“THE cost of doing nothing is far greater than putting our hands in our pockets now.”
That was the warning from Committee for Melbourne CEO Kate Roffey at the South East Business Networks (SEBN) Christmas industry breakfast at Sandown Racecourse on Tuesday 4 December.
Ms Roffey spoke about the apolitical not-for-profit member network’s initiatives and what they meant for the south east.
She spruiked a user-pays model to see a new Melbourne city rail line with five underground stations become a reality.
“We have to start helping ourselves,” she said.
“We have to start taking control of our own future. We can’t leave it to chance and we can’t leave it to politicians either.”
She said shortfalls on the Dandenong railway line were “immediate” but would be severe by 2020, leaving people stranded on platforms and carriages packed to capacity.
Ms Roffey said a nine-car carriage couldn’t enter the current city loop and trains had limited access to the line because there were so many converging.
“We have to get this done,” she said of the plan for a new line.
Ms Roffey encouraged manufacturers to find their niche and make a unique product to compete on a global scale, because they would not be able to compete on price.
“We need to be smarter with what we do,” she said.
She also said Australia should keep and use its resources, such as titanium, rather than selling the raw materials to other nations and buying back the finished product.
SEBN manager Sandra George announced that funds raised from the fourth Take a Swing for Charity Golf Day in February next year would go to Eastern Region Mental Health Association (ERMHA) for its MadCap Cafe.
ERMHA CEO Peter Waters said the organisation provided day to day support for people with severe and enduring mental health problems, and MadCap was an initiative designed to get people back into employment.
Ms George said the day had raised more than $120,000 in three years, including $40,000 for Royal District Nursing Service’s Homeless Persons Program this year.
Client services manager Theresa Swanborough said the program provided health assessments, first aid, clinical care, counselling and health and education programs to homeless people where they lived and stayed.
The two nurses in Greater Dandenong now have a car each thanks to the golf day, improving their ability to reach those in need.
