I happened to watch Four Corners the other night when they featured a story called “The Last Chance Motel”.
What do you do when you’ve lost your job, lost your home and you have three kids to feed? You end up in a motel cooking, eating and sleeping in one room at the taxpayer’s expense. These are Australia’s new homeless.
In a gritty and at times confronting documentary, reporter Sarah Ferguson goes inside the lives of these people. They once had jobs and homes, now hit by the triple whammy of the global financial crisis, a rental market that’s almost non-existent and government neglect of public housing, their situation is bleak.
The story was quite revealing for those who have not seen much about Australian Homelessness but what I found remarkable was that the stories portrayed are not much different to the stories of the folk that I see each week. While I would have thought that geography would have made a huge difference (the story was set in the Blue Ranges in NSW), it in fact WAS the same, with the same unscrupulous folk!
However, when I commented on Facebook that I had watched it, and that it in fact brought tears to my eyes, a discussion ensued that I think is quite indicative of much of the response from people when confronted with homelessness. Here are some of the comments and discussion.
I also just watched that heart wrenching programme.It’s a pity the government doesn’t use all that money they give out as baby bonus’s to build government housing.
I saw the same program but had an entirely different response. It seemed to me that many of the individuals interviewed were their own worst enemies. On welfare and popping out four kids. Many of them seemed to constantly have a cigarette always in hand as well. I can’t imagine what that habit must cost them a week. A lot of stupidity and a lot of irresponsibility. In the end, the only ones I felt sorry for were the kids who deserved better. Sadly, this is how multi-generational welfare dependency develops. Of course, multi-generational welfare dependency can only exist in a welfare state like Australia.
I know you’re going to give me a serve Neal but that’s my honest response to what I watched. Also, the bleeding heart leftist approach of the documentary makers was constantly irritating.
J — fair call and perception. Yes, in many cases you are right — their situations are as a result of bad choices and mistakes. But that being the case, smoking is the least of the activities that folk turn to to “dull” the pain. Those kids are lucky that Mum and Dad aren’t at the least alcoholics or on drugs. The kids are also a result of unemployment amidst others.So that being the case, yes it is the kids that must be focused upon and while there is the option to remove the kids — it is the worst case option for the kids and family. So, they focus on the family and work to get them stable.
Yes, there is many cases of multi-generational welfare mentality, but there are many, folk who did not appear on the show that end up in similar circumstances through no fault of their own. It is these folk that break my heart.
Thanks for the honest comments!
Thanks for not giving me that serve Neal. I guess we all see situations differently depending on our own life experiences.Am hoping that programs to help these people focus on giving them a hand up rather than fostering welfare dependency.
I think that’s the best outcome for all concerned.
Interesting show though. Would never see something like that on commercial TV. Did you catch the Insight show on post-natal depression last night? Was very eye opening.
