House debates

Monday, 24 May 2021

Statements by Members

Dunkley Electorate: Mental Health

4:24 pm

Photo of Peta MurphyPeta Murphy (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

The importance of community and connectivity to good mental health has been pointed out to us over the past 18 months perhaps more than ever. Today I want to congratulate the people who ran two separate community events in my electorate of Dunkley over the past week. The first event was quite a remarkable forum, the Frankston Regional Youth Forum, run by Hannah Swinnerton, who was the 2019 Frankston Young Person of the Year. Hannah has used her own difficulties and experience of bullying to help others. She was joined by the wonderful Bo'Ness—twin brothers Jackson and Callum, who use their music to talk about domestic violence—and Glenn Cooper of That's the Thing About Fishing. They brought in HALT, which is mental health for tradies, me and state and local government representatives to talk about the importance of good mental health and supporting each other.

The second event, last Saturday, was Game Changer round in the Mornington Nepean Football League, a round to raise money for mental health in local football and netball clubs; in particular, to deal with suicide in those sporting organisations. The Game Changer round is an amazing round in which all of the clubs, 22 of them across the peninsula—many of them in my electorate—join in to raise awareness and funds. Grassroots cooperation, connectivity and caring for each other—it's fundamental.