A WARTOOK family that took part in a heavily criticised reality TV series have asked people to withhold their judgement.
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Channel Nine show ‘The Briefcase’ has offered $100,000 to people in need.
However, the show’s process for awarding money has been condemned by critics as tacky and exploitative.
Jim and Jenny Carter lost their house and farm to the 2014 Grampians bushfires.
Inadequate insurance money has put them on the back foot ever since.
“The show’s whole process has been very positive,” Mr Carter said
“People who were running the show were very supportive, very genuine and very caring.”
Mr Carter said his family took part in the show because they needed help meet the costs of replacing their farm.
“I took the insurance payout we got from losing 80 per cent of our livestock to build new fences and at least get the farm up and running,” he said.
“It’s left us with a pretty big hole in the bank balance.
“$100,000 would give us security, stability and help finish the farms and get our lives back on track.”
The Carters took up an offer to be a part of the show because they were told it was about helping people.
“Channel Nine must have been asking around in the area after the fires,” Mr Carter said.
“Somebody must have said Jim and Jenny lost their house and farm and you should go talk to them.”
“We began negotiations and Channel Nine said they were doing a show about people facing adversity.”
It turned out there was a catch.
A briefcase containing $100,000 in cash was given to the couple but they had to decide whether to give some, all, or none to another family in need.
The Carters were asked how much they would give to the family of Mandy McCracken, who lost all four limbs to a bacterial infection.
“The only way to save Mandy was to do the quadruple amputation,” Mr Carter said.
The McCracken family needed money to modify their home for Mrs McCracken’s prosthetic limbs.
“The case of money was dropped on the front verandah of the place where we were living at the time,” Mr Carter said.
“Jenny found it while I was working in the shearing shed.
“She brought it over and opened up the case and inside was a bit of a surprise.”
Along with more cash than the Carters had ever seen in one place was a envelope explaining the choice they had to make.
“The note said you could keep the money or give it to a family that had been through similar devastation in their lives,” Mr Carter said.
“It was up to us to decide what to do.”
The show’s process of deciding how to split the money has attracted widespread condemnation from TV critics.
The Age has described The Briefcase as “Australia's most exploitative reality show”.
Mr Carter said it was easy for people who were not involved to criticise the show but he thought it helped people.
“I can understand how you could look at it and say it is exploitative,” he said
“Other people can sit back and criticise and make a judgement.
“But until you are in that situation and been through a certain bit of trauma in your life, it's up to the people involved to make a decision.”
Mr Carter said the family’s two teenage children, Alana and Meg, reacted well.
“They were very mature and sensible about it,” he said.
“We talked it through with them and much to their credit they came up with a solution that was fair and reasonable.
“Through the whole thing I have been very proud of them.”
The Carter family will appear on The Briefcase’s the debut episode at 7.30pm Monday on Channel Nine.