The Beagle Editor,
The shire, along with the rest of the nation, is presently experiencing the economic impacts of, Drought, Fires, Floods and the Corona Virus controls.
Many are now out of work it seems, mainly in the private sector, unable to work from home for all sorts of reasons, e.g.. machinery operators, trades people and so on.
Some will most likely not get their jobs back or have enough savings to survive financially with out jobs, but they will be assisting with supporting the financial catastrophe that’s occurred by way of churning government assistance.
It seems however that those employed in the white collar areas of the public systems will escape virtually unscathed financially and even mentally through the present crisis.
Economies can't function without outdoor trades and labor people, who generally in the scheme of things, are the lower paid but do all the heavy lifting. It is these do-ers that infact maintain our economic viability as they actually contribute to the fabric of the community and not just to the paperwork.
The present economic problems and downturns can't be resolved by white collar workers unable to generate value adding in local economies. Everyone will need to work together to eventually turn things around and that recovery will be driven by the do-ers.
In an economy like the one we live in, which has a generally low household weekly disposable income and an ageing demographic, it is clear that the lower end of the financial food chain cannot be expected to carry the weight of Council's financial dilemma by the proposal the Mayor and staff propose to increase rates and other fees and charges. Our elected representatives need to come to terms with any new financial impacts they are considering imposing on the Shires Residents and ratepayers at this time.
yours sincerely
Allan Brown
Catalina
