Transcript of
Senator Mitch Fifield
Shadow Parliamentary Secretary
for Disabilities, Carers and the Voluntary Sector
ABC Radio 1602 AM South West Victoria
With Jeremy Lee
13 November 2009
7:10am
E & OE
Subjects: Dan Tehan, volunteers, disabilities
JEREMY LEE:
Senator Mitch Fifield is the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities, Carers and the Voluntary Sector and as mentioned is in our part of the world at the moment. Senator Mitch Fifield good morning.
MITCH FIFIELD:
Good morning Jeremy.
LEE:
What has brought you down here?
FIFIELD:
Well apart from escaping the oppressive heat in Melbourne,
LEE:
It’s been hot here too.
FIFIELD:
It’s a bit milder here and I’m escaping “Tiger” mania. I’m here to spend some time with Dan Tehan, who is the Liberal candidate for Wannon and to look at disability issues, and I’m also meeting with Denis Napthine later today. I spent yesterday in Portland looking at some of the great work that Kyeema does there providing supported employment for people with disabilities, some tremendous work that they do. And when you look at the voluntary contribution of the community to support that work it just makes you humbled to witness it. There’s no way that Government could ever seek to replace that kind of voluntary community endeavour.
LEE:
Yes I was going to ask you that from a Government perspective when it comes to those sorts of things and also volunteers which is very much a part of portfolio. How does that work and how do you factor in that volunteer force I suppose into everything you do because it is quite massive isn’t it?
FIFIELD:
It’s incredible, I think the voluntary contribution in Australia has been valued in the billions of dollars. And, as I say, there is no way the Government could ever seek to replace that and also I don’t think we want Government to replace that volunteer effort, it’s one of the great things about being Australian the community spirit, the volunteer spirit. And what Government, what Parliament should seek to do is to harness that and to remove obstacles from people contributing in that way.
LEE:
It’s always a bit of a fine line though, and I mean I don’t wish to single out the CFA for any reason but certainly that’s one area we’ve got and we do hear a bit of discussion about paying volunteers or rewarding them in some way. I mean how do you approach those sorts of arguments.
FIFIELD:
Well the volunteer community jealously guard the non paid aspect of what they do. If you try and pay volunteers they will often get quite grumpy because they want to make a contribution to the community. They do it because they love their community, they don’t want to be paid for it. And that is very much the case in the CFA. There is, I think, a bit of a plan in the State Government, particularly with some of the unions, who would love to see the CFA become a paid workforce. Now the community members who volunteer for the CFA are very opposed to that because it would fundamentally change the nature of those organisations. So I hope out of the bushfire Royal Commission that we don’t see a recommendation to put more paid employees in the CFA because I think that it is one of the very important institutions in country Victoria and it’s the volunteer commitment that makes the difference. No disrespect to paid fire-fighters but I think that those who volunteer feel that they go the extra mile and I think we don’t want to lose that.
LEE:
It’s also a very good example I guess of an organisation that as you say works very well in that regard, or largely works very well in that regard, I guess from a Government point of view then, how does, just sort of thinking about those sorts of roles and so on, you talked a little bit about perhaps the reliance on that, I’m just wondering about how you weigh it up or how if they disappeared all of a sudden, what would that mean to you?
FIFIELD:
If that volunteer contribution disappeared? Well our community as we know it couldn’t function. You could not remove the voluntary contribution from our community and have the level of support, not just in the disabilities areas, but in other service organisations, in the CFA, you just would not have that level of service and support in the community without those volunteers.
LEE:
It’s also a good example of something that might, that obviously works very well in the country, but in the city perhaps wouldn’t work quite so well?
FIFIELD:
The volunteer spirit is alive and well in metropolitan areas. I guess of necessity it’s probably stronger in rural areas. One of the great problems for all voluntary organisations is their ageing membership. We can’t continue to rely on that great post-war generation who have such a great community spirit. We need to find new ways to engage younger people to provide community service, to volunteer in a local organisations, and that is a challenge for the Parliament, is to find ways to encourage and engage younger people.
LEE:
How do you go about doing that? Certainly anecdotally in the country I guess I get the feeling a lot of people it just a part of what they do and how they function, but is it more of a, is it coming harder perhaps to get younger people involved in these sorts of things?
FIFIELD:
Yes I think it is becoming harder. Young people are busy now. Students tend to have part time jobs. They have HECS debts which they look to repay. They try and save some money while they are studying. So there are greater demands on young people, but I think one of the great ways we could seek that volunteering spirit I think it’s an idea Jeff Kennett had to set up in school volunteer SES cadets, volunteer police cadets, volunteer army cadets. If you can get students engaged at that age at school in a good voluntary activity then I think they are far more likely to carry on in that vein later in life.
LEE:
There is also a sort of strong family component to that as well, if someone grows up where the parents volunteer, the kids are often very likely to follow in their footsteps aren’t they?
FIFIELD:
That’s right because they see that practical example. And there is the same challenge for parents, they are incredibly busy. You tend to have these days both parents working to make ends meet, so everyone is pushed for time.
LEE:
The other part of your portfolio which we touched on there is the disabilities aspect. You mentioned you were involved yesterday and Kyeema I think.
FIFIELD:
That’s right.
LEE:
And today I think you visit Vantage?
FIFIELD:
Yes, Vantage and Mpower and South-West Communities. The Physical Disabilities
Council of Victoria is also having a rural forum in Warnambool today so I will be taking part in that. But you know one of the things which surprised me in this portfolio, which I have only had since February, is that 20 per cent of our community have a disability of some form. It’s something I wasn’t aware of and it’s something I think most members of the community aren’t aware of. The other thing that surprised me is that people with disability don’t necessarily get the support that they need. Most Australians would assume that because we live in a wealthy, advanced economy, that people with disability get the support that they need. But sadly it is a bit of a frayed patchwork: inconsistent eligibility criteria between states, a rationing approach to providing support and assistance, and that is something that really surprised me. I think we need to find a better way of support.
LEE:
I mean certainly just anecdotally a group like Vantage locally does a fantastic job of giving people opportunities as you mentioned and employment and so on, is there enough of that happening now, are there enough organisations out there like that or do we need more, would you like to see more Vantages, more Kyeemas and so on?
FIFIELD:
Well look we’d love to see more particularly in the area of supporting disability business enterprises. If you have a disability, whether it be physical or intellectual, you still have skills, you still have a contribution to make, and thank goodness we have moved away from the old sheltered workshop concepts of employment which was basically just activities to keep people busy. Disability business enterprises are now run as businesses, they have products which they sell. They don’t want people to buy their products out of any sense of charity. They want their products and services purchased because they provide a good quality product or service at a good price, and organisations like Kyeema and Vantage do that and they do it incredibly well.
LEE:
Good to have you in our part of the world. I’m sure there will be many positive things you will be taking back to Parliament from here. And very nice to meet you as well. Senator Mitch Fifield, thanks again for coming in.
FIFIELD:
Thanks Jeremy very much.
ENDS