Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I suggest we don't pay much attention to comments on the internet. I was very sorry to get an email last week. I was sorry to get a lot of emails last week but particularly one that said the Monash mental health action group, which has been operating for some time in my electorate, has been disbanded. Unfortunately this group has given up, as all the federal funding for the new headspace centres has been allocated. The City of Monash, covering the Bruce, Chisholm and Hotham electorates, missed out. It's disappointing and frustrating for our community, especially for the young people who poured time and effort into advocating passionately for a dedicated mental health service, a headspace, over many years. I thank them for their efforts. I say to them: you ran a great campaign and I hope you learnt a lot. But, if anyone was wondering why young people get frustrated with politics, this is a great example. There is a clear need. There is a good case. Yet government MPs sat on the fence. The government MPs in our area would not back the community, and it is not hard to do so.

There were no straight answers, either. The group met with the minister's office, who made a few nice noises. But then we learnt through Senate estimates that the minister had been given a list of 20 sites across Australia. Ten were picked and our community—the electorates of Bruce, Chisholm and Hotham—missed out. What we want to know is: was Monash on the list of 20? If not, why not? I say to the young people: don't despair. Labor MPs will not forget. We will back the community every time. We'll work with the Monash council and Link Health to make sure that, be it this year or in the coming years, there will be dedicated mental health services for young people in our community.