An online campaign to halt domestic violence in local suburbs has been launched by Gosnells Mayor Glenn Dewhurst who said he is “sick and tired” of nothing being done about social issues at a state level.
Mr Dewhurst took to social media late Tuesday night and pushed what he has called the “1 in 5” campaign, with the aim of having one out of every five state housing allocations to be allocated to domestic violence funding.
“I am losing sleep as I move throughout our community and witness the hardships people are facing,” he said.
“There are so many issues that are being raised by our community that are not being covered.
“People are not feeling in control of their lives and many others are losing their homes through no fault of their own.”
While Mr Dewhurst said he does not have any concrete plan for making a specific change to state housing allocations, he said he hoped any leverage he can create through social media would go some way to making change.
“Most of these issues are not traditional local government issues, but I am now going to make them local government issues,” he said.
“We are representatives of our communities, we are elected by the community, we are the grassroots of the community and with out radical out-of-the-box thinking of all these issues then our communities across Australia will decent in to anarchy, as some already have.”
Since the controversy over so-called “Lemongate” and his various disputes with Gosnells councillors last year, Mr Dewhurst has made a forthright effort to share what he calls “out-of-the-box” ideas which don’t fall under the normal duties of a city mayor.
But Mr Dewhurst has rallied against criticism of his role in pushing social issues online and said that if he feels he has the power to make change, he will.
“Domestic Violence is only one issue faced by our community,” he said.
“Some will say this is a state issue, but how are they going with that I ask you?
“Homelessness by people involved in domestic violence is prevalent in our community and not only by women and children but males and children.
“All are equally important.”
Mr Dewhurst said he would be writing to his counterparts in other councils, as well as government ministers and the State Housing Authority to implement a plan for those who find are made homeless through circumstances of domestic violence.
“I am calling on us all to get involved for a campaign of ‘1 in 5 for DV’,” he said.
“This is the start of many issues I will be raising in the community.
“I will attract the wowsers and trolls and told to get back in my box, state bureaucrats may well target me, but we need to stand up and say things are not acceptable.”
