Tony's Blog

Khan hopes to klean up ! At Dead Man’s Pass with Local MP, Tony Piccolo.  

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Will the door (in the background) to the Gawler Housing SA Office remain shut for ever ? Local MP says this would be a disaster for vulnerable local housing sa residents and people in need.

Local Housing SA residents are concerned the temporary closure of the Gawler Housing SA Office because of COVID-19 restrictions will become permanent.

Located on Seventh Street in Gawler South, the Housing SA Gawler Office has been a service for vulnerable members of the Gawler area to seek help for various issues relating to housing.

However, with the office closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is believed the Government has taken the opportunity to quietly close the service and relocate its staff to other offices.

All six of the office’s employees have been shifted to surrounding Housing SA locations such as Elizabeth, Salisbury and Modbury, leaving Gawler with no direct service over the past few months.

Local Member of Parliament, Mr Tony Piccolo said the move would spell bad news for those living with a disability who are unable to fully access public transport or use computers, as they would be left with few options when looking to seek assistance from the nearest Housing SA office.

“Sadly, the suspected closure of the office has taken place without any form of consultation with those in the community and has not been publicised by the Marshall Liberal Government.

Mr Piccolo expressed his disappointment at the supposed decision, stating that it would be unacceptable for one of the town’s most essential services to be secretly shut down.

“It has been typical of this Government to ignore the needs of our most vulnerable members of the community, so hearing about the alleged move to shut down Gawler’s Housing SA office has left me upset and angry,” Mr Piccolo said.

“To leave these people without a local office, and without giving so much as a hint of prior warning, would be simply inexcusable.”

Those living in the Gawler area would have to travel to either Elizabeth or Salisbury to visit a Housing SA office, 15km and 22km from the former site of the local office respectively.

 

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Tony Piccolo with Lutheran School Officers (SSO’s) at Immanuel Lutheran School, Gawler during SSO Week.  

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At the modest birthday celebrations were (centre) Axillary President , Mrs Lyne Sibenaler, other members , and Local MP (far left) Tony Piccolo and Paul Little, President of the Gawler RSL.   

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The bus services that the community and I fought so hard for in 2010 are being severely slashed in an appalling act of vandalism by the Marshall Liberal Government that is determined to privatise public transport services at any cost.

This will mean more cars on the road and more traffic and car parking chaos at busy railway stations, shopping centres and schools.

The public is also in the dark about which bus stops will be axed. There are over 500 bus stops to be axed across the network and many of these will be in the Light Electorate.

For those living in Willaston, Hewett and Gawler East you will see your 491 and 492 bus services axed.

If you live in Munno Para there will be less services for a new $260m B-12 school at Angle Vale, where public consultation on public transport seems non-existent from the Education Department, which will create total traffic chaos for school drop-offs and pick-ups.

This cut will impact families, particularly those who only run one car or no car at all, increasing their cost of living and putting more pressure on household budgets already stretched by the COVID-19 pandemic.

These cuts go to the heart of the relationship between government and the community and show the different ways in which SA Labor and the Marshall Liberal Government prioritise community services.

The language used by the Minister for Transport in justifying these cuts is that of corporate management, not the language one would use to describe an essential community service.

The minister refers to increased efficiency, to provide lower cost services, but that is only achieved by drastically reducing these services.

So, it is efficiency versus effectiveness. I support effectiveness, because it considers need and not only cost.

Small businesses in the Light electorate will be affected by the bus cuts, as people will not be able to travel throughout the area to access these goods and services.

It is also clear that cuts do not address the needs of those living in our community with a disability. The minister says, 'Well, what's a few extra hundred metres if you have to walk to the bus stop?'

If you have a disability, are elderly or infirm, the 200 or 300 metres more to walk to a bus stop means the difference between accessing a public bus service and not.

That is the difference.

The minister then spoke about customers. Reducing the value of citizenship to simply paying customers. In other words, customers pay and you only deliver to those select people.

All citizens must be treated with dignity.

I believe that the services should be there for all people, according to need.

It is not about being treated as a customer. We need to look after the most vulnerable people in our community. Those who have paid taxes for fifty years and are now retired. What these cuts do, is undermine the basic needs of the people in our community.

We must put people’s basic needs first.

 

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Local MP Tony Piccolo with local Salvation Army Major, Darren Cox, from one of the local Churches who are trying to address the rough sleeper problem in Gawler and surrounding areas. They are near the river near Clonlea Park where some homeless people try to find a place to sleep.  

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Photo: Seven News  

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