It’s a question residents in northeast Melbourne have been asking after a plan to house Syrian and Iraqi refugees at St Vincent’s Care Services’ Eltham site was approved by the State Government.
The joint project between St. Vincent’s Health Australia and CatholicCare will see up to 120 refugees living in 60 vacant units at the village for between six months to two years.
Now One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson has weighed in, saying she was “absolutely appalled” by the scheme on 2GB.
“We should be looking after our aged, they are the vulnerable in our society,” she said. “I do not believe that we should be bringing in more refugees in this country if we cannot provide housing for them, let alone putting them into nursing care facilities.”
So what does the local community think?
On a mission
The plan has certainly upset some in the area who say the facilities should only be for the residents. At a protest earlier this month, one protester told Seven News: “Our elderly care system is for our elderly care people, not for Muslims.”
But there’s plenty of support for the project too. The same day, the ‘Welcome to Eltham’ group rallied together to form the word ‘Welcome’ – they’ve also collected over 700 welcome messages.
CatholicCare has also received help from others who have donated funds, furniture and other household items and volunteered their time to help.
The two providers have fully funded the scheme, with the tenants to be single women, single mothers with children and couples with one child. The units themselves are stand-alone, separate to the village and nursing homes, and will be converted back into over-55s housing in 2018.
Since St. Vincent’s purchased the village in 2015, it has spent six million dollars refurbishing the vacant units and two nursing homes and built another 56 independent living units for affordable seniors housing.
A safe haven
Ms Hanson says the plan is an “absolute disgrace”. I can’t agree. Yes, the elderly are our vulnerable and they do need our care and support. But these are vulnerable people too.
St. Vincent’s have promised no Eltham residents will be moved or left waiting for residential care when the refugees move in during the coming months.
With the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimating over one million people around the world have yet to be offered resettlement, they are the lucky ones.
What do you think of the project? Let us know in the comments below.
