Inspired by The Eagles
Neil Starkie, General Manager - Strategic Partnerships and Growth
Not a phrase you hear too often these days in Perth, although the West Coast Eagles have improved of late. But this isn’t a reference to AFL, so Dockers fans, you can read on, and if you’re a follower of the West Coast Eagles, maybe you could use as much inspiration as you can get, so read on too.
Most people would vouch for the capacity for music to inspire. We were recently very fortunate to partner with some amazing people who donated a whole load of musical equipment. We are passionate at St Bart’s about creating pathways and opportunities for the people we support to help them to live their best life. We also have some very talented staff who are generous with their time and talents too, so when we recently set up our first impromptu jamming session in Lime Street’s outdoor yarning circle, we were blown away, literally, by the volume and enthusiasm of so many people getting involved.
We support 140 people at Lime Street through our Future Homes, Aged Care and Community Housing services, so random noise is a constant soundtrack. But there’s no noise like that of live music in your front yard. And what a beautiful noise it was. One of our residents talked about his younger days touring around New Zealand with his band, others mentioned playing guitar years ago when they were children and now, they had an opportunity, without judgement, to give it another go. Everyone has talent because we are all human with something to express but we don’t all get the conditions or the opportunity to realise that talent. What is clear from our experience at St Bart’s is that where opportunities and pathways are presented, talent will flourish.
One song that really captured everyone in the moment was a rendition of The Eagles' Hotel California. It’s an all-time classic that everyone seemed to be able to sing along to. One of the most enigmatic lines of the song is the last line, ‘You can check out anytime you like but you just can never leave’. There have been many interpretations of the meaning intended in that line, but in the context of hearing it sung here, you can draw a parallel with the worst housing crisis we’ve ever seen.
Anglicare Australia recently released their Rental Affordability snapshot. The findings are breathtakingly awful for people on the minimum wage, with affordability halving for a single person in the last two years. Even couples with both partners working full-time are locked out of nearly 90 percent of rentals. People on Centrelink payments are being pushed out of housing altogether.
A person on the age or disability support pension can afford less than 1 percent of rentals. For a person out of work, it’s zero percent. May’s Federal budget will do little to address this crisis of access to affordable long term, stable housing. If you live in short term, transitional accommodation, you could be forgiven for thinking that ‘you just can never leave’.