POST
PRODUCTION
SCRIPT
4 Corners
INTERNATIONAL EDITION
2012
Growing Up Poor
42 mins 28 secs
©2012
ABC Ultimo Centre
700 Harris Street Ultimo
NSW 2007 Australia
GPO Box 9994
Sydney
NSW 2001 Australia
Phone: 61 2 8333 4383
Fax: 61 2 8333 4859
e-mail
Publicity: What it's like being poor in the midst of plenty?
We hear from the adult world all the time about what poverty is and how to fix it, but rarely from the children who experience it. Nobody likes to admit they're poor but children from five families allowed Four Corners into their lives to show us the world from their point of view:
"My parents get paid on Friday right, so during the week they probably have money. Wednesday, Thursday or sometimes Tuesday, you know, what are we supposed to eat?"
At 12, Jessica has a bleak view of her future:
"A good job, like where you get like heaps of money. I'd be like a decent mum, like a husband with no violence and everything, so it could be a happy family, you know, but like that would never happen..."
These are children living in areas of concentrated disadvantage where the adult world can be a scary place:
Hayden: "...my dad, he got bashed, he got sliced with a knife."
Some remain optimistic despite the chaos around them:
Dale: "Anything is possible when you put all your heart into it. Just try your best. I've been saying that a lot haven't I?"
The question arises, why isn't more being done to break the cycle of disadvantage? Will this generation of children be given more to hope for than their parents?
Claymore establishing shots Music 02:30
SARAH FERGUSON, REPORTER: As social experiments go, Claymore was a disaster. In the late 1970s the New South Wales government built this public housing estate on the city's south-western fringe, and filled it with more than 3,000 people from Sydney's poorest families. The planners had created a welfare ghetto. 02:37
Music 03:06
SARAH FERGUSON, REPORTER: Today it's one of the most disadvantaged suburbs in Australia. 03:16
Children on bikes and scooters/Children play It also has the highest proportion of young children anywhere in the country. 03:20
In less than 1.5 kilometres, there are 1,500 children. 03:31
Vicky VICKY: There's heaps of fights in Claymore.SARAH FERGUSON: Why are there so many?VICKY: Because it's Claymore. This is Claymore. 03:39
Hayden and friends walk with Ferguson HAYDEN: Usually the only time cameras come down here is when something bad happens.SARAH FERGUSON: We came to Claymore to ask the children here 03:46
Jada in backyard looking into sky about their lives.JADA: Why is the helicopters surrounding all of Claymore. Is it a police helicopter? 03:54
Jacob and friends JACOB: People don't want to move in here because they know what kind of people live around here and everything.CONNOR: We're moving out of here.SARAH FERGUSON: And what kind, well what kind of people do live around here?JACOB: Junkies! And they think they're all tough and they yell at ya. 04:03
Alanah in bedroom SARAH FERGUSON: And to ask them how they see the adult world? 04:18
ALANAH: She wasn't a mother to me or anyone else so I don't think she has a role of being my mother. 04:21
Dale DALE: He's broken my heart a bit too many times. Like when I was like really, really young. When you make promises to someone that's really, really young it's hard for them to forget it. And when you break that promise it's kind of like imprinted into their brain forever. 04:27
Aerial. Claymore SARAH FERGUSON: Five families allowed us into their lives: this is their story. 04:45
Ext. Jessica’s house/Jessica in kitchen painting her nails JESSICA: You can watch me do this if you want. 04:54
There we go.SARAH FERGUSON: Twelve-year-old Jessica Burns has spent the afternoon doing her nails. 05:07
JESSICA: I didn't go to school today. 05:15
And I didn't go to school yesterday because I hurt my hand.SARAH FERGUSON: Today Jessica had lost her school bag.JESSICA: I wasn't going to go to school 05:18
without my bag, and without books and a pen because I was just going to get in trouble for that. 05:28
Ext. Jessica’s house SARAH FERGUSON: The Burns family have lived in public housing in Claymore for 13 years. 05:38
Burns family in their kitchen SARAH FERGUSON: Jessica has an older brother and a little sister. 05:44
Jessica goes out into the backyard JESSICA: Hayley! Move!SARAH FERGUSON: Neither of her parents work. Like many families in Claymore their income comes from Centrelink.JESSICA (falling off fence rail): Whoa! Whoa! 05:53
Caroline Burns hanging out washing SARAH FERGUSON: Caroline Burns sometimes struggles to make ends meet. 06:07
CAROLINE: You know sometimes we have to go the second hand shops but - and I'm not fond of second hand shoes, but you can go to the new section. So… and they've got some nice stuff there and it doesn't it doesn't bother me really. 06:15
Jessica JESSICA: She does have enough money sometimes, but just like, 'cause her pay day's on Friday and if something is in the week and it's like too much money for example, I don't know, like $100 or some shit, I don't say anything, I don't bother. 06:28
SARAH FERGUSON: Sometimes Jessica misses out. 06:43
JESSICA: It was a scurgeon (sic – excursion) and I really wanted to go. And then, I was going to ask, but I didn't. Because I thought like maybe they needed the money for something else. 06:47
Caroline in laundry CAROLINE: I hate having to say no. I really hate having to say no. 07:04
Hayden in bedroom watching TV SARAH FERGUSON: Jessica's brother Hayden is 14. He's having his own troubles at school. 07:10
HAYDEN: Heaps, bullying, heaps.SARAH FERGUSON: Why?HAYDEN: Well, you know, just the way I look, the way I dress. Just the way I am, who I am. 07:18
Sometimes I just wanna go up to 'em you know, whack. But I can't, you know, I wish I could. 07:28
Brett Burns in the garage SARAH FERGUSON: There's tension in the family, too. The children's father, Brett, has moved out of the house into the garage after arguments with Caroline. 07:35
Hayden HAYDEN: He says, well he said he would never leave us. So yeah, he was he was always there for us so he'll always be there for us, no matter what. Because my Dad can teach me a lot of things, he taught me a lot of things but he's still not finished yet. 07:48
Jessica in her room with the dog JESSICA: Oi you chat! Get out! Go! Get lost you stupid puppy. Get out of my friggin' room. Go! Ha, ha, sucked in. 08:06
Hayden in house. Vicky arrives HAYDEN: Vicky, have you seen Chloe?VICKY: No. 08:20
SARAH FERGUSON: Jessica's best friend Vicky has arrived. HAYDEN: Fuck! Did you see her at school today?VICKY: Stop swearing!HAYDEN: 'Cause she's threatened to run away.VICKY: What did she do, threaten that she was gonna run away? 08:24
Pink toy. Jessica with Vicky JESSICA: Come on let's go for a walk, yeah, to the tree.VICKY: With your school uniform on?JESSICA: Yeah. I didn't go to school but. Did you go to school?VICKY: Nuh. SARAH FERGUSON: How come?VICKY: I have tonsillitis.JESSICA: I didn't go to school yesterday or today.VICKY: You went yesterday. 08:36
[continues] JESSICA: No I didn't. VICKY: Oh, no, you didn't, you were sick.JESSICA: Yeah. 08:53
Vicky and Jessica walk down stairs SARAH FERGUSON: Both girls have been skipping school recently. 08:57
Vicky and Jessica on street VICKY: You better come to school tomorrow.JESSICA: Yeah I have to. You better come to school the next day.VICKY: Thursday, yeah, I got to. 09:03
Vicky and Jessica walk I went to school for one period and then I got sent home.JESSICA: What, when today?VICKY: Yes. I had to clean out the fricking PE shed. 09:12
Vicky and Jessica play in storm water drain SARAH FERGUSON: The two girls say they want to get jobs after they finish school. But they know that a lot of older girls here get pregnant while they're still at school.VICKY: Not that one…JESSICA: It has a bin in it. 09:23
VICKY: Not that one, that one.JESSICA: Here?VICKY: Yuck.JESSICA: Do you want to go first?SARAH FERGUSON: In Claymore, 09:40
the rate of teen pregnancies is five times the national average. 09:46
Jessica and Vicky (To Jessica and Vicky): What happens to school if you have a baby when you're 16? VICKY: Nothing.JESSICA: You can still go to school.VICKY: Yeah, you can still go to school.JESSICA: With the baby.SARAH FERGUSON: But it, but doesn't it make it harder?VICKY: No.JESSICA: No, not, well no, not really. 09:53
[continues] The teachers ask them the question: do you wanna stay at school or do you wanna leave? And then they say 'But I don't wanna leave my baby', they can say you can bring your baby to school if you want to.VICKY: It's just that it's their decision.JESSICA: But just you have to leave it there, leave your baby at home for some days.VICKY: Yeah. 10:06
Ext. Jada’s house SARAH FERGUSON: Just up the road, 10:23
Jada in her backyard doing her homework 8-year-old Jada is home from primary school. 10:27
Dog barking 10:31
Jada in her backyard doing her homework (To Jada): Where do you normally do your homework?JADA: I don't do my homework.SARAH FERGUSON: Why's that?JADA: Because I don't normally have that much pencils to do it.SARAH FERGUSON: Jada rarely misses school. 10:33
(To Jada): Do you like doing work? JADA: I love doing maths but.SARAH FERGUSON: Maths?JADA: Yeah, maths. 10:46
Laura in kitchen SARAH FERGUSON: Jada's mother, Laura, is a single mum bringing up three children on welfare. More than half the families in Claymore have only one parent. 10:55
Laura was 15 when she first became pregnant.LAURA: Honestly, I was fully prepared to adopt her out. But when I had Jada it was just, yeah, there was no doubt in my mind to keep her and go from there. SARAH FERGUSON: She sees no reason 11:05
Jada in back yard doing homework why Jada can't succeed.LAURA: There's a lot of labelling. 11:30
Laura in kitchen My opinion is if you want something that bad, you'll go for it. 11:34
You're past is your - you know, you could have parents that are drug dealers and drug users. That doesn't mean you're going to be one. 11:40
Jada, Jordan and Cheyenne SARAH FERGUSON: Laura has two children of her own: Jada and 7-year-old Jordan. She's also cares for her 15-year-old sister, Cheyenne. 11:46
Cheyenne on phone CHEYENNE (on the phone): I was trying to find out one person who did tick me off.SARAH FERGUSON: Cheyenne has just been suspended from school. 11:59
CHEYENNE (on phone): She kind of got in my way, so I pushed her flat and I just pushed her out of my way because if I knew at, if I knew if I didn't keep going and I turned for her, the police would have been involved because the way, how angry I was, sir. 12:06
Cheyenne in back yard (Talking to Sarah Ferguson): Living with my mother was not the best, me and my mother fought like cats and dogs. And my father, he was just not the best person to be round. Bad examples, bad role model -- whole nine yards. 12:25
Laura in kitchen LAURA: Cheyenne wanted to start fresh. Cheyenne wanted -- she'd made mistakes where she was and she wanted a fresh start. 12:44
Cheyenne in back yard CHEYENNE: It's pretty tough. She's got my problems y'know, she wants to deal with hers, her son's and Jada's all together, mix them all together, we're just... We've got so many things that are stacking on top of each other and sometimes it gets a bit overwhelming for her. But I try my hardest to stay out of trouble. 12:52
Cheyenne and Sarah Ferguson walking around Claymore SARAH FERGUSON: Staying out of trouble in Claymore can be difficult. 13:11
CHEYENNE: The boys here, the young teenage boys, from 10 up, try to prove themselves to everybody, the older boys. And they get drunk, they smoke a bit of weed and they burn houses down. 13:16
The day before I got suspended my friend was going to burn the whole back thing of my school. I told him 'nah, I'm scared of fire' and he didn't burn it down, he just left it. 13:33
Burnt out house SARAH FERGUSON: Cheyenne is scared of fire because when she was five her home burned down and killed two of her brothers. 13:47
Cheyenne CHEYENNE: Yeah after the house fire, losing my brothers, I can't stand it. 14:01
SARAH FERGUSON: And how many people got out alive? 14:07
CHEYENNE: It was me, my mother and the twins -- the younger siblings. My brothers did get out alive, but it was either leave them alive like vegetables or turn off the machines. So my father made, my real father, made the decision to turn off the machines because they can't, they couldn't live, they can't ... their favourite thing to do was play football. 14:10
Cheyenne and Jada in the backyard looking at photographs SARAH FERGUSON: Cheyenne finds it hard sometimes to control her behaviour; like the day she was suspended. 14:35
Cheyenne CHEYENNE: Everything just overwhelmed me and I went ballistic. I threw, kicked bins, swore at teachers...JADA (handing Cheyenne chocolate): Here Cha, Cha.CHEYENNE: Thanks Baba. 14:45
...I ended up storming, chucking tables across things, pulling a chair out from under a person. She deserved it though. I wouldn't have done it if she didn't deserve it. Swearing at teachers… Don't ever do that Jada, by the way. 14:56
Jada with dog SARAH FERGUSON: Eight-year-old Jada wants to do well, but there is a certain amount of chaos in her world.JADA: Is it a police helicopter?SARAH FERGUSON: Do you see them often here?JADA: Police helicopters? Last time there was a lady, she was kind of naked, not that much, she had her bras on and undies, and her husband had, you know how boys have them short undies, they had them. They looked out of the window and there was a police helicopter and there was police everywhere in the street. 15:15
Jacob and his friends playing on their scooters SARAH FERGUSON: On the other side of the suburb, 11-year-old Jacob is with his friends from Claymore Public School. 15:56
Jacob and friends JACOB: People don't want to move in here because they know what kind of people live around here and everything. 16:15
SARAH FERGUSON: These boys have a strict curfew. 16:21
JACOB: We come back in five 'til the lights turn on. 16:25
SARAH FERGUSON: But, but there are lots of other kids staying out much later?JACOB: That's how the stuff all gets on fire. It's mostly teenagers and kids lighting stuff on fire. 16:29
SARAH FERGUSON: Where are the people that are supposed to be looking after them? 16:41
JACOB: In the house drunk.. Who knows? 16:45
Jacob on scooter SARAH FERGUSON: Jacob has a big family. 16:50
Jacob in his room JACOB: There's Erin, Alanah, my mum, Katelynn, Connor, me, Mitchell - all the kids, yeah. 16:55
Family in their house 17:05
Kristen SARAH FERGUSON: Kristen Blake is a single mother caring for five children. 17:21
Family in the living room 17:25
She has two children of her own at home, including 5-month-old Katelynn. She also took in three of her sister's children. 17:31
(To Kristen): What was the situation with Amy and the children? 17:44
Kristen Why did you step in?KRISTEN: A lot of drug problems, drug addiction, mental problems. 17:47
Kids in living room She would bring her paranoia out onto her children. She wouldn't let the kids play outside, 17:53
Kristen she would keep them confined in the one room, not even allowed to go upstairs. She shaved Alanah's head as a child so that nobody would rape her. 17:59
Alanah in bedroom SARAH FERGUSON: Alanah is now 14. 18:10
(To Alanah): Were you scared when you were living there?ALANAH: Yeah 'cause we had like other people watching us, not just her, people we didn't know, friends that gave her drugs. We had her watching us. 18:14
Kristen KRISTEN: It was Alanah mainly who was affected with what happened because she was three, nearly four, and she would have to 18:26
Jacob mother Jacob. And if it wasn't for her he wouldn't have been fed. 18:35
Kristen Whatever was in the cupboard is whatever she fed him, you know. 18:40
Alanah in bedroom SARAH FERGUSON: As far as the three children are concerned Kristen is their mother now.ALANAH: Sometimes we did go see her but she didn't show much interest in us. So she stopped coming and we stopped going. 18:45
Jacob SARAH FERGUSON: Would you like to know her more?JACOB: No.SARAH FERGUSON: Why not?JACOB: 'Cause she doesn't care about us.SARAH FERGUSON: What makes you think that?JACOB: 'Cause sometimes when we see her she doesn't, like, to talk to us and all that. 19:00
Connor plays with balls in a blow up pool as family sit around the living room CONNOR: Piss off, Alanah.ALANAH: Don’t swear. 19:17
SARAH FERGUSON: Looking after such a large family isn't easy. 19:22
(Connor lashes out at Alanah. Kristen intervenes) CONNOR: I'll punch you in the face.ALANAH: Piss off. Connor!KRISTEN: Why are you like this? Come here.CONNOR: I'm allowed to be.KRISTEN: No, you're not allowed to be. What's the matter? Baby look at me, look at me please? Look at me darling, what is wrong? Did you get into trouble at school? Then what's the matter, what's the matter mate? 19:25
Kids on street SARAH FERGUSON: Connor, Jacob and Alanah have different fathers. None of them is involved in their upbringing. 19:54
Burnt motorbike BOY: Fucking awesome bros. Harley bros. 20:05
CONNOR: They take the motorbikes and just light them up! If I took the motorbike I'd keep it eh? Wouldn't light it up. 20:12
SARAH FERGUSON: Jacob's father used to visit him, but hasn't been seen since March. 20:21
Jacob JACOB: He stopped coming.SARAH FERGUSON: Do you know why?JACOB: No.SARAH FERGUSON: So what do you think about that?JACOB: I don't care. 20:25
SARAH FERGUSON: Who behaves like your dad in your life?JACOB: My uncle.CONNOR: And our mum. 20:39
Alanah ALANAH (wiping tears away): She's like our mum and father because we've got no-one there, so yeah. 20:45
Kristen in kitchen with Katelynn SARAH FERGUSON: Kristen wants to show her children the importance of having a job. She worked at an aged care home until she became pregnant with Katelynn. 20:52
Kristen KRISTEN: As long as I can enforce that they have to work, they need to work, then I think I've done a good job. SARAH FERGUSON: So work's important?KRISTEN: Yes, definitely. It gives them routine, structure and they want to strive to something; maybe save for a holiday, save for a house. 21:05
Family in living room 21:27
SARAH FERGUSON: When Katelynn was born, Kristen was desperately ill with a blood clot. She was so sick she almost died. Her extended family realized just how fragile was their life together. 21:31
Jacob JACOB: We'd have to split up and we wouldn't be together as a family any more. 21:47
Alanah in bedroom SARAH FERGUSON: Can you imagine the family being broken up?ALANAH: Sorry. (Wiping tears away, crying) I could but it wouldn't be the same as it was. 21:55
(Emotionally) I was worried for both the boys because I don't know what we would have done. 22:12
Aerial. Claymore Music 22:19
SARAH FERGUSON: A couple of streets away 22:25
Corbey boys play footy in street are Jacob's friends the Corbeys. There are five boys and one girl in the family. Twelve-year-old Damian is the eldest. 22:28
Rebecca REBECCA: I had him a month before my 17th. 22:48
Damian playing footy in the street. Super: Rebecca I wanted kids early so then I could have my life as well.SARAH FERGUSON: That was the plan?REBECCA: Yeah. I didn't plan on having six, but... 22:51
Rebecca cooking I wish (inaudible) would hurry up.MATTHEW: Why?REBECCA: Because I need the other pot.SARAH FERGUSON: Both Damian's parents are unemployed. 23:04
Rebecca used to work while her husband looked after the children. 23:12
Matthew reading MATTHEW (reading): Will we like it Mrs Spot?... Sausages!SARAH FERGUSON: Matthew Corbey is six. 23:23
MATTHEW (reading): Will we like it, Mrs Spot?... Jelly beans! 23:37
That was easy.SARAH FERGUSON: Brendan Corbey has struggled to find work because he can't read or write. He left school when he was 12. 23:45
Brendan Corbey BRENDAN: Only went to year seven, so if they can go to anything further than that, I'll be happy. 23:57
Kids with spelling cards SARAH FERGUSON: Do you mind now not being able to read and write properly? Does it bother you? 24:02
BRENDAN: Not really. Not at the moment. I mean they help me. But when they're off I'll go out and learn myself, do you know what I mean? I can read and write a little bit but not the big words and stuff like that. What can you do? 24:06
Damian SARAH FERGUSON: Damian isn't sure he wants a job when he's older. 24:21
DAMIAN: Oh, yes and no. Yes, you get money. And for no, the boss always yells at you if you do the wrong thing.SARAH FERGUSON: How do you know that?DAMIAN: 'Cause I saw it sometimes on TV, and Mum's did it once. And Dad did it. They got yelled at. 24:26
SARAH FERGUSON: What do you do if you don't get a job, what will you do? 24:51
DAMIAN: I don't know. Probably just stay home. 24:53
Matthew and a friend in the backyard looking at their burnt trampoline MATTHEW: Come have a look now. It got burnt off. Look!SARAH FERGUSON: Two nights earlier someone jumped the fence and set fire to the Corbeys’ trampoline. 25:02
MATTHEW: I nearly cried.SARAH FERGUSON: It's made Matthew fearful. 25:21
MATTHEW: Last night I was cuddling up to Dad. I was sleeping with Dad.SARAH FERGUSON: Because you were scared?(Matthew nods) 25:28
Rebecca in living room SARAH FERGUSON: The people who live in Claymore say these problems were bound to happen when you build a community this way. 25:38
Rebecca REBECCA: Everyone's in the same situation, you know, everyone, you know, need money or alcoholics or druggos. You do need to get rid of some of those people and get new ones in. 25:50
Like their aunties and uncles used to drink a lot, so they're used to seeing people drink. I just hope they don't carry on with it all. 26:06
Looking out back door CHILD 1: Rainbow!MATTHEW: Look, there's a rainbow! Woah!SARAH FERGUSON: As dusk falls 26:15
Rebecca cooking/ Corbey family eating and the children going to bed the Corbey children move inside. 26:34
The younger ones are ready for bed. 26:47
Brooke in her bedroom At this time of day 10-year-old Brooke wishes there was a bit more cash to spare for the household electricity. 26:55
BROOKE: I don't have a light in here. SARAH FERGUSON: So do you get scared at night? What are you afraid of? 27:03
BROOKE: It just makes me scared. And Mum says we can't have the power on at night, 'cause sometimes it wastes power.SARAH FERGUSON: And is, is that expensive as well?BROOKE: Yeah it's expensive.SARAH FERGUSON: So would you like to have the power on so you could have a light on at night?BROOKE: (Shakes head, no) 'Cause Mum will have to pay lots and lots of money for the bills and that. 27:10
MTC barbecue 27:37
SARAH FERGUSON: The weekly barbecue put on by local charity MTC is one of the few organised activities for children. 27:43
Kids on rubbish duty The local youth club here has been closed for a year. Before they're fed, the children pick up rubbish in the park.MALE MTC VOLUNTEER: Everyone follow Caroline, year four, five. let's go! Just pick up the rubbish. 27:53
FEMALE MTC VOLUNTEER (to children as they put rubbish in a bag): Good job. Well done guys! Let's go find some more, come on. 28:09
Careful of the glass guys! 28:15
Kids at barbecue MALE MTC VOLUNTEER: Thank you for picking up the rubbish today. Much love to you young people. Everyone's going to have a feed, you can have seven or eight today. Sausage hot dogs… 28:18
SARAH FERGUSON: It's safe here on barbecue day. Otherwise the park can be a frightening place for children. 28:31
Chris. Super:Chris CHRIS: What's her name, people like smoking and taking drugs and smashing beer bottles and stuff. 28:39
Hayden HAYDEN 2: Oh, they drink.SARAH FERGUSON: Do they?HAYDEN 2: Beer. And they smash it on the road. See all that glass on the road over there? 28:44
Hayden kicks footy SARAH FERGUSON: Hayden saw his father being attacked in front of their house. 28:53
Hayden sits under tree HAYDEN 2: He got bashed, he got sliced with a knife. 29:00
Gary. Super: Gary GARY: I was drunk, really drunk. And I went home to get some stuff for my kids 'cause we were at a party and when I came back and I walked up the alleyway, there was a bunch, I didn't see the bunch of people hidin' and they got me from behind. 29:04
Hayden HAYDEN 2: Then, the ambulance took my dad to hospital. And we went in the back of the van.SARAH FERGUSON: With your dad or with the police?HAYDEN 2: With my dad.SARAH FERGUSON: Were you scared that he was going to be badly hurt?HAYDEN 2: We got to lay in the bed with him.SARAH FERGUSON: In the ambulance?HAYDEN 2: 'Cause we had 'jamas on. It was very cold. 29:18
Ext. Burnt out house. Pan right to Ferguson to camera. Super:Sarah Ferguson SARAH FERGUSON: Many of the children we met had stories of random violence, much of it linked to drug and alcohol abuse. All of them talked to us more about fear than they did about money or missing out. The obvious question arises: why is so much pain and disadvantage concentrated in one suburb? 29.42
Aerial. Claymore Music 30:05
SARAH FERGUSON: It's not as if successive governments didn't know what was happening here. 1n 2010, more than 30 years after the suburb was built, the federal and state Labor governments announced a multi-million dollar plan to demolish Claymore and start again. 30:08
Bulldozers knocking houses down 30:25
Bulldozers moved in last year; 99 houses were knocked down. Almost 1,000 more were slated for demolition, to be replaced by a mix of private and public housing, radically changing the makeup of the suburb. 30:32
Boarded up houses But the incoming state Liberal government says no money was budgeted to pay for the re-development. The project is on hold. 30:55
In the meantime residents say maintenance on their homes has almost ceased. And there are houses all over Claymore boarded up and empty 31:08
Jada by boarded up house SARAH FERGUSON (TO JADA): It would be better if there was somebody here wouldn't it? Would you like someone to move in? 31:22
JADA: Yeah I would love somebody to. Maybe youse could move in? But as you can see it says 'Warning Western Plains Security Network.'SARAH FERGUSON: And what's that for?JADA: In case somebody comes and smashes the house up.SARAH FERGUSON: Does that ever happen?JADA: I don't know. See how the house is boarded up? See the front room there? The window got smashed.SARAH FERGUSON: Right.
Ext. Burns family house 31:57
Burns family in the backyard SARAH FERGUSON: In the past few weeks tensions in the Burns family have been increasing. 32:00
Jessica sits by fence Jessica has been getting into fights. 32:11
Jessica JESSICA: I guess that's what Claymore is: a place full of arseholes. And I can't say I'm an arsehole 'cause I practically am. I'm just like them. I'm just, I'm an idiot just like them. 32:15
SARAH FERGUSON: Why do you get like that, do you think?JESSICA: I don't know, probably, hanging around the wrong people. Like you can ask my parents, I used to be, I used to be like the nicest kid ever, you know. I was so polite before like, yeah. 32:28
Hayden walks down stairs to kitchen HAYDEN: Do I have to have dinner, even though I'm full. SARAH FERGUSON: Hayden is affected, too. 32:44
Hayden HAYDEN: At home sometimes I hear my parents arguing and I just get really angry about it. The anger carries around with me. Every time I get angry just, you know, I stay angry. I stay angry forever and, you know, I want to be happy, there's always anger inside me. 32:52
Jessica JESSICA: I think, I don't know for sure, but I think that's the reason why I'm always like p'eed off at everyone. And I'm, I'm always like quiet at school, that's why, because I'm sad and I just don't want to show it. Like what am I supposed to do? And then when other crap is like, like happening at home and school, soon I'm just going to blow, you know. I'm just going to start having fights. 33:08
Brett in driveway SARAH FERGUSON: Brett Burns hasn't spoken much to us since we've been filming with his children, but today he opens up. Brett used to beat his wife and the children saw it. 33:34
Brett BRETT: Like I think anyone that sits there and says, 'Oh, my kids are tough, they can handle this', you're a fool, you're kidding yourself. It's not the case. They might not let on that it's bothering them. but deep inside it's bothering them and always will, every child. The thing is you've got to see it and then you've got to fix it. So it's not worth it. I don't know. It takes five seconds to give yourself the shits and then belt someone and it takes years and years to fix the problem.SARAH FERGUSON: As a child Brett himself witnessed frequent domestic violence. 33:48
He talks about it as though it were a virus. BRETT: It's already, already gone through me dad and me. I definitely don't want it to go another generation. 34:31
Jessica on skateboard I've even told Jessica. I said, you know, I, Jessica's the main one I worry about. 34:42
Brett I sort of teach her and that's what I said, 'If you get someone like that,' I said, 'get out straight away. Don't ...' SARAH FERGUSON: Someone like, you mean, someone like you?BRETT: Like I was. I said 'get out straight away, don't hesitate.' Yeah. 34:49
Hayden and Jessica on street SARAH FERGUSON: Earlier this year Brett noticed that Hayden was avoiding him. 34:59
Brett folding clothes BRETT: He got so, so withdrawn and that. And like I'd come home from work and it's like, the minute I walked in the door, Hayden would just like get up and go upstairs. I thought 'No, this has got to stop.' 35:05
Hayden HAYDEN: He just said sorry and that, you know. And all that things. He said it would never happen again; never, ever happen again. 35:20
Brett BRETT: He said, 'Oh you didn't do nothin' to me.' I said, 'No Hayden', I said, 'wrong'. I said, 'I did mate.' I said, 'What I've done to you is probably just as bad as what I've done to your mum.' 35:28
Dale walking down street SARAH FERGUSON: Domestic violence is a central and repeated theme in Claymore. It has a profound effect on many children. 35:42
Twelve-year-old Dale is one of them. 35:53
Dale in bedroom DALE: Dad kept on, like every night, he just kept on having fights with mum. Sometimes they were physical, sometimes verbal. 35:58
Dale walks to friend’s house SARAH FERGUSON: After school each day, Dale walks to a friend's house in Claymore to meet his mother and sister, they travel home from there. Last year Karen moved the family out of the suburb. 36:05
Dale DALE: 'Cause I used to get really scared at like loud noises and just people yelling. 36:21
Dale walks SARAH FERGUSON: Dale grew up full of fear. 36:25
Dale DALE: I used to be afraid of the dark because I always thought someone would just be waiting for me. 36:30
Dale playing computer game SARAH FERGUSON: He learnt to block out the adult world by playing video games. 36:36
DALE: Well there can be some good games, which kind of draws you into it. And like they keep you, they, it can keep you in your own world, like where, where nothing bad happens and all that. 36:43
SARAH FERGUSON: When Dale couldn't shut out the noise, he hid. 36:56
Dale DALE: Hid in my room under the blankets and just thought happy thoughts.SARAH FERGUSON: What did you think?DALE: Being in a really, really big house with, with lots of puppies and my whole family there -- my cousins, my uncles, my aunties -- like everything was perfect. 37:03
Karen in kitchen KAREN, DALE'S MOTHER: He has said to me, like you know, 'Why do all these bad things happen?' And I've said 'Well, if bad things didn't happen, then you wouldn't really know what a good thing was.' And as much as we've had a bad run of things, our life could be much worse. 37:24
SARAH FERGUSON: Karen has just started a training course to enable her to find work for the first time. She wants Dale to see her working. 37:43
KAREN: A lot of kids don't have a family member who's worked, and a lot of it, it's generational where most people haven't worked. You know, their grandparents didn't work and their parents don't work and then their older brothers and sisters don't work, so that's normal. 37:54
Dale in bedroom DALE: A child takes on, like the personality of the people around them. So if a child is with good people, they'll turn out good but if they're with bad people, they'll turn out bad. 38:09
Performance at Eagle Vale High School FX: Applause 38:20
RAPPER: Do you wanna do that song one last time? Boys press the keys ... 38:24
Rap performance [Rap song] 38:30
Garrett in audience SARAH FERGUSON: Claymore's high school is in the neighbouring suburb of Eagle Vale. Today there's a performance for former rock star and School Education Minister, Peter Garrett. 38:46
Rap performance [Rap song]SARAH FERGUSON: They've chosen the song, 'You Never Had It So Good'. 38:57
[Rap song] 39:03
Garrett takes stage SARAH FERGUSON: Garrett is opening a $1.7 million performing arts centre at the school. 39:17
Garrett addresses Eagle High School children PETER GARRETT, EDUCATION MINISTER: We have total confidence and faith in you, in the teachers in this school and the community schools. And total faith and confidence in the students at these schools that can be whatever they want to be, that they can realise their dreams and their potential... 39:26
SARAH FERGUSON: His message to the students is to aim high. 39:47
PETER GARRETT: Quite often you'll hear people say ‘Oh, it's too hard’ or it can't really be done. Or 'Well maybe you can jump up on stage here or in Campbelltown or the western suburbs of Sydney, but what makes you think that you could be on TV or go and make a career out of it or travel around the world.' Well the fact is that you can. 39:51
Junk in yard/Graffiti on homes SARAH FERGUSON: But back in their disintegrating neighbourhood where waves of planners and politicians have failed them so miserably, the present can be overwhelming. 40:14
Alanah. Super:Alanah (To Alanah): Do you think about your future much?ALANAH: No, I just want to take one day at a time because I don't know what's going to happen in a couple of months or even days. 40:27
Cheyenne into car on her way to school SARAH FERGUSON: Cheyenne returned to school after her suspension, but her future remains uncertain. 40:39
Cheyenne in back yard CHEYENNE: None of my family finished their Year 10. Only my brother did, that was the only one, and I want to prove to them ... They've always said my whole entire life 'You're never going to amount to nothing, 'cause if we can't , you can't'. And I just want to prove them wrong. And prove to myself that I'm worth more than what they say I am. I can do it. 40:55
Burns family in kitchen SARAH FERGUSON: Difficulties in the Burns household, where the father Brett has been living in the garage, have reached the point of crisis, and his children know it. BRETT (to Caroline): Just remember to do the King Gee's shirt - wash it separate! 41:14
Hayden. Super:Hayden HAYDEN: They're making a big mistake. So, yeah, splitting up and that's a big mistake for me. Big mistake for them. Don't like that. So they should just both apologise to us. They don't have to apologise to each other, I don't really care about that, but they should be apologising to Jessica more but, for what she's gone through. She's jigging at school and everything. 41:33
Jessica. Super:Jessica JESSICA: I dunno. They might get divorced, they might not. 'Cause you know, everybody doesn't, well, most people don't have a happy ending, so... 41:52
Jessica on skateboard in street SARAH FERGUSON: Still only 12 years old Jessica has a bleak view of her own future. 42:04
Jessica JESSICA: A good job, like where you get like heaps of money. I'd be like a decent mum, like a husband with no violence and everything, so it could be a happy family, you know. But like that would ever happen.SARAH FERGUSON: Say that again, what did you say at the end?JESSICA: Like that would ever happen, but like with…SARAH FERGUSON: Now stop, hang on, why wouldn't?JESSICA: Like with the guy, because like you know, I always pick the bad people. 42:14
Jada in backyard JADA: Then you go like this.SARAH FERGUSON: Eight-year-old Jada is still optimistic. 42:46
Jada JADA: When I'm older I want to be a teacher. And save up all my money when I'm older, when I'm a teacher and go to places around the world, like my teacher does. 42:53
Jacob JACOB: You can do whatever you want. You can live the life you want to, you just need to try. 43:08
Jacob and Connor searching for four leaf clovers SARAH FERGUSON: Jacob and his brother Connor are searching for four leaf clovers. Having had the worst start to life, they found luck with their new family. 43:17
Jacob JACOB: I've got all the people I need: my brothers, my sisters, my mum. 43:38
Jacob and Connor searching for four leaf clovers SARAH FERGUSON: We asked them what they wanted in the future. They could only think of Kristen. 43:47
Jacob JACOB: Help her more. Like if we could we would try to give her the money she needs and do stuff for her 'cause she always does stuff for us. 43:57
Jacob’s four leaf clovers in book SARAH FERGUSON: Jacob keeps a collection of four leaf clovers in his bedroom. 44:12
(To Jacob): What are they going to bring? JACOB: Good luck. 44:20
Jacob and Connor searching for four leaf clovers SARAH FERGUSON: It'd be good to think that state and federal governments could finally agree to fix the problems in Claymore and communities like this all around the country. To make sure that luck is not all that Jacob and our poorest children have to rely on. 44:29
∂ Reporter: Sarah FergusonProducers: Greg Wilesmith Mary FallonResearchers: Mary Fallon Katrina BoltonCamera/sound Ron FoleyEditor: Michael NettleshipAssistant editor: James BrayeArchives producer: Michelle BaddileyProducer’s assistant: Wendy PurchaseProduction manager: Susan CardwellSupervising producer: Mark BannermanExecutive producer: Sue Spencerabc.net.au/4cornersAustralian Broadcasting Corporation© 2012 ABC 44:58
PRODUCTION
SCRIPT
4 Corners
INTERNATIONAL EDITION
2012
Growing Up Poor
42 mins 28 secs
©2012
ABC Ultimo Centre
700 Harris Street Ultimo
NSW 2007 Australia
GPO Box 9994
Sydney
NSW 2001 Australia
Phone: 61 2 8333 4383
Fax: 61 2 8333 4859
Publicity: What it's like being poor in the midst of plenty?
We hear from the adult world all the time about what poverty is and how to fix it, but rarely from the children who experience it. Nobody likes to admit they're poor but children from five families allowed Four Corners into their lives to show us the world from their point of view:
"My parents get paid on Friday right, so during the week they probably have money. Wednesday, Thursday or sometimes Tuesday, you know, what are we supposed to eat?"
At 12, Jessica has a bleak view of her future:
"A good job, like where you get like heaps of money. I'd be like a decent mum, like a husband with no violence and everything, so it could be a happy family, you know, but like that would never happen..."
These are children living in areas of concentrated disadvantage where the adult world can be a scary place:
Hayden: "...my dad, he got bashed, he got sliced with a knife."
Some remain optimistic despite the chaos around them:
Dale: "Anything is possible when you put all your heart into it. Just try your best. I've been saying that a lot haven't I?"
The question arises, why isn't more being done to break the cycle of disadvantage? Will this generation of children be given more to hope for than their parents?
Claymore establishing shots Music 02:30
SARAH FERGUSON, REPORTER: As social experiments go, Claymore was a disaster. In the late 1970s the New South Wales government built this public housing estate on the city's south-western fringe, and filled it with more than 3,000 people from Sydney's poorest families. The planners had created a welfare ghetto. 02:37
Music 03:06
SARAH FERGUSON, REPORTER: Today it's one of the most disadvantaged suburbs in Australia. 03:16
Children on bikes and scooters/Children play It also has the highest proportion of young children anywhere in the country. 03:20
In less than 1.5 kilometres, there are 1,500 children. 03:31
Vicky VICKY: There's heaps of fights in Claymore.SARAH FERGUSON: Why are there so many?VICKY: Because it's Claymore. This is Claymore. 03:39
Hayden and friends walk with Ferguson HAYDEN: Usually the only time cameras come down here is when something bad happens.SARAH FERGUSON: We came to Claymore to ask the children here 03:46
Jada in backyard looking into sky about their lives.JADA: Why is the helicopters surrounding all of Claymore. Is it a police helicopter? 03:54
Jacob and friends JACOB: People don't want to move in here because they know what kind of people live around here and everything.CONNOR: We're moving out of here.SARAH FERGUSON: And what kind, well what kind of people do live around here?JACOB: Junkies! And they think they're all tough and they yell at ya. 04:03
Alanah in bedroom SARAH FERGUSON: And to ask them how they see the adult world? 04:18
ALANAH: She wasn't a mother to me or anyone else so I don't think she has a role of being my mother. 04:21
Dale DALE: He's broken my heart a bit too many times. Like when I was like really, really young. When you make promises to someone that's really, really young it's hard for them to forget it. And when you break that promise it's kind of like imprinted into their brain forever. 04:27
Aerial. Claymore SARAH FERGUSON: Five families allowed us into their lives: this is their story. 04:45
Ext. Jessica’s house/Jessica in kitchen painting her nails JESSICA: You can watch me do this if you want. 04:54
There we go.SARAH FERGUSON: Twelve-year-old Jessica Burns has spent the afternoon doing her nails. 05:07
JESSICA: I didn't go to school today. 05:15
And I didn't go to school yesterday because I hurt my hand.SARAH FERGUSON: Today Jessica had lost her school bag.JESSICA: I wasn't going to go to school 05:18
without my bag, and without books and a pen because I was just going to get in trouble for that. 05:28
Ext. Jessica’s house SARAH FERGUSON: The Burns family have lived in public housing in Claymore for 13 years. 05:38
Burns family in their kitchen SARAH FERGUSON: Jessica has an older brother and a little sister. 05:44
Jessica goes out into the backyard JESSICA: Hayley! Move!SARAH FERGUSON: Neither of her parents work. Like many families in Claymore their income comes from Centrelink.JESSICA (falling off fence rail): Whoa! Whoa! 05:53
Caroline Burns hanging out washing SARAH FERGUSON: Caroline Burns sometimes struggles to make ends meet. 06:07
CAROLINE: You know sometimes we have to go the second hand shops but - and I'm not fond of second hand shoes, but you can go to the new section. So… and they've got some nice stuff there and it doesn't it doesn't bother me really. 06:15
Jessica JESSICA: She does have enough money sometimes, but just like, 'cause her pay day's on Friday and if something is in the week and it's like too much money for example, I don't know, like $100 or some shit, I don't say anything, I don't bother. 06:28
SARAH FERGUSON: Sometimes Jessica misses out. 06:43
JESSICA: It was a scurgeon (sic – excursion) and I really wanted to go. And then, I was going to ask, but I didn't. Because I thought like maybe they needed the money for something else. 06:47
Caroline in laundry CAROLINE: I hate having to say no. I really hate having to say no. 07:04
Hayden in bedroom watching TV SARAH FERGUSON: Jessica's brother Hayden is 14. He's having his own troubles at school. 07:10
HAYDEN: Heaps, bullying, heaps.SARAH FERGUSON: Why?HAYDEN: Well, you know, just the way I look, the way I dress. Just the way I am, who I am. 07:18
Sometimes I just wanna go up to 'em you know, whack. But I can't, you know, I wish I could. 07:28
Brett Burns in the garage SARAH FERGUSON: There's tension in the family, too. The children's father, Brett, has moved out of the house into the garage after arguments with Caroline. 07:35
Hayden HAYDEN: He says, well he said he would never leave us. So yeah, he was he was always there for us so he'll always be there for us, no matter what. Because my Dad can teach me a lot of things, he taught me a lot of things but he's still not finished yet. 07:48
Jessica in her room with the dog JESSICA: Oi you chat! Get out! Go! Get lost you stupid puppy. Get out of my friggin' room. Go! Ha, ha, sucked in. 08:06
Hayden in house. Vicky arrives HAYDEN: Vicky, have you seen Chloe?VICKY: No. 08:20
SARAH FERGUSON: Jessica's best friend Vicky has arrived. HAYDEN: Fuck! Did you see her at school today?VICKY: Stop swearing!HAYDEN: 'Cause she's threatened to run away.VICKY: What did she do, threaten that she was gonna run away? 08:24
Pink toy. Jessica with Vicky JESSICA: Come on let's go for a walk, yeah, to the tree.VICKY: With your school uniform on?JESSICA: Yeah. I didn't go to school but. Did you go to school?VICKY: Nuh. SARAH FERGUSON: How come?VICKY: I have tonsillitis.JESSICA: I didn't go to school yesterday or today.VICKY: You went yesterday. 08:36
[continues] JESSICA: No I didn't. VICKY: Oh, no, you didn't, you were sick.JESSICA: Yeah. 08:53
Vicky and Jessica walk down stairs SARAH FERGUSON: Both girls have been skipping school recently. 08:57
Vicky and Jessica on street VICKY: You better come to school tomorrow.JESSICA: Yeah I have to. You better come to school the next day.VICKY: Thursday, yeah, I got to. 09:03
Vicky and Jessica walk I went to school for one period and then I got sent home.JESSICA: What, when today?VICKY: Yes. I had to clean out the fricking PE shed. 09:12
Vicky and Jessica play in storm water drain SARAH FERGUSON: The two girls say they want to get jobs after they finish school. But they know that a lot of older girls here get pregnant while they're still at school.VICKY: Not that one…JESSICA: It has a bin in it. 09:23
VICKY: Not that one, that one.JESSICA: Here?VICKY: Yuck.JESSICA: Do you want to go first?SARAH FERGUSON: In Claymore, 09:40
the rate of teen pregnancies is five times the national average. 09:46
Jessica and Vicky (To Jessica and Vicky): What happens to school if you have a baby when you're 16? VICKY: Nothing.JESSICA: You can still go to school.VICKY: Yeah, you can still go to school.JESSICA: With the baby.SARAH FERGUSON: But it, but doesn't it make it harder?VICKY: No.JESSICA: No, not, well no, not really. 09:53
[continues] The teachers ask them the question: do you wanna stay at school or do you wanna leave? And then they say 'But I don't wanna leave my baby', they can say you can bring your baby to school if you want to.VICKY: It's just that it's their decision.JESSICA: But just you have to leave it there, leave your baby at home for some days.VICKY: Yeah. 10:06
Ext. Jada’s house SARAH FERGUSON: Just up the road, 10:23
Jada in her backyard doing her homework 8-year-old Jada is home from primary school. 10:27
Dog barking 10:31
Jada in her backyard doing her homework (To Jada): Where do you normally do your homework?JADA: I don't do my homework.SARAH FERGUSON: Why's that?JADA: Because I don't normally have that much pencils to do it.SARAH FERGUSON: Jada rarely misses school. 10:33
(To Jada): Do you like doing work? JADA: I love doing maths but.SARAH FERGUSON: Maths?JADA: Yeah, maths. 10:46
Laura in kitchen SARAH FERGUSON: Jada's mother, Laura, is a single mum bringing up three children on welfare. More than half the families in Claymore have only one parent. 10:55
Laura was 15 when she first became pregnant.LAURA: Honestly, I was fully prepared to adopt her out. But when I had Jada it was just, yeah, there was no doubt in my mind to keep her and go from there. SARAH FERGUSON: She sees no reason 11:05
Jada in back yard doing homework why Jada can't succeed.LAURA: There's a lot of labelling. 11:30
Laura in kitchen My opinion is if you want something that bad, you'll go for it. 11:34
You're past is your - you know, you could have parents that are drug dealers and drug users. That doesn't mean you're going to be one. 11:40
Jada, Jordan and Cheyenne SARAH FERGUSON: Laura has two children of her own: Jada and 7-year-old Jordan. She's also cares for her 15-year-old sister, Cheyenne. 11:46
Cheyenne on phone CHEYENNE (on the phone): I was trying to find out one person who did tick me off.SARAH FERGUSON: Cheyenne has just been suspended from school. 11:59
CHEYENNE (on phone): She kind of got in my way, so I pushed her flat and I just pushed her out of my way because if I knew at, if I knew if I didn't keep going and I turned for her, the police would have been involved because the way, how angry I was, sir. 12:06
Cheyenne in back yard (Talking to Sarah Ferguson): Living with my mother was not the best, me and my mother fought like cats and dogs. And my father, he was just not the best person to be round. Bad examples, bad role model -- whole nine yards. 12:25
Laura in kitchen LAURA: Cheyenne wanted to start fresh. Cheyenne wanted -- she'd made mistakes where she was and she wanted a fresh start. 12:44
Cheyenne in back yard CHEYENNE: It's pretty tough. She's got my problems y'know, she wants to deal with hers, her son's and Jada's all together, mix them all together, we're just... We've got so many things that are stacking on top of each other and sometimes it gets a bit overwhelming for her. But I try my hardest to stay out of trouble. 12:52
Cheyenne and Sarah Ferguson walking around Claymore SARAH FERGUSON: Staying out of trouble in Claymore can be difficult. 13:11
CHEYENNE: The boys here, the young teenage boys, from 10 up, try to prove themselves to everybody, the older boys. And they get drunk, they smoke a bit of weed and they burn houses down. 13:16
The day before I got suspended my friend was going to burn the whole back thing of my school. I told him 'nah, I'm scared of fire' and he didn't burn it down, he just left it. 13:33
Burnt out house SARAH FERGUSON: Cheyenne is scared of fire because when she was five her home burned down and killed two of her brothers. 13:47
Cheyenne CHEYENNE: Yeah after the house fire, losing my brothers, I can't stand it. 14:01
SARAH FERGUSON: And how many people got out alive? 14:07
CHEYENNE: It was me, my mother and the twins -- the younger siblings. My brothers did get out alive, but it was either leave them alive like vegetables or turn off the machines. So my father made, my real father, made the decision to turn off the machines because they can't, they couldn't live, they can't ... their favourite thing to do was play football. 14:10
Cheyenne and Jada in the backyard looking at photographs SARAH FERGUSON: Cheyenne finds it hard sometimes to control her behaviour; like the day she was suspended. 14:35
Cheyenne CHEYENNE: Everything just overwhelmed me and I went ballistic. I threw, kicked bins, swore at teachers...JADA (handing Cheyenne chocolate): Here Cha, Cha.CHEYENNE: Thanks Baba. 14:45
...I ended up storming, chucking tables across things, pulling a chair out from under a person. She deserved it though. I wouldn't have done it if she didn't deserve it. Swearing at teachers… Don't ever do that Jada, by the way. 14:56
Jada with dog SARAH FERGUSON: Eight-year-old Jada wants to do well, but there is a certain amount of chaos in her world.JADA: Is it a police helicopter?SARAH FERGUSON: Do you see them often here?JADA: Police helicopters? Last time there was a lady, she was kind of naked, not that much, she had her bras on and undies, and her husband had, you know how boys have them short undies, they had them. They looked out of the window and there was a police helicopter and there was police everywhere in the street. 15:15
Jacob and his friends playing on their scooters SARAH FERGUSON: On the other side of the suburb, 11-year-old Jacob is with his friends from Claymore Public School. 15:56
Jacob and friends JACOB: People don't want to move in here because they know what kind of people live around here and everything. 16:15
SARAH FERGUSON: These boys have a strict curfew. 16:21
JACOB: We come back in five 'til the lights turn on. 16:25
SARAH FERGUSON: But, but there are lots of other kids staying out much later?JACOB: That's how the stuff all gets on fire. It's mostly teenagers and kids lighting stuff on fire. 16:29
SARAH FERGUSON: Where are the people that are supposed to be looking after them? 16:41
JACOB: In the house drunk.. Who knows? 16:45
Jacob on scooter SARAH FERGUSON: Jacob has a big family. 16:50
Jacob in his room JACOB: There's Erin, Alanah, my mum, Katelynn, Connor, me, Mitchell - all the kids, yeah. 16:55
Family in their house 17:05
Kristen SARAH FERGUSON: Kristen Blake is a single mother caring for five children. 17:21
Family in the living room 17:25
She has two children of her own at home, including 5-month-old Katelynn. She also took in three of her sister's children. 17:31
(To Kristen): What was the situation with Amy and the children? 17:44
Kristen Why did you step in?KRISTEN: A lot of drug problems, drug addiction, mental problems. 17:47
Kids in living room She would bring her paranoia out onto her children. She wouldn't let the kids play outside, 17:53
Kristen she would keep them confined in the one room, not even allowed to go upstairs. She shaved Alanah's head as a child so that nobody would rape her. 17:59
Alanah in bedroom SARAH FERGUSON: Alanah is now 14. 18:10
(To Alanah): Were you scared when you were living there?ALANAH: Yeah 'cause we had like other people watching us, not just her, people we didn't know, friends that gave her drugs. We had her watching us. 18:14
Kristen KRISTEN: It was Alanah mainly who was affected with what happened because she was three, nearly four, and she would have to 18:26
Jacob mother Jacob. And if it wasn't for her he wouldn't have been fed. 18:35
Kristen Whatever was in the cupboard is whatever she fed him, you know. 18:40
Alanah in bedroom SARAH FERGUSON: As far as the three children are concerned Kristen is their mother now.ALANAH: Sometimes we did go see her but she didn't show much interest in us. So she stopped coming and we stopped going. 18:45
Jacob SARAH FERGUSON: Would you like to know her more?JACOB: No.SARAH FERGUSON: Why not?JACOB: 'Cause she doesn't care about us.SARAH FERGUSON: What makes you think that?JACOB: 'Cause sometimes when we see her she doesn't, like, to talk to us and all that. 19:00
Connor plays with balls in a blow up pool as family sit around the living room CONNOR: Piss off, Alanah.ALANAH: Don’t swear. 19:17
SARAH FERGUSON: Looking after such a large family isn't easy. 19:22
(Connor lashes out at Alanah. Kristen intervenes) CONNOR: I'll punch you in the face.ALANAH: Piss off. Connor!KRISTEN: Why are you like this? Come here.CONNOR: I'm allowed to be.KRISTEN: No, you're not allowed to be. What's the matter? Baby look at me, look at me please? Look at me darling, what is wrong? Did you get into trouble at school? Then what's the matter, what's the matter mate? 19:25
Kids on street SARAH FERGUSON: Connor, Jacob and Alanah have different fathers. None of them is involved in their upbringing. 19:54
Burnt motorbike BOY: Fucking awesome bros. Harley bros. 20:05
CONNOR: They take the motorbikes and just light them up! If I took the motorbike I'd keep it eh? Wouldn't light it up. 20:12
SARAH FERGUSON: Jacob's father used to visit him, but hasn't been seen since March. 20:21
Jacob JACOB: He stopped coming.SARAH FERGUSON: Do you know why?JACOB: No.SARAH FERGUSON: So what do you think about that?JACOB: I don't care. 20:25
SARAH FERGUSON: Who behaves like your dad in your life?JACOB: My uncle.CONNOR: And our mum. 20:39
Alanah ALANAH (wiping tears away): She's like our mum and father because we've got no-one there, so yeah. 20:45
Kristen in kitchen with Katelynn SARAH FERGUSON: Kristen wants to show her children the importance of having a job. She worked at an aged care home until she became pregnant with Katelynn. 20:52
Kristen KRISTEN: As long as I can enforce that they have to work, they need to work, then I think I've done a good job. SARAH FERGUSON: So work's important?KRISTEN: Yes, definitely. It gives them routine, structure and they want to strive to something; maybe save for a holiday, save for a house. 21:05
Family in living room 21:27
SARAH FERGUSON: When Katelynn was born, Kristen was desperately ill with a blood clot. She was so sick she almost died. Her extended family realized just how fragile was their life together. 21:31
Jacob JACOB: We'd have to split up and we wouldn't be together as a family any more. 21:47
Alanah in bedroom SARAH FERGUSON: Can you imagine the family being broken up?ALANAH: Sorry. (Wiping tears away, crying) I could but it wouldn't be the same as it was. 21:55
(Emotionally) I was worried for both the boys because I don't know what we would have done. 22:12
Aerial. Claymore Music 22:19
SARAH FERGUSON: A couple of streets away 22:25
Corbey boys play footy in street are Jacob's friends the Corbeys. There are five boys and one girl in the family. Twelve-year-old Damian is the eldest. 22:28
Rebecca REBECCA: I had him a month before my 17th. 22:48
Damian playing footy in the street. Super: Rebecca I wanted kids early so then I could have my life as well.SARAH FERGUSON: That was the plan?REBECCA: Yeah. I didn't plan on having six, but... 22:51
Rebecca cooking I wish (inaudible) would hurry up.MATTHEW: Why?REBECCA: Because I need the other pot.SARAH FERGUSON: Both Damian's parents are unemployed. 23:04
Rebecca used to work while her husband looked after the children. 23:12
Matthew reading MATTHEW (reading): Will we like it Mrs Spot?... Sausages!SARAH FERGUSON: Matthew Corbey is six. 23:23
MATTHEW (reading): Will we like it, Mrs Spot?... Jelly beans! 23:37
That was easy.SARAH FERGUSON: Brendan Corbey has struggled to find work because he can't read or write. He left school when he was 12. 23:45
Brendan Corbey BRENDAN: Only went to year seven, so if they can go to anything further than that, I'll be happy. 23:57
Kids with spelling cards SARAH FERGUSON: Do you mind now not being able to read and write properly? Does it bother you? 24:02
BRENDAN: Not really. Not at the moment. I mean they help me. But when they're off I'll go out and learn myself, do you know what I mean? I can read and write a little bit but not the big words and stuff like that. What can you do? 24:06
Damian SARAH FERGUSON: Damian isn't sure he wants a job when he's older. 24:21
DAMIAN: Oh, yes and no. Yes, you get money. And for no, the boss always yells at you if you do the wrong thing.SARAH FERGUSON: How do you know that?DAMIAN: 'Cause I saw it sometimes on TV, and Mum's did it once. And Dad did it. They got yelled at. 24:26
SARAH FERGUSON: What do you do if you don't get a job, what will you do? 24:51
DAMIAN: I don't know. Probably just stay home. 24:53
Matthew and a friend in the backyard looking at their burnt trampoline MATTHEW: Come have a look now. It got burnt off. Look!SARAH FERGUSON: Two nights earlier someone jumped the fence and set fire to the Corbeys’ trampoline. 25:02
MATTHEW: I nearly cried.SARAH FERGUSON: It's made Matthew fearful. 25:21
MATTHEW: Last night I was cuddling up to Dad. I was sleeping with Dad.SARAH FERGUSON: Because you were scared?(Matthew nods) 25:28
Rebecca in living room SARAH FERGUSON: The people who live in Claymore say these problems were bound to happen when you build a community this way. 25:38
Rebecca REBECCA: Everyone's in the same situation, you know, everyone, you know, need money or alcoholics or druggos. You do need to get rid of some of those people and get new ones in. 25:50
Like their aunties and uncles used to drink a lot, so they're used to seeing people drink. I just hope they don't carry on with it all. 26:06
Looking out back door CHILD 1: Rainbow!MATTHEW: Look, there's a rainbow! Woah!SARAH FERGUSON: As dusk falls 26:15
Rebecca cooking/ Corbey family eating and the children going to bed the Corbey children move inside. 26:34
The younger ones are ready for bed. 26:47
Brooke in her bedroom At this time of day 10-year-old Brooke wishes there was a bit more cash to spare for the household electricity. 26:55
BROOKE: I don't have a light in here. SARAH FERGUSON: So do you get scared at night? What are you afraid of? 27:03
BROOKE: It just makes me scared. And Mum says we can't have the power on at night, 'cause sometimes it wastes power.SARAH FERGUSON: And is, is that expensive as well?BROOKE: Yeah it's expensive.SARAH FERGUSON: So would you like to have the power on so you could have a light on at night?BROOKE: (Shakes head, no) 'Cause Mum will have to pay lots and lots of money for the bills and that. 27:10
MTC barbecue 27:37
SARAH FERGUSON: The weekly barbecue put on by local charity MTC is one of the few organised activities for children. 27:43
Kids on rubbish duty The local youth club here has been closed for a year. Before they're fed, the children pick up rubbish in the park.MALE MTC VOLUNTEER: Everyone follow Caroline, year four, five. let's go! Just pick up the rubbish. 27:53
FEMALE MTC VOLUNTEER (to children as they put rubbish in a bag): Good job. Well done guys! Let's go find some more, come on. 28:09
Careful of the glass guys! 28:15
Kids at barbecue MALE MTC VOLUNTEER: Thank you for picking up the rubbish today. Much love to you young people. Everyone's going to have a feed, you can have seven or eight today. Sausage hot dogs… 28:18
SARAH FERGUSON: It's safe here on barbecue day. Otherwise the park can be a frightening place for children. 28:31
Chris. Super:Chris CHRIS: What's her name, people like smoking and taking drugs and smashing beer bottles and stuff. 28:39
Hayden HAYDEN 2: Oh, they drink.SARAH FERGUSON: Do they?HAYDEN 2: Beer. And they smash it on the road. See all that glass on the road over there? 28:44
Hayden kicks footy SARAH FERGUSON: Hayden saw his father being attacked in front of their house. 28:53
Hayden sits under tree HAYDEN 2: He got bashed, he got sliced with a knife. 29:00
Gary. Super: Gary GARY: I was drunk, really drunk. And I went home to get some stuff for my kids 'cause we were at a party and when I came back and I walked up the alleyway, there was a bunch, I didn't see the bunch of people hidin' and they got me from behind. 29:04
Hayden HAYDEN 2: Then, the ambulance took my dad to hospital. And we went in the back of the van.SARAH FERGUSON: With your dad or with the police?HAYDEN 2: With my dad.SARAH FERGUSON: Were you scared that he was going to be badly hurt?HAYDEN 2: We got to lay in the bed with him.SARAH FERGUSON: In the ambulance?HAYDEN 2: 'Cause we had 'jamas on. It was very cold. 29:18
Ext. Burnt out house. Pan right to Ferguson to camera. Super:Sarah Ferguson SARAH FERGUSON: Many of the children we met had stories of random violence, much of it linked to drug and alcohol abuse. All of them talked to us more about fear than they did about money or missing out. The obvious question arises: why is so much pain and disadvantage concentrated in one suburb? 29.42
Aerial. Claymore Music 30:05
SARAH FERGUSON: It's not as if successive governments didn't know what was happening here. 1n 2010, more than 30 years after the suburb was built, the federal and state Labor governments announced a multi-million dollar plan to demolish Claymore and start again. 30:08
Bulldozers knocking houses down 30:25
Bulldozers moved in last year; 99 houses were knocked down. Almost 1,000 more were slated for demolition, to be replaced by a mix of private and public housing, radically changing the makeup of the suburb. 30:32
Boarded up houses But the incoming state Liberal government says no money was budgeted to pay for the re-development. The project is on hold. 30:55
In the meantime residents say maintenance on their homes has almost ceased. And there are houses all over Claymore boarded up and empty 31:08
Jada by boarded up house SARAH FERGUSON (TO JADA): It would be better if there was somebody here wouldn't it? Would you like someone to move in? 31:22
JADA: Yeah I would love somebody to. Maybe youse could move in? But as you can see it says 'Warning Western Plains Security Network.'SARAH FERGUSON: And what's that for?JADA: In case somebody comes and smashes the house up.SARAH FERGUSON: Does that ever happen?JADA: I don't know. See how the house is boarded up? See the front room there? The window got smashed.SARAH FERGUSON: Right.
Ext. Burns family house 31:57
Burns family in the backyard SARAH FERGUSON: In the past few weeks tensions in the Burns family have been increasing. 32:00
Jessica sits by fence Jessica has been getting into fights. 32:11
Jessica JESSICA: I guess that's what Claymore is: a place full of arseholes. And I can't say I'm an arsehole 'cause I practically am. I'm just like them. I'm just, I'm an idiot just like them. 32:15
SARAH FERGUSON: Why do you get like that, do you think?JESSICA: I don't know, probably, hanging around the wrong people. Like you can ask my parents, I used to be, I used to be like the nicest kid ever, you know. I was so polite before like, yeah. 32:28
Hayden walks down stairs to kitchen HAYDEN: Do I have to have dinner, even though I'm full. SARAH FERGUSON: Hayden is affected, too. 32:44
Hayden HAYDEN: At home sometimes I hear my parents arguing and I just get really angry about it. The anger carries around with me. Every time I get angry just, you know, I stay angry. I stay angry forever and, you know, I want to be happy, there's always anger inside me. 32:52
Jessica JESSICA: I think, I don't know for sure, but I think that's the reason why I'm always like p'eed off at everyone. And I'm, I'm always like quiet at school, that's why, because I'm sad and I just don't want to show it. Like what am I supposed to do? And then when other crap is like, like happening at home and school, soon I'm just going to blow, you know. I'm just going to start having fights. 33:08
Brett in driveway SARAH FERGUSON: Brett Burns hasn't spoken much to us since we've been filming with his children, but today he opens up. Brett used to beat his wife and the children saw it. 33:34
Brett BRETT: Like I think anyone that sits there and says, 'Oh, my kids are tough, they can handle this', you're a fool, you're kidding yourself. It's not the case. They might not let on that it's bothering them. but deep inside it's bothering them and always will, every child. The thing is you've got to see it and then you've got to fix it. So it's not worth it. I don't know. It takes five seconds to give yourself the shits and then belt someone and it takes years and years to fix the problem.SARAH FERGUSON: As a child Brett himself witnessed frequent domestic violence. 33:48
He talks about it as though it were a virus. BRETT: It's already, already gone through me dad and me. I definitely don't want it to go another generation. 34:31
Jessica on skateboard I've even told Jessica. I said, you know, I, Jessica's the main one I worry about. 34:42
Brett I sort of teach her and that's what I said, 'If you get someone like that,' I said, 'get out straight away. Don't ...' SARAH FERGUSON: Someone like, you mean, someone like you?BRETT: Like I was. I said 'get out straight away, don't hesitate.' Yeah. 34:49
Hayden and Jessica on street SARAH FERGUSON: Earlier this year Brett noticed that Hayden was avoiding him. 34:59
Brett folding clothes BRETT: He got so, so withdrawn and that. And like I'd come home from work and it's like, the minute I walked in the door, Hayden would just like get up and go upstairs. I thought 'No, this has got to stop.' 35:05
Hayden HAYDEN: He just said sorry and that, you know. And all that things. He said it would never happen again; never, ever happen again. 35:20
Brett BRETT: He said, 'Oh you didn't do nothin' to me.' I said, 'No Hayden', I said, 'wrong'. I said, 'I did mate.' I said, 'What I've done to you is probably just as bad as what I've done to your mum.' 35:28
Dale walking down street SARAH FERGUSON: Domestic violence is a central and repeated theme in Claymore. It has a profound effect on many children. 35:42
Twelve-year-old Dale is one of them. 35:53
Dale in bedroom DALE: Dad kept on, like every night, he just kept on having fights with mum. Sometimes they were physical, sometimes verbal. 35:58
Dale walks to friend’s house SARAH FERGUSON: After school each day, Dale walks to a friend's house in Claymore to meet his mother and sister, they travel home from there. Last year Karen moved the family out of the suburb. 36:05
Dale DALE: 'Cause I used to get really scared at like loud noises and just people yelling. 36:21
Dale walks SARAH FERGUSON: Dale grew up full of fear. 36:25
Dale DALE: I used to be afraid of the dark because I always thought someone would just be waiting for me. 36:30
Dale playing computer game SARAH FERGUSON: He learnt to block out the adult world by playing video games. 36:36
DALE: Well there can be some good games, which kind of draws you into it. And like they keep you, they, it can keep you in your own world, like where, where nothing bad happens and all that. 36:43
SARAH FERGUSON: When Dale couldn't shut out the noise, he hid. 36:56
Dale DALE: Hid in my room under the blankets and just thought happy thoughts.SARAH FERGUSON: What did you think?DALE: Being in a really, really big house with, with lots of puppies and my whole family there -- my cousins, my uncles, my aunties -- like everything was perfect. 37:03
Karen in kitchen KAREN, DALE'S MOTHER: He has said to me, like you know, 'Why do all these bad things happen?' And I've said 'Well, if bad things didn't happen, then you wouldn't really know what a good thing was.' And as much as we've had a bad run of things, our life could be much worse. 37:24
SARAH FERGUSON: Karen has just started a training course to enable her to find work for the first time. She wants Dale to see her working. 37:43
KAREN: A lot of kids don't have a family member who's worked, and a lot of it, it's generational where most people haven't worked. You know, their grandparents didn't work and their parents don't work and then their older brothers and sisters don't work, so that's normal. 37:54
Dale in bedroom DALE: A child takes on, like the personality of the people around them. So if a child is with good people, they'll turn out good but if they're with bad people, they'll turn out bad. 38:09
Performance at Eagle Vale High School FX: Applause 38:20
RAPPER: Do you wanna do that song one last time? Boys press the keys ... 38:24
Rap performance [Rap song] 38:30
Garrett in audience SARAH FERGUSON: Claymore's high school is in the neighbouring suburb of Eagle Vale. Today there's a performance for former rock star and School Education Minister, Peter Garrett. 38:46
Rap performance [Rap song]SARAH FERGUSON: They've chosen the song, 'You Never Had It So Good'. 38:57
[Rap song] 39:03
Garrett takes stage SARAH FERGUSON: Garrett is opening a $1.7 million performing arts centre at the school. 39:17
Garrett addresses Eagle High School children PETER GARRETT, EDUCATION MINISTER: We have total confidence and faith in you, in the teachers in this school and the community schools. And total faith and confidence in the students at these schools that can be whatever they want to be, that they can realise their dreams and their potential... 39:26
SARAH FERGUSON: His message to the students is to aim high. 39:47
PETER GARRETT: Quite often you'll hear people say ‘Oh, it's too hard’ or it can't really be done. Or 'Well maybe you can jump up on stage here or in Campbelltown or the western suburbs of Sydney, but what makes you think that you could be on TV or go and make a career out of it or travel around the world.' Well the fact is that you can. 39:51
Junk in yard/Graffiti on homes SARAH FERGUSON: But back in their disintegrating neighbourhood where waves of planners and politicians have failed them so miserably, the present can be overwhelming. 40:14
Alanah. Super:Alanah (To Alanah): Do you think about your future much?ALANAH: No, I just want to take one day at a time because I don't know what's going to happen in a couple of months or even days. 40:27
Cheyenne into car on her way to school SARAH FERGUSON: Cheyenne returned to school after her suspension, but her future remains uncertain. 40:39
Cheyenne in back yard CHEYENNE: None of my family finished their Year 10. Only my brother did, that was the only one, and I want to prove to them ... They've always said my whole entire life 'You're never going to amount to nothing, 'cause if we can't , you can't'. And I just want to prove them wrong. And prove to myself that I'm worth more than what they say I am. I can do it. 40:55
Burns family in kitchen SARAH FERGUSON: Difficulties in the Burns household, where the father Brett has been living in the garage, have reached the point of crisis, and his children know it. BRETT (to Caroline): Just remember to do the King Gee's shirt - wash it separate! 41:14
Hayden. Super:Hayden HAYDEN: They're making a big mistake. So, yeah, splitting up and that's a big mistake for me. Big mistake for them. Don't like that. So they should just both apologise to us. They don't have to apologise to each other, I don't really care about that, but they should be apologising to Jessica more but, for what she's gone through. She's jigging at school and everything. 41:33
Jessica. Super:Jessica JESSICA: I dunno. They might get divorced, they might not. 'Cause you know, everybody doesn't, well, most people don't have a happy ending, so... 41:52
Jessica on skateboard in street SARAH FERGUSON: Still only 12 years old Jessica has a bleak view of her own future. 42:04
Jessica JESSICA: A good job, like where you get like heaps of money. I'd be like a decent mum, like a husband with no violence and everything, so it could be a happy family, you know. But like that would ever happen.SARAH FERGUSON: Say that again, what did you say at the end?JESSICA: Like that would ever happen, but like with…SARAH FERGUSON: Now stop, hang on, why wouldn't?JESSICA: Like with the guy, because like you know, I always pick the bad people. 42:14
Jada in backyard JADA: Then you go like this.SARAH FERGUSON: Eight-year-old Jada is still optimistic. 42:46
Jada JADA: When I'm older I want to be a teacher. And save up all my money when I'm older, when I'm a teacher and go to places around the world, like my teacher does. 42:53
Jacob JACOB: You can do whatever you want. You can live the life you want to, you just need to try. 43:08
Jacob and Connor searching for four leaf clovers SARAH FERGUSON: Jacob and his brother Connor are searching for four leaf clovers. Having had the worst start to life, they found luck with their new family. 43:17
Jacob JACOB: I've got all the people I need: my brothers, my sisters, my mum. 43:38
Jacob and Connor searching for four leaf clovers SARAH FERGUSON: We asked them what they wanted in the future. They could only think of Kristen. 43:47
Jacob JACOB: Help her more. Like if we could we would try to give her the money she needs and do stuff for her 'cause she always does stuff for us. 43:57
Jacob’s four leaf clovers in book SARAH FERGUSON: Jacob keeps a collection of four leaf clovers in his bedroom. 44:12
(To Jacob): What are they going to bring? JACOB: Good luck. 44:20
Jacob and Connor searching for four leaf clovers SARAH FERGUSON: It'd be good to think that state and federal governments could finally agree to fix the problems in Claymore and communities like this all around the country. To make sure that luck is not all that Jacob and our poorest children have to rely on. 44:29
∂ Reporter: Sarah FergusonProducers: Greg Wilesmith Mary FallonResearchers: Mary Fallon Katrina BoltonCamera/sound Ron FoleyEditor: Michael NettleshipAssistant editor: James BrayeArchives producer: Michelle BaddileyProducer’s assistant: Wendy PurchaseProduction manager: Susan CardwellSupervising producer: Mark BannermanExecutive producer: Sue Spencerabc.net.au/4cornersAustralian Broadcasting Corporation© 2012 ABC 44:58