Garth Hamilton (Groom, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Congratulations on your re-election, Deputy Speaker Claydon. I begin my contribution to this term of parliament by reaching across the aisle and thanking the Minister for Health and Ageing and the Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention for organising meetings with an organisation in my community called Momentum Mental Health. We now need intervention from both these ministers. We need their help and their assistance. The Darling Downs and West Moreton PHN has decided to redirect funding through the Commonwealth Psychosocial Support Program away towards integrated hub models. I'm not against PHNs seeking improvements, and I think it's important they play that role in our community. However, having spent some time talking to Momentum about what they offer and what the changes are going to do, I believe this a case of trying to fix something that isn't broken. We need the minister to intervene and give the PHN some direction on this.

Momentum has been in our community for 40 years. It built the foundation of mental health support not just throughout Toowoomba but right across the Darling Downs and into Western Queensland. Just in the last year, it saw over 7,400 attendances at its services. It's growing and booming. But the truth is that they will not survive a $640,000 cut to their funding. This service will go; it will die if this decision stands. I thank the ministers for their support so far. I need them to take the next step and give the PHN the guidance they need.