Funding cut to TRAMS, an organisation that works

WE SERIOUSLY have to reconsider refugee resettlement in this place and I’ll tell you why.

There once was a town called Toowoomba. And in that town there was a sainted lady named Esme Horan and a place of worship named St Luke’s Anglican Church. And that community of faith resettled a small number of refugees every year. They got no funding, made no fuss and went about their business.

More often than not, once the new arrivals found their feet they went to the big smoke. And then one day a group of tall strangers came to town. They didn’t just like it they loved it! And they stayed. And they sponsored other family from refugee camps and soon a community grew.

Other churches and schools came on board in the work of resettling refugees but soon found they needed more help.

Children needed extra help with homework, adults needed more help with English, interpreters were needed to navigate driving licences, power bills, hospital admissions etc. etc.

And the Federal government heard about this town and resourced the good work that the community was doing in giving people a second shot at life.

The town wasn’t perfect but it did fairly well. At citizenship ceremonies the Lady Mayor would give the new citizens a bear hug and shout Aussie Aussie Aussie. They never forgot.

Organisations came and went but one that stood the test of time was Toowoomba Refugee and Migrant Support (TRAMS). It had more than 100 volunteers and engaged schools and community across Toowoomba.

A new Mayor came on board. He showed political courage and declared the town a Refugee Welcome Zone. His heart was touched when he heard of the plight of persecuted minorities in Syria and Iraq. He declared that we couldn’t help everybody, but we could help some and we would do our bit.

Fast forward 15 years and we’re still going strong. There have been no crime waves. The sky hasn’t fallen in. We have our challenges but things are OK.

In the past few weeks the children of those tall strangers were giving speeches as school captains in local high schools. They are no longer strangers, they are now our fellow residents.

And the good news has spread. Liberal Senator Zed Seselja visited Toowoomba when he was Assistant Minister for Social Services and Multicultural Affairs. He spoke glowingly of the welcome in Toowoomba.

In April this year Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton declared “People would be fools not to learn from Toowoomba’s success.”

In August this year Toowoomba hosted a national Regions of Welcome conference sharing the positive aspects of resettlement when it comes to regional Australia. People came from across the nation to listen and learn.

The Acting Manager of Settlement Services from the Federal Department of Social Services was also warm in her praise for Toowoomba.

Toowoomba is now home to the largest community of Yazidi people in Australia. They have suffered genocide and crimes against humanity at the hands of ISIS. We have modernday holocaust survivors in our midst.

People will need years of expert help and everyday humanity to piece their lives together again. So why should we look again at resettling refugees in Toowoomba I hear you ask?

Despite everything positive outlined above the Federal government has decided to cut the much needed resources provided to organisations such as TRAMS.

When language is key to resettlement they have decided to make organisations pay for their own interpreting services.

When the needs have never been greater TRAMS has had its funding cut by close to 60 per cent. Funds that are spread so much further when they empower more than 100 volunteers.

Some organisations have been completely defunded and I understand that there have been cuts right across the board.

Could somebody in power please explain? Why? What’s not working? If the federal government has decided that resources need to leave this region we need to revisit the number of refugees that are resettled here each year. To do otherwise is to set all of us up to fail.