St George Greens adopted the following resolution at a general meeting on August 5. The resolution has been sent to all state MPs in the St George area: Mark Coure (Liberal), Oatley; Cherie Burton (Labor), Kogarah; and John Flowers (Liberal), Rockdale, as well as Shaoquette Moselmane, Labor member of the NSW upper house and former Rockdale mayor. To date, none of the above have responded, or to our knowledge made any public statement on the Liberal state government’s withdrawal of funding from an important local community organisation that has served the area for more than 20 years. We will update on any responses that come to hand.
“St George Greens deplores the impending closure of St George Women’s Housing, which for more than 20 years has provided emergency housing services to women fleeing domestic violence and women facing homelessness for other reasons.
“We note that this closure is part of a state-wide plan to amalgamate specificially women’s services into general homelessness programs. This will result in loss of expertise in dealing with women who have suffered domestic violence.
“We note that, as a result of a tender process biased against secular, community organisations specifically for women, four large Christian-based charity organisations will take over provision of most homeless services in NSW.
“We note that, worthy as these Christian organisations may be, many people in need of homeless services in the St George area may have religious reservations about approaching Christian organisations. We are particularly concerned that Muslim women in the St George area may face greater difficulty securing assistance in dealing with domestic violence and homelessness.
“We call for continued funding of secular, community based women’s emergency housing services.”