COMMUNITY Resource Centres (CRC) across WA are facing funding cuts of 40 per cent as part of Labor’s plan to reduce debt.
There are currently 105 CRCs throughout the State, from Broome to Esperance, that deliver a diverse range of services.
Most CRCs provide these services to towns through the use of volunteer groups such as fire brigades and State Emergency Services.
Lee Steel, who wears many hats in the CRC community, including Linkwest deputy chairperson, CRC Sub Committee chairperson and Pingelly CRC co-ordinator, gave an emotional speech last week at the Pingelly CRC.
“There is no fat to be trimmed,” Ms Steel said.
“CRCs are not 100pc funded by government and we work hard to create income and form partnerships to fill the gap.”
The press conference was to inform media and locals that Linkwest had received a notification that the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) is going to undertake internal departmental evaluation on how to apply the funding cut across the program.
An options paper on the findings will be presented to Regional Development Minister Alannah MacTiernan on June 30.
Ms Steel said the cuts would save the government $5 million dollars a year with some CRCs funding being cut from $90,000 to $54,000.
“A very small saving to the government but a huge cut to each CRC, making many of them unviable,” she said. Last year an independent review reported the program was both economically productive for the State and assisted with the roll out of essential services in rural WA.
“CRCs provide services for every government department, whether it’s seniors, volunteering, mental health, health, youth, local government, arts or tourism,” Ms Steel said.
If cuts go ahead, the CRC community believes it will directly impact on some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable, the elderly and remote Aboriginal communities.
“We invite Minister MacTiernan to work with Linkwest to explore opportunities that would limit the need for funding cuts and instead work together to bring about greater utilisation of our network by State government that would drive efficiency in delivery of regional services throughout the whole government,” Ms Steel said.
Linkwest chairperson Cate Rocchi said Linkwest refutes categorically that it’s partisan as suggested by Minister MacTiernan on an ABC interview last Thursday.
“It’s a totally bi-partisan organisation,” she said.
“All board and sub-commitee members are volunteers and we are just there to serve our communities.”
In response to Ms MacTiernan’s comments on the ABC interview, Ms Rocchi said “We reiterate that Linkwest wants to work alongside government to strengthen the CRC network and the communities they serve.”
“Linkwest maintains that it has tried repeatedly to work with the State government to find cost savings, but argues that each CRC funding of less than $100,000 is extremely good value.”
Pingelly farmer Tara White said cuts to the CRC would be a terrible shame because the local community would have nowhere else to go.
Ms White said she initially used the CRC on behalf of her daughter who was borrowing library books.
“I have started borrowing audio books now because I have an unwell son that is in Perth and I am constantly on the road, so they make the trip a bit quicker,” Ms White said.
Another reason Ms White will greatly miss the centre if it closes down is the computer training they have provided for her.
The White family have never had a computer on their farm, and Ms White’s father-in-law is 96 and still does all the books by hand.
The reason they have had to change their attitude to computers is their daughter, now eight, is going through NAPLAN testing which is all done on a computer.
“She doesn’t know how to use it, and the school said they don’t have time to teach her because all the other kids can already use a computer,” Ms White said.
“Her typing is slow and she struggles with it so she has been learning how to work the computer at the CRC.”
Ms White has also found that the internet runs all modern communication, with netball registrations now only online.
“I have a British passport and to renew that I need to do it all online, and now we have paid for medical expenses we can’t get the Medicare rebate because they don’t issue checks anymore,” she said.
“I have never used a computer before and it frightens me, so I thought I would come in here to the CRC and they would be able to help me learn to use it.”
Brookton and Pingelly Bendigo Bank franchise chairman Evan Hodges said they distribute any profits to the community, so over the past 16 years they have donated $700,000 to the surrounding area.
“We strongly support the CRC and there are quite a few branches in the country that have excellent community relationships,” Mr Hodges said.
With the funding cuts looking to set back the services of most CRCs, Mr Hodges said they will continue to support the centre but it will be harder to find the funding to operate properly.
“They are a bang-for-buck and anything we invest in the CRC, we see is returned to the community and we certainly wouldn’t be happy if the government reduced the funding,” he said.
“We have never been scared to stick our hand in our pockets for something that has a community advantage to it, and it’s not like we expect the government to pay for everything.
“But we are pretty cheap for what you get back in return.”
Shadow Minister for Royalties for Regions Jim Chown said the cuts would undoubtedly spell the end for some smaller CRCs, which were in many instances the only way some people could access government services in their community.
“These centres and the people that staff them, often in a voluntary capacity, are literally a lifeline for many people in communities where government services have no other footprint,” Mr Chown said.
“The funding cuts to CRCs will mean that access to essential services such as suicide prevention, child protection and domestic violence support may no longer be delivered.
“In addition to connecting people with government services, the CRCs in many remote communities are involved in almost every aspect of community life, including offering training and support to local businesses, organising social and tourism events and providing public internet access and printing services.
“This is another rushed and short-sighted decision by this out-of-touch McGowan Government that will literally gut some communities and put some of regional WA’s most vulnerable and marginalised people at risk, all so the Premier can fund his $5 billion of city-centric election commitments,” he said.
Mr Chown said Regional Development Minister Alannah MacTiernan had joined Education Minister Sue Ellery in her willingness to sacrifice communities and families in the bush.
Ms MacTiernan laid the blame for the cuts with the previous government saying that the “costs of running CRCs blew out tremendously under the Barnett spending spree”.
“We were elected to bring the finances back in order and our out-year allocation of $8 million represents what would have been the normal trajectory of growth,” she said.
Ms MacTiernan said they acknowledge that CRCs provide valuable services, but there is huge variability between individual CRCs in terms of usage and the level of service offered.
“We also need to take a real look at the locations of our CRCs: there is a disparity in how resources are allocated between the regions,” she said.
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development is conducting a review into these issues, and the review will be complete by the middle of the year.
She said opportunities will be provided for CRCs to contribute to the review process.
“We do not want to see CRCs close down - but their funding must be sustainable in the long term,” she said.
“The budget has been set in line with the State’s current financial capabilities, and this allocation will not change.”
Although the cuts will not change, Ms MacTiernan said the review will ensure that funding is distributed equitably.
LOCAL Pingelly farmer, accountant and Bendigo Bank treasurer Bruce Sewell and his wife, community child health nurse, Kaylene Sewell said they will be disappointed if the local CRC closes due to their involvement in community programs.
Mr Sewell has been doing the bookwork and audits for the CRC over the past 15 years.
With only 1010 hectares to farm, Mr Sewell finds himself spending the majority of his time in town with multiple roles.
“I am on the board of Bendigo Bank as the treasurer and have been for the past 12 years,” he said.
“I am also the chairman of the Pingelly Recreation and Cultural Centre (PRAC) management group.”
Sporting-wise, Mr Sewell is the president of the local cricket club and has been in that role on and off for many years.
“From a cricket point of view, we have used the CRC to help us apply for grants, and on the PRAC side of it, any grants that come up they helped us prepare them,” he said.
Mr Sewell and his wife have three sons, with two away at school and one still attending school in Pingelly.
The boys have used the facilities including the inbuilt library and other available resources.
A big issue that many regional communities face is the accessibility to the internet.
For Mr Sewell, living only two kilometres west of town, internet is not an issue with a tower close by.
But for those farmers who are still reliant on satellite to provide internet services, the CRC can sometimes be the better option.
“Also some farmers’ computers might not be able to run certain programs and things like that, whereas the CRC can run those programs and I know farmers that utilise that,” he said.
Mr Sewell described the CRC as a “one-stop-shop” when new people come to town.
The centre has also taken on the role of tourist bureau where people can find out what is going on and what sports are available.
Ms Sewell has conducted many workshops at the centre, with some including fathers breakfasts and first aid training for parents.
“One of the biggest things the CRC does for us is in our Early Years Network, where we focus on kids in the community between zero and seven,” she said.
The network meets at the centre and Lou Johnson, a CRC employee, will organise all of the meetings, help them apply for funding and records meeting minutes.
“We organise between four and eight events a year and our Early Years Network is one of the best functioning ones in the region,” Ms Johnson said.
“I think it’s purely because of all those roles that the CRC performs for us.”
and everyone is a volunteer on the committee.”