Series 02: Alan Gibson Stewart papers, 1987-1989 - Page 399
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ocean beach. She found them most offensive. They were clearly visible when she looked towards the beach from her home. She told me that she lived in a block of flats on the hill at Fairlight. Up there, the ocean might be glimpsed at a distance of about half a mile.
"From what part of your house do you see them?" I asked.
"From the kitchen window, every afternoon at about three...its disgraceful!"
Many of the people who came up the stairs were confused by the complexity of government. As well as help from the State Government, they often needed assistance with matters involving the Federal Government, such as pensions; or the local municipal council, such as rates. We had to find useful contacts in the bureaucracies of all three tiers of government.
Donna quickly became friendly with key staff at Manly and Warringah Councils and the Commonwealth Department of Social Security. As time went, on her network expanded to include a wide range of officers in government and semi-government bodies.
Housing was the most common problem which people brought to us. It soon became apparent that there was a big dichotomy among our residents who received social security: there were those who owned their homes and those who did not. Pensioners who did not have to pay