Michele Freeman
The Australian Publishing Industry’s Problem with Class
'Too many of these types of stories come from people without any basic understanding of the lives of working class people, and without more working class people telling their stories themselves these realities will remain either invisible or unfairly portrayed.
What we are seeing anew in this pandemic is that the working class is a large, diverse and complex community that rarely gets heard or understood. It is the beating heart behind the scenes of the nation, doing some of the hardest and most essential work and not only getting disproportionally rewarded for it – but paying the biggest price when things go wrong. The least we can do is listen to its stories, and do this up close and personal.'