1. 6 SNNEWS SHEPPARTON NEWS, MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2015
Prime Minister faces fresh spill speculation
By Elaine Cooney
More rumblings are afoot
in Canberra with talks of
another leadership spill this
week.
Prime Minister Tony
Abbott faced speculation
about a second leadership
spill last week after reports a
majority of Liberal MPs now
want to dump him.
Assistant Treasurer Josh
Frydenberg acknowledged
some Liberal MPs would
always want Mr Abbott
removed as prime minister,
but said they were among a
minority.
‘‘I don’t think anything
the prime minister does will
convince (them) that he
should stay in his role,’’ he
said.
But that was a minority
view among the Liberal
Party, and the prime minis-
ter should be given some
clean air to get on with the
job, the assistant treasurer
said.
Mr Frydenberg said it
wasn’t fair for anti-Abbott
forces to continue their
destabilisation, with the
NSW election just a month
away and a federal budget
to prepare.
‘‘I think he deserves a fair
go,’’ he said.
News Corp reported Julie
Bishop would stand for the
leadership in the event of a
spill, making it a three-way
contest with Mr Abbott and
Malcolm Turnbull.
But Ms Bishop dismissed
the continued leadership
speculation as hypothetical.
Deputy Prime Minister
and Nationals leader War-
ren Truss said the Liberal
Party leadership was
resolved three weeks ago.
He said cabinet would not
be dealing with the Liberal
leadership when it met
today.
‘‘The prime minister has
not been challenged. There
was a spill motion that
didn’t succeed, and what
we’re doing is focusing on
governing,’’ he said.
Labor frontbencher Chris
Bowen said the dysfunction
of the Abbott Government
had reached a new low.
‘‘It’s affecting the way
they govern,’’ he said.
‘‘Australia deserves better
than this constant destabili-
sation that we’re getting.’’
Federal Member for Mur-
ray Sharman Stone declined
to comment on the issue.
— Additional reporting by
AAP
Seeking mentors for carers
YOUNG PEOPLE LOOKING AFTER FAMILY MEMBERS WELCOME CHANCE TO HAVE SOME TIME FOR THEMSELVES
Caring relationship: Shaley Murphy, 14, and her mum Lyn Murphy, at home in Tatura. Lyn has health issues and Shaley is her carer. Picture: Holly Curtis
ELAINE
COONEY
elaine.cooney@
sheppnews.com.au
‘‘You pretty much run out of
hours in the day.’’
By the time Tatura teenager
Shaley Murphy finishes the house-
hold chores and homework, feeds
the cats and goes to the shops —
along with caring for her ill mother
Lyn — she has little time for her-
self.
Shaley is one of the 90 young
carers in the Greater Shepparton
district who are eager to see a
young carer mentor program set up
in the Goulburn Valley, so she can
spend time doing activities outside
the home.
While she feels the pressure
sometimes, she does not resent the
extra workload.
‘‘I mainly think that if I help my
mum, I’m doing something good,’’
she said.
‘‘I don’t think of it as punish-
ment; some kids might go, ‘Oh, I
have to look after them’ — but you
are doing it to help your parents
and in the end you get rewarded
for it.’’
She said the Young Carers Pro-
gram recognised the efforts of
young carers by organising subsi-
dised excursions.
Shaley had the opportunity to go
to Queensland last year and is ex-
cited to join her peers at a
sleepover in Mansfield Zoo.
The organisation has also helped
pay for a dance uniform and
Shaley now attends a dance class
once a week.
While many young carers drop
out of school before Year 12, Shaley
is determined to finish school and
aspires to be a veterinary nurse.
Lyn suffers from bipolar disorder,
obsessive compulsive disorder and
experiences a lot of fatigue. She of-
ten refuses to leave the house
because she is feeling depressed.
‘‘All I want to do is lay on the
couch and not do anything,’’ she
said.
She described Shaley as her ‘‘liv-
ing alarm clock’’.
Shaley wakes her mum up in the
morning with a cup of tea before
she leaves for school, and if Lyn is
asleep in the evening Shaley wakes
her before making dinner.
‘‘When I am laying here on the
couch and don’t care about any-
thing pretty much, some kids
would take off — but Shaley
doesn’t, she’s here,’’ Lyn said.
‘‘She is being her own mother.’’
Sometimes the pair makes din-
ner together, but 14-year-old
Shaley has learned to cook basic
pasta dishes and microwave
meals.
Shaley has tried to explain her
situation to her schoolmates, but
some find it difficult to under-
stand she is playing the maternal
role at home.
She takes comfort from her peers
at the Young Carers Program who
are leading similar lives.
Shaley and Lyn said they needed
respite from each other at times
because their relationship could
become tense.
Lyn would love a mentor to take
Shaley out for ice-cream or around
Shepparton for some time away
from her domestic situation.
DISABILITY SERVICE ASKS FOR VOLUNTEERS FOR CARER-SUPPORT PROGRAM
Shepparton’s disability service Villa Maria is
calling on mentors to help the region’s young
carers.
The mentor program aims to match some of
Greater Shepparton’s young carers with
mentors to improve their health and wellbeing.
Young Carers Program co-ordinator Marion Rak
said she wanted to find mentors for the district’s
90 young carers to give them a break from their
daily chores.
Ms Rak said many young carers dropped out of
school at 15 or 16 years old because of their
workload at home and falling behind on studies
due to missing school.
She said of the matched carers in other areas,
the partnership proved to be beneficial to the
young person.
Ms Rak said a 67-year-old mentor, who was
matched with a boy caring for his young brother
because both his parents had cerebral palsy,
took the family to play Milo cricket in Melbourne
and helped the boy with his reading every week.
She said many young carers confided in their
mentors with problems they would not want to
burden the family with.
● Interested people can phone Marion Rak
on 5720 2011.