Monday, 1 February 2021
Again, the vocal minority has come out and taken to vent their anger at the actions of the security guard at the centre of the outbreak here in WA. And again a number of people have attacked the ethnicity and background of the man. There are so many issues to unpack in this case.
The heart of the matter is the issue of whether we are paying people a “living wage”. The reality is that a number of the people undertaking these jobs are either International Students or other temporary residents of this country. These people are not entitled to any of the benefits that we permit taxpayers in the country. This is despite the fact that we are prepared to take a significant percentage of their income in taxes.
Additionally we also charge international students a small fortune for their studies here. We then layer an accommodation fee of around $400 per week for a residence that would struggle to accommodate anything larger than a small tenant. And we restrict the number of hours that these people can work every week. This is all combining to form a potential disaster as people overload themselves in order to simply survive.
This can all be addressed by examining this issue on a global basis. There are many strands that need to be woven together to give us an overarching strategy. But the essence of it goes to the way we treat individuals and address their needs and rights. That is our priority and possibly one lesson we should have learnt from Victoria’s experience.
Suresh Rajan
President ECCWA
20 View Street
North Perth WA 6006
0403 276 960
