LAID OFF WORKERS ANXIOUS FOR HELP
JOSHUA Roobs should be planning his honeymoon. Instead he was lining up at Centrelink Murwillumbah.
Like thousands of hospitality workers, Mr Roobs was made redundant on Monday because of the nationwide shutdown of all non-essential services.
The hotel duty manager worked in the industry for 16 years and hadn’t claimed a government benefit since he had hand surgery 20 years ago. Mr Roobs said there was no indication of the shutdown and he heard about it on Sunday night.
“It was only when the Government released the information that night and then I got a phone call the next morning saying I didn’t have a job.”
The newlywed said his wife still worked but her wage was not enough to support the family.
“I’ve got four kids and pay $500 a week rent,” he said yesterday. “I was the main breadwinner.
“We probably got lucky. We got married last Saturday … we had a wishing well at our wedding and we got a little bit of money out of that. That was towards our honeymoon, now we’re going to use it to survive.”
Tweed bus company owner and tour operator Rob (name withheld) was waiting in line at Centrelink to see if his business qualified for assistance under the Federal Government’s stimulus package.
Plumber Blake Graham was laid off after major construction sites on the Gold Coast were shut down.
Mr Graham worked on job sites at Palm Beach that he said were closed because of social distancing regulations.
“The health and safety officer comes in and closes the site down,” he said.
“I just need some financial help to get me through these times. I’m not the only one in this boat. What can you do about it?”
At Southport, unemployed fathers to uncertain university students lined outside Centrelink feeling like no other options were available.
Many waited in the lines while being on hold to the Centrelink phone service or waiting for an unresponsive MyGov website.
The website crashed again yesterday, locking thousands of newly unemployed Australians out of government services.
Government Services Minister Stuart Robert, who on Monday was forced into an embarrassing backflip over claims the MyGov website was subject to a “cyber attack,” said another spike in users was behind its latest problems.
Lachlan Burgess, 19, and Kacie Eccleston, 23, lined up at the Southport Centrelink after Dracula’s told them they’ll be without work until May 5 at the earliest.
Mr Burgess – who works part-time at the venue – said Dracula’s had been supportive but he was uncertain about what the future holds for him in the workforce and with his science degree at Griffith University.
“Uni is also concerning now. It’s all online and we’re not allowed to go in, which affects my assessments because a lot of it is group work and in labs.”
The couple live with one other person in Broadbeach and all three have lost their jobs.
“We’re hoping the landlord freezes our rent,” Ms Eccleston said.
Maudsland floor tiler Shem Skinner was one of the many people who lined up outside Nerang Centrelink.
The 31-year-old has been a tiler since he was 17 and he said he was stressed about not having work.
“My boss let me know that with us required to go into people’s houses for work we have to stop,” he said.
“I’ve never seen a grown man look like he did, when he told his four employees that he has to lay us off. I have one kid and a stepdaughter, who are 10 and three. My partner is working full-time but not making the money to cover what we need with school care and things like that.”