built. When our families are strong, our entire community is strong. We must not let single parents or their children fall through the cracks.
Most single parents do not choose their situations. Many of them, like my mum, find themselves raising children alone because they have been forced to flee domestic violence in order to protect themselves and/or their children. Whenever we discuss supporting single parents, we should remember to connect the dots back, and in many cases it is to personal and family violence. Responding correctly to domestic violence, therefore, is one important way that we can support single parents.
Yesterday’s Canberra Times discussed a recent report, based upon interviews with frontline crisis workers who help those experiencing domestic violence, which is
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