Cost of living visit

By Lachlan Ellis

A Senator has made the trip from Melbourne to Ballan, to discuss the ongoing cost of living crisis and how it’s affecting the Moorabool community.

Senator Jane Hume, who is Chair of the Senate’s ‘Select Committee on Cost of Living’, visited the Ballan Caravan Park on Monday 17 July, speaking with staff and committee members.

Ms Hume, who is also the Shadow Minister for Finance and the Public Service, said it was important for the Committee to hear from people from all over the country on how the crisis is affecting them, to help provide a solution.

“Some of the people that are residents here won’t want to speak with me directly, but they will speak to [committee members] Helen and Paul. This is one of the best examples of communities banding together to provide services to those that are doing it tough, helping them get through to the other side,” Ms Hume told the Moorabool News.

“Sometimes a cost-of-living crisis doesn’t take effect of what’s going on in your personal life. The park here helps a small but important group of people, because of the kindness and generosity of community members like Helen and Paul.”

Ms Hume said a key finding of the Select Committee’s work so far was just how important not-for-profit and charitable groups are in helping those who are struggling.

“One of the things we’ve seen in this cost of living crisis is just how communities really have come together to help each other, particularly those not-for-profit and charitable organisations, who have done such exceptional work. We’re relying on them more and more, which is why we need to focus our attention on how we can help them,” she said.

The Select Committee on Cost of Living was established on 28 September 2022, and filed an interim report on the cost of living crisis in May this year, with a final report to be tabled on 30 November.

Its aim is to inquire and report on cost of living pressures, and ways the Government can help ease those pressures through fiscal and tax policy.
Paul Tatchell is the volunteer Chair of the park’s Committee of Management whilst wife Helen has been in the role of caretaker for the past five months.

Mr Tatchell thanked Senator Hume for stopping by, and said it was important to show her firsthand how the cost of living crisis is affecting people.

“I basically wanted to put the point to the pollies that they talk the talk but don’t always walk the walk. My concern was that people at the bottom of the spectrum, doing it really tough, often get left by the wayside,” he said.

“I think Jane will take back to Canberra that rural areas really do do it tough in a cost of living crisis, and we have expenses beyond those of city people, purely based on economies of scale, and the fact everything has to be transported here.”

Ballan Caravan Park is located at 45 Jopling Street, and caters for permanent short-stay residents along with cabins, powered and unpowered sites, available for tourists and workers.