I believe that people who work in caring roles are under-resourced and underpaid. There are amazing public and social services doing incredible work to support our health and basic living standards. We need to prioritise funding these essential services at all levels of government.

The pandemic revealed very clearly who the essential workers are and yet we still fail to support and pay them adequately. If elected, I would support initiatives that see funds flow to the organisations and employment sectors doing the most good at the front line of caring for people.

 We need to:

• REWARD essential workers in Calare with tax, study and housing assistance,
• Incentivise people to study nursing, midwifery, teaching, aged care and other caring roles at university and TAFE.
• REWARD those working in caring roles with better pay rates.
• REWARD those taking on stay-at-home caring roles with boosted social service payments and tax benefits as their care helps reduce hospital, disability service and aged care facility costs.
• REWARD domestic violence and homelessness support services with increased funds and grant opportunities.

Being of service to others is a value that’s core to my being and shared by our volunteers. Together, we will set an example of caring for people and place through acts of service in our communities and will encourage others to join us

If elected, I will support policies that uphold the values of volunteering and service to community and ensure that people in caring roles are recognised and remunerated properly.