Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on three matters of local importance to the Berowra community. It was a pleasure to join the 1st Hornsby Heights Scout Group recently to recognise an outstanding young woman from our community, Alyssa Eden, who received the King's Scout Award. Alyssa is the first King's Scout from Hornsby Heights in its history. The King's Scout Award is the highest honour a Venturer Scout can achieve, and Alyssa has earned it through years of commitment, service and leadership. She joined Scouts at the age of eight and has completed every stage—Cubs, Scouts and now Venturers—completing leadership courses in each level.

As part of her King's Scout journey, Alyssa led a six-day expedition in Tasmania, including four days on the Three Capes Track. She has taken part in Dragon Skin, whitewater kayaking and two jamborees, and she has earned certificate II qualifications in both workplace skills and outdoor recreation. Alyssa has served on the unit council. She has performed in the Hornsby Gang Show since 2019 and supported younger Scouts as a youth leader. She has bushwalked over 500 kilometres and camped 95 nights and continues to contribute as a Rover. Alyssa is a role model in every sense, and our community is incredibly proud of her achievements.

A wonderful milestone in our community occurred recently with the Epping Scout Group. The Epping Scout Group has some of the best facilities and traditions in scouting in my community, and they have a wonderful scout hall, which they hire out to other community groups in the Epping electorate, and that scout hall turned 100. The hall's construction was completed in 1925 at a cost of 695 pounds, and it's been used continuously ever since. The Epping Scout Group is one of the oldest continually running groups in Australia, formed in 1915. From aerial soccer to meetings and Scout sleepovers, the hall has hosted it all. In 1975, it even hosted a concert by the local band the Clones, putting it into the Australian Music Database. A plaque to commemorate the hall's centenary was unveiled at the recent celebrations.

Incredibly, in attendance at the events were locals who have been associated with the scouting group for more than 60 of its 100 years. I want to acknowledge Epping Scout Group leader Simone Haider and chair Hannah Chim for their wonderful work in organising the celebrations. We also saw the recognition of several scouts on that day, including twins Zara and Zoe Williams, who earned the Australian Scout Award, the peak award for Scouts in the Scout section, and spoke with great enthusiasm for everything that Epping Scouts had meant to them in their lives. Peter Buckley, the eternal leader of the Epping Scouts, also received a certificate of recognition.

Today, I want to touch on an issue that's deeply personal to me. As many know, I am a strong advocate when it comes to better mental health and suicide prevention policy. Every day, we lose nine people to suicide in Australia. For every death, there are approximately 20 attempts. Locally, 4,041 people presented at the North Shore public health network emergency departments with suicidal thoughts and other intentional self-harm in 2021. In 2023-24, that increased to 4,681 people. These aren't just numbers; they're someone's parent, someone's son, someone's daughter, someone's partner or someone's mate.

Over the past year, I've come to know a man in my community called Adam. Adam is a man of great courage. He's 25 years old. He's faced hardship, and instead of staying silent he has chosen to speak up, and he's called on me to speak up today. He's been a strong advocate for improvements to our local health system, highlighting the strain that Hornsby hospital and its mental health unit are put under every single day. Doctors and nurses on the front lines are completely overwhelmed by the high number of patients being admitted. Not only does that impact those seeking support from our health system, but it significantly impacts the wellbeing of those trying to provide essential care and support.

Adam's story and his advocacy are a reflection that we have so much more to do to make the system work in our community. That's why I'm calling on the New South Wales government and the federal government to invest more in the Hornsby mental health unit and the associated community wraparound programs so that we can properly deal with mental health and suicide prevention in the Berowra electorate. Adam's story is one of resilience, but, more than that, his willingness to talk openly about his challenges in mental health is something that is so important in today's society.

It is so important because we cannot allow the stigma of mental health and suicide to silence people. We must encourage Australians, when they get that sixth sense that something is wrong, to ask their friends directly: 'Are you contemplating suicide?' and take their friend to get the help that they need.

See this speech in context