Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, for those wondering, I am wearing a very bright trademarked TIAC suit. No, your television is not broken and, yes, your eyes will recover. But I am wearing this loud get-up for a loud reason: to start conversations about men's health and men's mental health because too many blokes are suffering in silence. Australia has some of the healthiest men in the world, who also happen to be world-class at avoiding the doctor. Sixty per cent of blokes wait more than a week to get checked and one-third wait over one month. We service our cars every 12 months or every 10,000 kilometres, but try getting a bloke to book a GP appointment—good luck.

The stats are no joke: seven men per day die by suicide; 40 per cent more men die from cardiovascular disease than women. More than 3,500 men lose their lives to prostate cancer every year, one of the most treatable cancers if we get on top of it early. In male-dominated industries like the construction and mining workforces across Newcastle and the Hunter, the mental health risks skyrocket and yet nearly one-quarter of men say they would not seek help from anyone. So if a loud suit like this can start one conversation, nudge one mate to speak up or get one bloke through a tough patch, I will happily look like a hi-vis packet of skittles in this House any day of the year. Let's keep on talking. Let's keep blokes alive. Thank you to Dan and Ed up in the gallery. Thank you for what you do for men's health.

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