Opinion: I do hope that alleviating homelessness and poverty is a key priority for our MPs

In response to recent comments made by Mansfield and Ashfield MPs in parliament and columns for your Chad, I felt it was only right to add a different perspective.

Many asylum seekers are homeless. One group does not cancel out the other.

I am saddened and shocked to see xenophobic comments stirring up vitriol and dividing our communities. It is deeply concerning.

It is possible to care about – and work towards – bettering lives for homeless people, many of whom are asylum seekers, without pitting social groups against each other.

The ruling class is getting richer while working class communities across the world are suffering as a result of political choices and are left fighting tooth and nail to survive.

Whether they are fighting to keep a roof over their head, plagued with financial insecurity due to the rising cost of living, or fleeing a war-torn country in hopes to live another day.

The government and elected officials should work hard to support all members of society, not actively incite division with hate speech or allow it to go unchallenged.

Our lives could change in the blink of an eye as we are all only two and a half pay cheques away from homelessness.

And with tensions rising around the world and the climate crisis accelerating at a rapid rate, one day in the not-so-distant future, we could become asylum seekers, in need of shelter and refuge.

Or we could find ourselves sleeping on the streets without any source of income or support.

These social issues are not isolated events but consequences of more than 40 years of austerity and neoliberal policies, with our services and resources; cut to the bone.

This is a class issue. And we should be very concerned.

Ashfield MP Lee Anderson and Mansfield MP Coun Ben Bradley have spoken in support of homeless people in our area.

I do hope alleviating homelessness and poverty is a key priority for our MPs.

Along with supporting all constituents regardless of social circumstances or background.

We need more empathy and social action, and less divisive tactics from our elected officials who should represent us all.