In The Chair: President Peter Draper
Members: 14
Guests Paul Maytom, Javian
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Paul Maytom. Leeton Multicultural Support Group
Paul came to Leeton from the Newcastle area in 1967. He was picking fruit, and this was where he met and appreciated the immigrants from Italy. He could see their important contribution to the town. He also developed a strong sense of community and the need to look after all. This culminated in his becoming Mayor of the Shire and, in the early 2000’s he joined the Rural Australians for Refugees.
In 2011-2012 a lot of refugees (around 80) arrived in town, largely from Afghanistan. It was obvious that they needed support, and a small group, including Paul, got together to help. This became the Leeton Multicultural Support Group. The original group of refugees have been relatively successful, and Leeton has earned a good reputation for support for these new residents.
The required level of support has now been increasing and this has led to an extreme workload for Paul and the small band of helpers. This has been exacerbated by the way the PALM scheme is operating. The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme allows eligible Australian businesses to hire workers from 9 Pacific islands and Timor-Leste when there are not enough local workers available. This scheme is good in principle, but there are some deficiencies that lead to hardship. Generally, the labour is managed through labour hire companies and not all these companies or hiring businesses are ethical. This has led to disengaged workers that have fallen out of the system. These people have no Visa to work or obtain health cover. Of the 39,000 PALM workers, about 5,000 have become disengaged and there is no official help for these workers. These people generally turn to immigration application officers to apply for visas at a cost ranging from $500 to $3000. These applications are rarely successful, and it is then important for the workers to appeal to retain the right to stay and work in Australia. These disengaged workers often do not understand the process, the outcomes, and the status of their applications. Paul often gets called on for advice and help. This sometimes leads to very difficult situations and extreme hardship for those involved.
Paul cited some examples. They were distressing, sometimes heartbreaking, and showed the extent of the problem that is not being addressed through Government channels.
The workload on Paul has been extreme and is increasing. He needs help (particularly some secretarial assistance), but applications for financial support have been unsuccessful to date. The Griffith group has been successful in attracting some secretarial support.
In addition to providing individual support. Paul has tried to stimulate improvements through Government sources as he understands the official pathways.
There was some excellent discussion following the talk and we were left in no doubt about the seriousness of the problem.
Paul was thanked by the club by President Peter.
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The Brain Teaser
Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?
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Director’s Roundup
- President Peter
- No Meeting next Thursday (13th June)
- There will be a lunch at the Draper’s on Saturday 15th June from 12 noon. There will be no cost but BYO drink. A thankyou lunch from President Peter full of games and fun. For Rotarians and friends of Rotary. Need RSVP to Brian Munro ASAP.
- Secretary Brian
- We have been asked to provide the food van for the Art Deco Festival on Saturday 13th July (11am to 2pm)
- Also, we have been asked to provide help (one Rotarian) at the Henry Lawson Cottage on the same day for the Poetry performance.
- Changeover on 20th June. Please let Brian know about numbers ASAP and pay in advance to assist with planning. $55 per head.
- Barry
- Market Day last Saturday – banked $513 after expenses so a good day after a slow start.
- Thanked everyone for their support over his time as Community Service Director. A particular thanks to George for putting out and picking up the Market Day signs each Market Day.
- Although he is stepping down, he will be coordinating the golf day on Sunday 23rd June.
- Javian
- Good day on Market Day.
- Meaning of the name Javian: Hebrew origin meaning loyal, loving, funny, introverted but never fails to make friends happy.
- A: Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
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Sergeants Session Nicholas
Nicholas worked hard to extract all he could from the members (and guests). He was particularly hard on the Secretary for requesting Annual Reports (although the bulletin editor can sympathise with dyslexic typing). We were all a bit bemused that he didn’t mention the football. Probably a good thing after the result on Wednesday night.
The raffle was won by Alan Brumfield.
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The High School Dance
For a high school dance, the head boy asked out the girl he liked. To get flowers for her, he had to stand in a line outside the florist for an hour. To make things worse, he had to wait another hour in a line outside the tuxedo shop. Finally, he goes to the dance with the girl. The girl wanted to have some apple punch, so the boy went to get it, but to his surprise, there was no punch line.
How’s she doing?
A woman called a local hospital. “Hello,” she said. ” I’d like to find out if a patient is getting better, doing as expected or getting worse.” The voice on the other end of the line said, “What is the patient’s name and room number?”
“Sarah Cohen in Room 302,” the woman answered.
“Just a moment, let me look at her records. Oh, yes. Mrs. Cohen is doing very well. In fact, she’s had two full meals, her blood pressure is fine, her blood work just came back as normal, she’s going to be taken off the heart monitor in a couple of hours and, if she continues this improvement, Dr. Weiss is going to send her home Tuesday at noon.”
“Thank G‑d!” the woman said. “That’s wonderful! Oh! That’s fantastic, what wonderful news!”
The nurse said, “From your enthusiasm, I take it you must be a family member or a very close friend!”
“Not exactly,” the woman said. “I’m Sarah Cohen in 302! Nobody here tells me anything.”
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