Re: At end of socio-economic queue (Weekly, April 16):
It is so sad to hear about the trend where third or fourth-generation Brimbank residents have never worked in their life and are struggling to survive financially.
Instead of benefits and pensions being increased to a sustainable amount, what we need is more engagement with these residents so they are able to break the cycle of poverty. I have been on a few St Vinnie’s visits and I have seen a few cases where all they need is for someone to talk to, someone to listen to their stories and someone to inspire them.
Networking should not be just a buzz word in the corporate environment but also in our community environment.
In the 2011 Streets as Homes study on street drinking, 100 per cent of drinkers who took part in a survey said they received their primary income from Centrelink payments.
How will increasing benefits and pensions break the cycle of poverty? It won’t.
Networking, informal mentoring and educational programs will bring more positive change than just another dollar in their pocket.
Jacqui Medilo (via web)
Plan now to reduce train din
I would like to know what will be the increase to freight trains travelling through Deer Park and Ardeer following construction of the Truganina freight rail hub? What noise, traffic and air quality analysis will be done? The Regional Rail Link project is only concerned with passenger rail. However, it seems illogical for the state government not to be planning and delivering noise mitigation that will deliver for both.
Anna Parapouras (via web)
