Peter Richardson has been a journalist on the Sunshine Coast for 50 years. The former editor of the Nambour Chronicle's knowledge of the Coast's history - and his passion for the written word - are unmatched. Last year he published Chapter and Verse, a collection of short fiction and verse inspired by the people and places of the Coast; it is available at good bookshops and Daily offices. Peter is now writing a memoir of a half-century of journalism in South-East Queensland.

Is poverty biting the Coast that much?

May 10 | Peter Richardson

A sad little story in the Daily last week was headed “Unemployed mother fined for stealing meat”.

On reading it, it occurred to me that in the broad sweep of history, it’s only recently that such an offence committed in England would have resulted in, at best, deportation halfway around the world to the grim colony that has morphed into the Australia we know.

At worst, it would have been capital punishment, with the condemned woman the centre of all eyes on a Big Day Out for Londoners at the Tyburn gallows, where the first hanging was carried out in 1186 and the last just 13 years after Captain Cook sailed into our history books.

We’ve moved on since then, of course. We’re much more “civilised” and forgiving now, aren’t we? Perhaps, but it’s worth pondering how much of Bob Dylan’s hard rain will fall from the threatening clouds of world food shortages. Remember these lines?

“Heard ten thousand whisperin’ and nobody listenin’
Heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin’.”

But back to that sad little court case. The Maroochydore magistrate apparently accepted the woman’s plea by her lawyer that she had been stealing to survive since losing her job, and imposed only a $500 fine.

But are things really so bad? Is poverty biting so deeply here on the Sunshine Coast that people have to steal food to survive?

Charities say they are already hard pressed, and often unable to meet the needs of those seeking help with shelter, food, clothing, bedding and so on.

Presumably their clients are living, if only temporarily, “below the poverty line”.

As I understand it, this is an estimated figure derived from a benchmark figure below which household disposable income is insufficient to meet the basic needs of a family of two adults, one of whom is working, and two dependent children.

It is adjusted for other types of households and updated quarterly.

The Melbourne Institute of Applied Economics and Social Research put the benchmark for the December quarter of 2007 at $702.68 per week, including housing costs.

I wonder how many of the world’s millions would give anything to be as “poor” as that.

So much for the cold mathematics of poverty in Australia.

This becomes meaningless for me, though, when I speak with people who, although their disposable income is well below the poverty line, live fulfilling lives, exercising their minds and their bodies well into advanced old age, enjoying (at no charge) the beauty and the climate of our region, reaching out to those less fortunate volunteering their skills and just loving life.

For them, it’s a case of “What poverty line?”
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And another thing: Now here’s a case of seeing a need and filling it.

Did you know there are 2909 public toilets in Queensland? Actually, there may well be more, but that’s the number listed on the National Public Toilet Map, so if you’re a grey nomad roaming the continent and have a continence problem, or just don’t want to be caught short in unfamiliar territory, go to www.toiletmap.gov.au

rich.29@bigpond.net.au