Dawn Matthews will not be silenced
A Murray Bridge community leader talks about her NDIS protest, her appearance in a pro-vaccination campaign and her mayoral aspirations.
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There are many places you might have seen Dawn Matthews.
On Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays you would normally find her at the Shared Table, the second-hand shop she and her husband Hohaia run out of a shed on Montgomery Avenue.
On Wednesday nights sheâs usually at the showground, looking after all the young folks at rugby practice.
On Sundays youâll probably find her at a Maori Evangelical Church service, and at Murray Bridgeâs annual Waitangi Day event sheâll be racing around, tending to a hundred different things and catching up with a hundred different people.
But for the past couple of weeks, she has been encamped outside Liberal federal MP Tony Pasinâs office at Murray Bridge Green with signs saying âshame, shame, shameâ and âI will not be silencedâ.
She was there to seek justice for her family, she said.
Her late sister was the guardian of a 12-year-old girl named Patience, who lives with a rare genetic disorder that means she needs around-the-clock help with feeding, bathing and every other basic task.
When her sister died almost a year ago, the responsibility of providing Patienceâs care fell to three other family members.
All three had previously been employed as carers under the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
But when Mrs Matthewsâ sister died, the NDIS told them that â as family members â they would now have to bear most of the cost of providing Patienceâs care themselves, and would only be paid for six hours per day.
Through no fault of their own, their income â and Patienceâs support â was cut.
So, on April 22, Mrs Matthews resolved to draw attention to the issue by sitting outside Mr Pasinâs office every day until the federal election on May 21.
She thought highly of Mr Pasin, she said, but his front step had seemed like the logical place to set up.
âFor me itâs simple: itâs to shine a light on (the issue),â she said.
âIt gives people hope that people arenât just worrying about themselves.
âItâs ⌠hope that someone else is standing up for them.â
Since starting her vigil, dozens of people have stopped to share their stories, frustrated by how difficult it can be to access the support that the NDIS exists to provide.
âGet the truth about vaccinesâ
You might also have seen Mrs Matthewsâ face on some of the bright yellow posters which have appeared around Murray Bridge since Easter.
Local authorities resolved last month to beat conspiracy theorists at their own game by promising to reveal âthe truth about vaccinesâ.
The cityâs COVID-19 vaccination rate has lagged behind almost every other population centre in the country for much of the past year, even though Australiaâs first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine was administered here.
So the council opted to mimic the tactics of anti-vaccination groups, plastering bus stops and other prominent locations with flyers.
Mr and Mrs Matthews agreed to lend their faces to the campaign, along with Dr Peter Rischbieth, citizen of the year Cathy Smith and homelessness service manager Thanuja Hiripitiyage.
She said the response had been really good in the local Maori and Aboriginal communities.
âPeople whoâve watched it have said they like it because weâre not doctors, but weâre in it to make sure the people we love are safe,â she said.
âEven people who are anti (vaccination), because they know us, they respect what weâve done.
âThey say âI know you, it might be alrightâ.â
- More information: murraybridge.community.
Could Dawn Matthews be Murray Bridgeâs next mayor?
Thereâs one more place you may or may not see Dawn Matthews later this year, though: on a ballot paper.
She had been interested in running for election as Murray Bridgeâs mayor in the past, she said, but a last-minute hitch with her paperwork ruled her out.
Asked whether she would go again, she was hesitant to commit.
âAnything can happen between now and then,â she said.
With 15 kids to look after, plus all her other commitments, it would be a big ask.
But, one way or another, sheâll be looking after the community.