BEING KEPT ON ICE? What is happening in #Ballarat, #StArnaud, #Castlemaine, #Central Highlands #Western Victoria

Picture from here

Many Australians will have watched 4 Corners last night. Australians will have seen #Ballarat get an ingnominious mention in despatches.

Victoria is heading for a state election on 29 November. It will be of interest to see if, as a result of national media attention, all political parties will make promises - futile or otherwise - to address the almost complete lack of attention to what is happening in central and western Victoria. 

There are people living outside the metropolis of Melbourne. 

There are causes other than the Victorian Premier's racing interests.

Many people in the seat of Wendouree in Ballarat will have received a letter from sitting MP Sharon Knight. In that letter she says "we need to do much better to provide the services, facilities and opportunities local people need." 

She also says that "My highest priority has always been jobs". Jobs are a very high priority - because without a job and without a decent income enabling human beings to lead a decent life we lose so much. Massive unemployment - which is hitting certain areas of Australia - is probably the most corrosive component on human communities. Social isolation - whether it is because of drugs, illness, sexuality, race, ethnicity, language or religion - is probably second on the list. Massive unemployment and large scale social isolation can mean that a community is, quite literally, "stuffed".

In the Federal sphere, Ballarat's local MP is Catherine King, the Shadow Minister for Health.

Those who watched 4 Corners last night will be shocked by the overwhelming lack of funding for care for those seeking to forego drug addiction. It appears that the only place in the Ballarat area is Tabor House with its very limited capacity. To read more about Tabor House, please go to this site. 

Given the lack of knowledge by government and police which undergirds the inability of both to act constructively in this dire situation, and given the frequent bad press of religious organisations, it is interesting to note that the only provision for constructive help in battling the ice epidemic in central and western Victoria is in a house with limited bed capacity run by a Christian organisation.

Four Corners has done a great service in portraying a great problem and a great need in Australian society. But to give credit where credit is due, the Four Corners story may have begun in Ballarat itself with this article in The Courier.