Welcome all, to Monday: Part 2, otherwise known as Wednesday: The Prequel. There’s a whack of big new stories swimming about today, so let’s just dive straight into them:
Ouch: Interest Rates Are Probably Going to Rise Today
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is dropping some new interest rates today, and practically nobody is thrilled. This is because most folks believe it’s going to rise for the fifth consecutive time.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, just half a percentage point increase would force most folks with an $800,000 mortgage to pay over $4,300 a month. Back in April, these people were spending less than $3,300 to pay off the exact same mortgage. This situation is going to get worse before it gets better, folks.
An Australia-Wide Childcare Shutdown is Happening Tomorrow
On July 21, the United Workers Union’s (UWU) members that work in the childcare sector voted that they’d conduct a shutdown in September. And they’ve stuck to their guns. According to the ABC, hundreds of centres across Australia will be closed this Wednesday. Many of these members will also be attending rallies supporting this shutdown in the afternoon.
If you want to know if your fam’s centre is going to be impacted, UWU’s Early Education Director, Helen Gibbons, has expressed that you should talk directly with your joint’s educators. She stated, “The best way to know what is happening at your service is to contact them.”
The UWU has three key requests that they want the Federal Government to act on. They are as follows:
- They want a “reason to stay” and to be paid what they’re worth.
- They want early learning to be considered just as important as schools.
- They want the government to put children before profits.
Mint Community Groups Are Popping Up Everywhere
In some good news, people are being good to each other. Today, the ABC has reported that informal volunteer groups are becoming a trend. This can be demonstrated in Crows Nest, a place north of Toowoomba, where a group of ladies are trying to get a women’s shed built. “We want to work within the local community,” explained the organiser, Sandy Anderson. She also noted, “We might want to learn maintenance on a car, how to change a tap.”
If Anderson’s Women’s Shed gets off the ground, then it’ll join the ranks of the many important yet informal projects that are taking place. As Volunteering Queensland’s Zac Reimers explained, while volunteering for proper full-ledge organisations is on the decline, community-led groups are popping off. He said, “The number of people wanting flexible volunteering is growing.” And informal volunteering projects offer such flexibility.
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