This speech was given by Rita Sacchetta, one of the Coordinators of Anti-Poverty Network SA’s Northern Suburbs Branch, at our online JobSeeker Public Meeting, on March 9, 2023.
“I’m Rita, one of the coordinators of the Northern Suburbs Branch.
I was working at the aboriginal elders village in Davoren Park when I was sacked in March 2019, because I was a whistle-blower, and that was when my life began unraveling.
I knew, 3 months in, that my life was going to change, dramatically…and badly. It took 3 months for my JobSeeker Payment claim to be accepted…it was only after the intervention of my local Labor MP, that my claim was finally accepted.
By this time I was already experiencing financial hardships. I was paying $600 in rent. I was in a private rental at that stage.
In 2019 I sold my car for food. In 2020 I sold my fridge for food (ironic).
I was eating out of dumpsters, going 3 or 4 days a fortnight without food.
I was rationing my medications, including my insulin.
When you have a chronic illness, you must eat and medicate daily. Or we die prematurely.
In 2020 my partner died of cancer. He was refused his last payment because he couldn’t report in person.
In this time, my mental health took a huge nose dive – depression, anxiety, suicidal.
In this time too, I was hospitalized a number of times, complications due to uncontrolled diabetes.
In 2021 I had a stroke, affecting my communication centre. Leaving me with permanent memory loss and confusion.
When I was in hospital for my stroke, I was diagnosed as having community acquired malnutrition, due to food insecurity.
I have permanent spinal damage, with metal replacing a couple of discs in my neck. I have lost 50 kilos in weight.
I can’t walk for long periods. I use a walker. I have no teeth. I have nerve damage in my hands, feet, arms, and legs. I have memory issues. I get confused a lot, resulting in daily panic attacks.
In 2018 I was 120 kilos, working 75 hours a fortnight, as a cleaner, carer, kitchen hand and laundry manager. In a job I absolutely adored.
Flash forward to now…you see before you a physically and mentally broken woman. I have uncontrolled diabetes, so I don’t envision a long life span. I can’t even afford to die, because my son won’t be able to bury me.. He’s on DSP (Disability Support Pension), and homeless.
Even though all of that was taken from me, my life was taken from me, I still have my voice. Not as good as it was pre-stroke, but still loud and strong. This is my superpower. Words are my super power. They will not take that away from me. And that is what I intend to use in this war against the poor.
I am a broken woman, with nothing to lose.
We have some of the poorest and most broken people here in the north. We are answering calls every day from people who are hungry, homeless.
We have a tent city in Fremont Park. Every Saturday morning, myself, Sara and Kathy are out at Fremont Park with Cos We Care, meeting and talking to our community.
We have homeless families living in the shopping centre across from my unit. We keep them fed and warm.
We have a poor community, but an oh-so-generous one.
The charities are struggling to meet demand.
Our Labor MPs, like Matt Burnell, are being very silent.
I think what we should do here and now…let’s call it what it is…this is not a political issue any more…this is a humanitarian crisis…and this is a political choice.
We have to have our voices heard. Demand to be lifted out of poverty.
Because you don’t piss off a 58 year old woman who has nothing to lose.”
Anti-Poverty Network SA 