Perth mum and her young child are forced to live inside a car

A mother’s desperate struggle: Pregnant woman and her young child are forced to live inside a car amid Australia’s rental crisis Pregnant mum Cassandra and her family lived in their car They couldn’t afford to rent in Rockingham, Perth Other struggling locals blamed former MP Mark McGowan By Ashley Nickel For Daily Mail Australia Published: 20:50 EDT, 13 July 2023 | Updated: 21:04 EDT, 13 July 2023 e-mail View comments A young family was forced to live in their car after spiralling rent prices and a lack of social support left them without a home. Pregnant mother Cassandra, her husband and their children, aged one and five, have lived in their Ford Territory in Rockingham, south Perth, for the last eight months. Cassandra said her family has suffered through ‘extreme cold’ and struggled to buy decent food for their children, with her and her husband often going without.

‘There were times where our car battery actually would die because we’d have to use it to heat up the car trying to keep all of us from getting sick,’ she told Nine News . The distraught mother said her family was pushed out of the rental market by inflated prices in December 2022. Pregnant mother Cassandra (above), her husband and their children, aged one and five, have lived in their Ford Territory in Rockingham since December last year Fortunately, they have been able to find a new home just a month before Cassandra’s due date.

The family said its main support system has been the Salvation Army. They, and many other struggling locals, accused former Rockingham MP and Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan of neglecting locals to focus on the state. The election for Rockingham will be held on Saturday, July 29, following Mr McGowan’s resignation in May.

Welfare funding has been a key topic of debate, with Salvation Army data showing homelessness has increased by 250 per cent since November, with 300 per cent more people seeking emergency relief. ‘Currently, we are seeing we are at capacity for what we can provide and we really do need to be resourced further,’ Chelsea Wilson from the Salvation Army said. Cassandra (pictured with one of her children) said her family’s car battery runs flat from trying to keep them warm Labor’s new candidate for Rockingham, Magenta Marshall, responded to criticism against her party, saying: ‘It’s great to talk about Labor’s strong record of delivering relief, although there’s always more that can be done.

‘ Other candidates said Labor has already lost support from the electorate with residents ‘looking for a change’. ‘The people of Rockingham are telling me that enough is enough. They feel ignored by the Labor government,’ Liberal candidate Peter Hudson said.

Share or comment on this article: Perth mum and her young child are forced to live inside a car e-mail Add comment Comments 0 Share what you think No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. Add your comment Enter your comment By posting your comment you agree to our house rules .

Submit Comment Clear Close Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. No Yes Close Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account.

We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy .

.