Minister Hames

20^th August 2013

Honourable Dr Kim Hames MB BS JP MLA

Dear Minister Hames,

I am writing to you about a planning issue at Karridale, in the shire of Augusta-Margaret River. In the past your department has avoided dealing with my concerns by referring me to the Minister for Planning.

I believe this is not a thoughtful response, as the issues I am reporting are entirely concerned with the planning process, not the plan, and the psychosocial effects on my community.  We are all aware that it is difficult to provide mental health services to remote rural communities, and we know that prevention is always better than any cure or post-incident intervention and support.

For a strong socially cohesive community, and the intangible cultural heritage that defines them, to be destroyed merely to profit two development corporations is a wicked act. Karridale is not being sacrificed to serve the nation, the state, or the shire, merely to profit two private corporations.

The community have been denied their right to consultation. We have not had any of our questions answered. We have been lied to. The media have been lied to. Last week we were told that if we want information about the development we must make Freedom of Information requests and pay charges.

All of our experiences through the past six years have eroded our belief in the democratic process, in fairness, justice for all, and the qualities that defined all that was best about the men and women who created this farming landscape. We honoured our ANZACS when we celebrated the 50^th anniversary of our community group in 2009. Today we are being driven to despair. This is a community that 50 years ago tackled the impossible challenge of a natural disaster, a major bushfire, with little more than buckets and wet sacks, and lost no lives and only one house. Today we face a man made situation and feel impotent, hopeless and powerless.

You know that mental health and happiness are inextricably linked to feelings of self-efficacy and today our self-efficacy is under attack from the actions of state and local government decisions. We could not influence those high level decisions, but we should be allowed to influence them when they are applied at the local level. That is all we ask for.

Strong self-efficacy beliefs enhance human accomplishment and personal well-being in many ways. People with a strong sense of personal competence approach difficult tasks as challenges to be mastered, rather than as dangers to be avoided. Self-efficacy is an essential quality for living in a remote rural environment. This quality, above all else, identified those Group Settlers and War Service Land Settlers who would persevere and create successful farming enterprises in the SW of WA.

People with strong feelings of self-efficacy have greater intrinsic interest in activities, set challenging goals and maintain a strong commitment to them, heighten their efforts in the face of failure, and more easily recover their confidence after failures or setbacks. They are resilient individuals, creating strong resilient communities.

They attribute failure to having insufficient effort or deficient knowledge and skills which they believe they are capable of acquiring. With high levels of self-efficacy any task, however great, can be tackled. High self-efficacy helps create feelings of serenity in approaching the most difficult tasks and activities. However long it takes, however tough the job, the individual feels competent to endure the hardship and work through problems, barriers, and set-backs.

As a result of these influences, self-efficacy beliefs are strong determinants and predictors of the level of accomplishment that individuals finally attain. The social psychologist Bandura (1986, 1997) made strong claims that only when we believe in our own personal efficacy can we realise our full potential. More recently many eminent authorities have supported the theory that true happiness can only be achieved when the individual feels able to influence outcomes, and is aware of the steps necessary to achieve particular goals.

Conversely, people with low self-efficacy may believe that things are tougher than they really are, a belief that fosters stress, depression, and a narrow vision of how best to solve a problem. If this plan goes ahead unchallenged, without community input or explanation that stress, depression and narrow vision will be our future, and our children’s future, here in Karridale.

All we are asking for is an independent review of the Karridale Hamlet Settlement Strategy, how is was developed and why we cannot have the "Shared Responsibility" for planning that must surely be an outcome from Mick Keelty's recommendations after the Perth Hills Fires. We need answers and assurances. We acknowledge that we do need development here, but we want to be able to shape the development of our locality so that it supports our aspirations, current economic activities, our community and our culture.

Will you help this community avoid a future of depression and mental health issues?

We need joined-up government now, because Karridale will have a bleak future if the current scheme is allowed to progress without an honest review and open dialogue explaining the past six years of planning. We need full disclosure.

Peace be with you,

Heather Matthews – President

Karridale Progress Association Inc