Thursday, 19 March 2020
Members statements
COVID-19
COVID-19
After a summer of devastating bushfires, Victoria is now facing a new challenge: the spread of COVID-19 or coronavirus. I have had a lot of people contact my office asking how we can support each other during this difficult time.
As frustrating as they are, the point of the travel bans, self-isolation measures and bans on large events is slowing the spread of the virus to protect vulnerable Victorians and make sure our hospitals and health system are not overwhelmed, so that when people need our hospitals there are beds and staff available.
I know many people in the community are helping by staying away from group gatherings or public spaces, cancelling events, making provision for staff to work from home and being vigilant about handwashing, and that is great.
I know people are also worried about the flow-on effects of this virus. We have all seen supermarket shelves stripped bare of things like toilet paper, pasta, rice and even flour. This is particularly confronting for the elderly and people on low incomes who cannot afford to stockpile.
People are also calling my office very worried about people experiencing homelessness and those who work in the arts or in casual jobs without sick pay or security, who will be hard hit by the decisions our governments make around coronavirus. These will have a real effect on people. Indeed they are likely to affect every single one of us.
It has been heartening to see residents in my electorate offering toilet paper to their neighbours who might be running low or setting up Facebook groups to help those who might be isolated. I have set up a page on my website that includes links where people can go if they are looking for help or need help. People can go to ellensandell.com/pandemic if they would like to help out.
We have also called on the Minister for Housing to urgently give extra support to those facing homelessness, including short term, such as getting people immediately into hotels and crisis accommodation, and a long-term solution of building more public housing, starting as quickly as possible. We have also asked for the government to announce a ban on evictions in rental properties during the crisis so no-one finds themselves without a home. I have also written to the Minister for Creative Industries, asking for an urgent stimulus package for the arts and creative sector, including a number of grants and payments to ensure our festivals, venues and creative workers get through this tough period and asking him to advocate for federal government stimulus money to be directed at casual, gig and creative workers and businesses as well. I look forward to hearing announcements soon. Thank you.