Essential Energy halts job cuts plan
They get a bag which a lot of the girls use all year round. Each kit contains two
moisture barrier shields, eight liners, a washer, underpants, soap, zip lock bags and an instruction and care chart. The shields alone have had 28 changes in the 10 years to perfect them and get them more suitable. Depending on where the kit is going, they get taught how to use them and the reason behind why they menstruate and how to track their periods. The kits are designed to last three years, so the standard of sewing must be quite high. We also do a heavy flow kit which is for maternity.
It’s now come to Australia and has been running in Dubbo for four years. We’re a small little group but we’re about to expand dramatically. There’s been another couple of organisations that have come on board as well, so they’ve been able to make big donations too which is great.
I’m a keen sewer,
I do enjoy it and I have lots of fabric at home. I was looking for an avenue to use it up and do something in the evenings to fill in time. The Dubbo team is laid back, we’re under no targets so we sew what we can. We have a number of ladies in their late 80s who come and help sew and it’s a great way to connect and keep socially engaged. I don’t know one woman who hasn’t had an issue somewhere along the line, whether it’s flow, accessibility or whether is education on how to use products. It can be quite daunting when you’re starting out. It’s good for the environment as well – they will break down and they’re not toxic.
The kits go to women in developing countries
but there’s been a lot of talk in Australia about going to Aboriginal communities as well as women’s refuges, and supplying to victims of domestic violence or homelessness. The kits have also been distributed to a lot of places (such as) Papua New Guinea,
Due to a lack of education,
some women are put in shearing sheds or farm animal sheds and are sat on cardboard, rags or newspapers. A lot of women in countries the kits are being sent to don’t wear underwear, so with girls now wearing underwear the percentage of sexual abuse has been cut down by 33 per cent. Kidnapping has dropped as well in certain areas where the kits are being distributed.
You can contact us through email dubbonsw@daysforgirls. org but we’re also having a stand at the Craft Alive coming up on Friday, August 30, to Sunday, September 1, so feel free to come up and show any interest! We have information days as well.
You don’t have to be a sewer to be involved – there are
a lot of jobs around the kits that don’t involve sewing, so we need a bit of talent from all areas.
At Craft Alive we will be offering an option of sponsoring a kit for $15 which is the price to make one. There are restrictions of the type of fabrics used and the patterns that are allowed, depending on where the kits are being sent. No glamour, words, war, or faces. If people think they have suitable material, then by all means we’re up for donations. ESSENTIAL Energy has backpedalled on its plan to cut jobs in regional NSW, including some in the Dubbo electorate, with the government-owned energy supplier now looking for other ways to slash costs.
The company had earmarked over 600 jobs to be slashed from regional NSW.
After weeks of campaigning to abandon the job cuts, Essential Energy announced on Tuesday it would do so.
It comes after Member for Dubbo Dugald Saunders called for the Essential Energy CEO John Cleland to dismiss himself before sacking hundreds of regional workers.
And Mr Saunders wasn’t shy in taking credit for the reversal.
“For weeks, myself, the Deputy Premier John Barilaro and our Nationals colleagues have been calling on Essential Energy to abandon proposed job cuts, and today the state-owned corporation has finally agreed to halt their plan to take jobs away from our communities,” Mr Saunders said.
“Labor and other minor parties have used this issue as nothing more than a political football.
“No doubt they will try to take credit for this success, without having done anything, but it was the NSW Nationals in Government who saved these jobs,” Mr Saunders said.
Following the announcement, NSW Labor leader Jodi Mckay took a swipe at the “bitterly divided” State Government calling on them to guarantee the Essential Energy job cut plan would be permanently abandoned.
“The Berejiklian-barilaro Government has failed to guarantee all 500 jobs at Essential Energy – a temporary halt offers no reassurance to anybody,” Ms Mckay said.
“They promised no regional job cuts and must honour that promise.”
Upon making the announcement, Essential Energy said it would continue to deliver “operational efficiencies” and lower network charges for its customers.