Tasmania puts NEWPIN on the COAG Agenda.....but community support still vital to securing the future
Some exciting developments have occurred recently in the battle to secure NEWPIN's future in Tasmania, but there's still much to be done and Northern NEWPIN at Mowbray will continue to need broad community support from people like you and I.Although Northern NEWPIN are still a long way from securing the funding needed to operate into 2008 and beyond, we received some very welcome news on Thursday 12 April when Premier Paul Lennon announced that he would be tabling a paper on Early Childhood and Child Care at the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting scheduled for the following day.
That paper contained the following proposal as one of the action items:
Action Item 23 with Commonwealth Support: Fund the intensive parenting program (NEWPIN) for at-risk and vulnerable mothers, on a statewide basis.
If successful, the joint State-Australian Government initiative would provide NEWPIN places for up to 90 families statewide.
This is a wonderful boost to have the Tasmanian Government recognise the value of this fantastic program and place it on the national agenda. However, the outcome is far from certain.
Readers of this Blog can help in the awareness campaign with the Australian Government by:
1) Becoming informed about NEWPIN through sources such as those referred to in earlier posts on grassroots.
2) Writing a letter to Michael Fergusion, Liberal Member for Bass, urging him to support Action Item 23.
3) contacting NEWPIN on 63263948 and offering to buys a t-shirt for approx $15 and then wearing that shirt all until strangers tell you they're sick of it.
Keep up the good fight. :-)
btw - I've recently read a book from the State Library called "no time to lose: the well-being of australia's children" (edited by sue richardson & margot prior) and found it to be an extremely thought provoking account of the welfare of kids in our contemporary society. If the wellbeing of kids is your passion, and particularly if you want to focus your thoughts for activism, I'd recommend you read "no time to lose."
Read the full Post!
posted by Alan Melton @ 5:07 pm
0 comments
