Alby Schultz (Hume, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Salvation Army’s Braver, Stronger, Wiser program that was launched throughout Australia on Thursday of last week to help deal with depression in rural Australia. Figures show that depression now affects one million adults in Australia each year and costs in excess of $600 million annually.

The Salvation Army project will see 500,000 DVDs about how to manage and tackle depression being distributed free of charge across Australia and the project is directly targeting depression in rural Australia. The Salvation Army’s Lieutenant Colonel James Condon said:

It’s deeply alarming to see what is happening in the bush right now. Depression is a very real issue in regional Australia. We are targeting depression head on with this project because it is vital rural Australia gets a hand with this issue.

Some communities are feeling abandoned and isolated. We have to create a situation where people start to realise depression can be a ‘normal experience’ and that if it’s happening to you, you are not crazy … you can lead a fulfilling existence.

Lieutenant Colonel Raymond Finger added:

We want to put tools in the hands of rural Australians so if someone feels suicidal they can save someone else’s life —or their own. Many rural Australians suffer from isolation because they lack services and GP’s can be very thin on the ground. Psychological professionals in some areas may be almost non-existent. This Braver, Stronger, Wiser project is a Salvation Army initiative to celebrate the spirit of the bush and all that makes regional Australia so remarkable. It has the full support of beyondblue: the national depression initiative and their key clinical advisor Professor Michael Baigent is a major part of this project.

Depression in rural Australia is a very real and ever increasing problem. It is becoming by far one of the biggest health problems affecting many rural families, not only in my electorate of Hume but right across the country. Depression can be directly attributed to the effects of one of the worst droughts that Australia has seen.

My wife, Gloria, has witnessed firsthand the toll that depression can take on rural families. As many of you in this place may be aware, for a number of years now Gloria and a band of very devoted and generous people have been involved in preparing and distributing packages of donated non-perishable foods, toys for children and other essential items that, more than often, these hardworking families have gone without as a result of the drought.

Both Gloria and I have also been in attendance at a number of drought related gatherings throughout the electorate. These are meetings such as Look after our Mates in Crookwell that saw in excess of 600 people come together to share one another’s company and experiences that the effects of the drought have heaped on them.

Similarly, a recent Drought Breaker, Family Maker event, again in Crookwell at the showground, saw over 1,000 drought affected people in attendance, again, to gain strength from each other in coping with the ongoing and relentless drought that has gripped rural Australia. At this event, totally unexpectedly, the community made a presentation to both Gloria and me for our support and assistance to drought affected rural families over the years.

Having said that, I find it troubling and hypocritical that a New South Wales state parliamentary National Party MLC, who recently criticised me in the Legislative Council and who now resides in metropolitan Sydney, and a National Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, who recently moved out of her electorate, have shown their apathy and indifference by not being present at any of these functions or meetings that have been organised to assist rural families cope with the effects of the worst drought in a hundred years, even though these politicians purport to represent and understand the needs of these struggling rural families.

In conclusion, may I again congratulate not only the Salvation Army for the introduction of this very welcome initiative but also those other major organisations that are working in conjunction with the Salvation Army, including beyondblue, the Rural Doctors Association, licensed rural postal agencies, rural Landcare offices, rural ABC radio stations and rural Westpac branches for the work that they are doing in assisting with the implementation of the Braver, Stronger, Wiser project. Last but not least I congratulate those wonderful individuals who have stood up, talked about their own experiences and helped others in need.

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