Unemployment on the rise in Paterson

BY GRACE LANCASTER

Unemployment is on the rise in Paterson, with latest Small Area Labour Market results indicating a 0.5% increase in the last quarter.

The jump follows Paterson MP Meryl Swanson's belief that thousands lost their jobs this year alone.

"There are many people who are working as contractors, they're working in insecure employment, they're casuals not sure if they'll be on the roster next month," she said.

Raymond Terrace and Kurri Kurri's unemployment is also increasing, jumping 0.9% in the last three months.

Meryl Swanson is now calling on the Government to create opportunities for Paterson residents.

"This government should be providing opportunities, it should be providing policy that gives business and big organisations the opportunity to invest so that we can create more jobs and the energy sector is a perfect example of how that might happen."

Meryl Swanson - Member for Paterson

The deadline's up: PFAS report from federal government due today

BY: ALEX MURRAY

The deadline for the Turnbull government's report in the wake of the Williamtown contamination crisis has arrived.

Residents affected by toxic pollution are rife with health, financial and living problems and are calling for compensation and effective solutions from their representatives.

With a delayed response from authorities and a freeze on bank lending in the area, the community are in devastation particularly for businesses and an uncertain future for families.

The federal government will be under scrutiny for their actions in the wake of the red-zone crisis and the 18 year gap since officials were warned of the dangerous chemicals.

Much of the government's spending has fallen onto the base but subsequently had limited plans for the affected residents.

The critical report being released today will detail a solution to these severe long-term problems for human safety and the money owed to the community.

Member for Paterson, Meryl Swanson says:

"This has been an issue for decades, we know what the problem is and now we want a solution."

"People are very concerned about their health implications and particularly their immediate mental health when they worry about their environment and of course the investigations into all sorts of clusters of cancer occurring around the base."

"Essentially we need to know what's in that plan and what consideration has been given for the people of Williamtown and what we intend to do for them."

"People have been rendered financially hopeless because they're not able to sell their properties because the banks won't lend to potential buyers, they've essentially been landlocked."

"Our local people feel well and truly deserted by our own government."

Meryl Swanson MP - Credit: Newcastle Herald 

Paterson MP Calls out Centrelink Wait Times

BY LAUREN FREEMANTLE

Following the release of Centrelink's annual report, Paterson MP Meryl Swanson is calling out the welfare system for increased phone wait times.

She says she's been inundated with calls from disgruntled constituents who are trying to navigate the increasingly web-dominated services. 

Indeed, the Centrelink website reveals a continued "focus on improving the delivery of services, in particular, digital services," with more than 700 million digital, online and telephone self-service transactions recorded over the 2016-2017 period. 

This figure contrasts the 52 million human-operated calls and 19 million in-person visits to Centrelink offices. 

It's this "self-service" aspect of the system which Ms Swanson believes is failing to provide for the most vulnerable members of our community. 

"We need to be able to provide services for people who are on the aged pension and suffer from disabilities...it's about providing proper service for those who need it." 

She says Centrelink is under-resourced and under-staffed; in dire need of more permanent full-time staff who are qualified and familiar with the complex issues of Australians who require income support. 

"It's one thing to say you want to be efficient, it's another to cut something back to the bone.

"We need to start looking for proper efficiency, whilst still providing these basic services people need...it's clearly gone beyond that when people are left on-hold for long periods."