‘Probably the greatest crisis we’ve seen’; Pastor highlights cost of living pressures at front'-line forum

Pastor Dale Dowler OAM is flanked by Senator Jane Hume and Ted O’Brien.

by Cameron Outridge

Pastor Dale Dowler from the Shack Community Centre in Nambour has outlined the huge challenge facing support agencies as they try to cope with the effects of housing and cost of living crises on the Coast and hinterland.

“We see it every day,” he said at the Fairfax Cost of Living Community Forum held at Nambour Bowls Club on Thursday. 

“We see it in our homeless community where they can’t access just normal, everyday preventative care.” 

Mr Dowler said the cost of living was having a devastating effect on people’s health. 

“They can’t afford to get their meds. The mums and dads are out there and they’re actually foregoing even medications for themselves so their children can get medications. 

“So it’s probably a very new thing that we are seeing. We’ve seen the ebbs and flows of cost of living over the last 25 years that we’ve been involved with this. But this for us is probably the greatest crisis we’ve seen because we are seeing it every day and all day.  

“Just this week we’ve seen a death in our community and we’ve seen homeless guys going under lights to hospital because they can’t access bulk-billed medical help. 

“And thank goodness for our hospitals, thank goodness that they can come in, they can access our hospitals. 

“The reality is that this is getting darker and darker. But hopefully together we can actually make things a little bit better.” “We see two-income families coming in and there’s a sense of embarrassment and there’s a sense of lack of worth in the sense that they think ‘I’ve got to come to agencies now to get help’. 

“But the one thing I want to really highlight is the fact that we are there to help. It doesn’t matter who you are and it doesn’t matter where you come from.”

Mr Dowler said collaboration between organisations was crucial. “And this is the amazing thing about forums like this.  “We can talk together, we can hear what others are doing and how we can come together to get through this together.”

Nambour forum reveals depth of issues

A Cost of Living Forum at Nambour has heard from the organisations helping those who are now being forced between choosing to feed their kids or paying the power bill.

Local organisations on the front line of the cost-of-living crisis attended the Fairfax Cost of Living Forum co-hosted by Federal Member for Fairfax Ted O’Brien and Shadow Minister for Finance Senator the Hon Jane Hume.

The Forum found practical measures to assist key community groups and those in our community who are most disadvantaged.

The event builds on previous community consultation by Mr O’Brien which found 79% of respondents had re-evaluated expenditure due to cost of living pressures, and 69% had experienced a moderate to large impact on their mental health.

Ted O’Brien said that Sunshine Coast families were at their wits end with out-of-control cost of living pressures.

“We are now seeing people who have never needed help before coming forward for a helping hand,” Mr O’Brien said.

“Community organisations are doing it tough and are now providing services to people who had previously been volunteers helping others.”

“From my community consultation, locals are feeling the most pressure with food and groceries, followed by housing and then energy and power.”

Mr O’Brien and Senator Hume led the forum to learn more about how community organisations were helping affected locals, with the goal of forming further strategies to ease the pressure on residents.

Senator Hume said inflation was causing serious pain for Australian families and businesses.

“Energy bills, grocery prices, mortgage repayments have all gone up and households are having to make some tough choices in their budgets because Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmer’s refuse to,” she said.

Mr O’Brien and Senator Hume invited a number of community organisations, including Meals on Wheels groups, the Salvation Army, Busy at Work, and others to participate in the forum.

The Coalition has urged the Government to address the cost-of-living crisis and has proposed an alternative strategy to see Australia get back on track with a focus on reining in inflationary spending and delivering a back-to-basics economic plan. 

• The Fairfax Cost of Living Community Forum was held at Nambour Bowls Club on Thursday 1 August 2024.

Cost of Living meeting reveals depth of community struggles

Pressure on housing, food insecurity and mental health problems were troubling issues that were consistently raised at a Cost of Living Community Forum at Nambour Bowls Club. 

Fairfax MP Ted O’Brien said many people were having trouble feeding themselves or their families. “Also, an overarching theme was the mental health impact,” he said. “When people don’t have the money to spend on the basics, well that impacts them emotionally.

“It impacts the fabric of families and these are the things which ultimately require an enormous team effort to address. And we are fortunate as a country, but particularly as the Sunshine Coast, we have fantastic organisations that are prepared to work together and to deliver services that are much needed. 

“The organisations with which we met today are on the frontline dealing with people who are renters are struggling to feed their families and parents of kids that they’re pulling out of school. Homeless people, people who just can’t get medical support, people who are going without the warmth of the heater at night. 

Mr O’Brien and Senator Jane Hume met with local front-line organisations at the forum. “They’re the ones on the front line dealing with people most in need. You take Dale at the Shack. I mean, what he does, what his team does is absolutely extraordinary. It’s hands-on and it’s giving people the dignity they deserve. 

“People can fall on hard times and they don’t expect it. They didn’t plan for it. But every individual deserves to be respected and what these organisations do is they provide that respect and they provide the services to go with it.”

Senator Jane Hume and Ted O’Brien