I've left it too long...too much happening and not enough sleep

Well, I think I have lost weight from the stress. My jeans are falling down, seriously. Not a bad thing given I am overweight, but not a great reason to be loosing it either :-

I've left this posting too long, so am going to summarize what has been happening.

Wednesday 1st October
We looked at a house in Mornington, it was too small and the travel too far from my work, my husbands work and family. We would really be out on our own.

Craig from DHS rang regarding our case manager, we have a new one. Not sure how long this will last given what we negotiated below.

The shadow minister for housing rang to check that we were receiving the support we need. Not sure if we are, our lives are in the hands of rental investors at the moment.

Tuesday 31st September
We looked at 3 houses today, none suitable. We rang several agents, no suitable listings. I also finally posted the letter to our landlord requesting a rental reduction.

Chris from DHS rang to advise we had no case manager and to contact him in the interim.

We also lodged an application for a house in Langwarrin. We wont know for about a week though, if we are successful.

Monday 30th September
We had a meeting with the head manager of DHS managing the EMT, a manager from DHS Southern Region, the CISS manager and my husband, who walked in on the middle of it. It seems that my lobbying has made some waves and I received a reaction! I highlighted our issues in receiving no support looking for a property, the lack of flexibility with the relocation grant and concerns that the rental market was so high that we would be in the same situation in 6 months time when DHS stopped paying any gaps in rent from what we pay now. I managed to get that extended somewhat, however it is really just delaying the inevitable, unless I work more!! Groan!!!!!

DHS also agreed that a case manager who was allocated from Complex Care at DHS would assist in the looking for a property, not just sending text messages asking how the house hunting was going. We also provided some feedback on the current communications.

Today also the monitoring people came and took away the carbon dioxide monitor, saying there may be a replacement tomorrow. I informed CISS and DHS that we would be in a hotel overnight if there was no monitor. One was returned that afternoon. I don't understand why this keeps happening and why the communication is so poor.

Today I also contacted the State Ombudsman, the conversation went like this
Me: "can you please"advise what the terms of reference are for the investigation into the Brookland Greens Methane leak"
Investigation worker: "There are no terms of reference and they would be private and not be released to the public"
Me: "how do I know what information you may want then?"
Investigation worker: "That's a good question we are not sure what information we may need, is there anything you would like to advise us?"
Me: "I am concerned about how this crisis has been managed, for example City of Casey workers giving tenants incorrect information about breaking their leases, City of Casey workers taking information like our urgent need for a monitor on a list and then it not going anywhere til the next day...."
Investigation worker: "Would you like to put your concerns in writing?"
Me: "So you want me to put everything in writing, wasting my time when you may not want that type of information?"

We need an open public inquiry into this disaster........

Second call....to Counsellor Kevin Bradshaw, who works for a state govt MP. I tried to ascertain if his working position would influence his decision making on council. He advised it wouldn't, however I do think he should declare these interests more clearly.

Third Call....to Inga Peulich, South Eastern Metro Region MP. Advised of current issues.

Fourth Call....to Jude Perrera, State MP, advised of need for a public inquiry, informed about discussion with ombudsman's office. They were just defensive of their stance that the Ombudsman would be sufficient.

Call from Shadow housing minister, wanting to clarify current situation.

Exhausted..........just want somewhere to live so this can become a distant memory.