Quicklinks

In its 26th year Samaritans continues to provide the most comprehensive coverage and analysis of the Welfare issues that matter to local people.

Click on the links below to join Cec Shevels as he discusses his views in the lead up to the Federal Election.

• Political Leadership (written prior to leadership change)
  The downward spiral of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s popularity has been rapid and quite unexpected....
  

• Understanding Homelessness
  Newspaper headlines reporting that people in the Hunter were paying up to $150 per week for a single room in a sub-standard dwelling will have reminded many readers of the reality that the housing crisis in Australia is, or should be, a critical concern for all of us...

• Understanding Disability
  In 2008 the federal government, fueled by the idealism of social inclusion, commissioned an enquiry into the lives of people with disability and their carers living across Australia...
  

• The Need for Mental Health Reform 
  Whilst we debate across the country and indeed locally about what is our most precious resource, it may be time to think differently. Think for a minute about our health and in particular our mental health. Could this be our most precious resource?
  

• Children Are Not Political Pawns
  The news that opposition leader Tony Abbott plans to quarantine 50% of unemployment benefits if he wins the election fills me with apprehension...
  

• Time to Put Children First in Australia
  During this election campaign, I wonder at the small amount of time given to the plight of Australian children who are deemed to be in need of care and protection...
  

• Closing the Gap between Indigenous and Non Indigenous Australians 
  Australians often wonder if there is something they can do to assist in the journey towards Reconciliation and the Apology seemed like a beginning particularly as the Prime Minister promised to Close the Gap between Indigenous Australians and the rest of us...