Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

You will not be laughing in a second. That program has been shown to make a difference to mental health issues amongst young people, including issues like anorexia and depression. That is actually serious and ought not to be catcalled about. People in this country, I believe, are concerned about mental health issues for teenagers. Perhaps those members calling out are not. But if they are not concerned about those things then they are clearly out of touch with the value system of Australians. Australians are concerned about those things.

Professor Seligman held a seminar—yes, for which a subsidy was made available through my department—for 209 teachers. The member used a figure that also included expenditure on this. I can certainly refer the member to the fact that this seminar was attended by teachers across the country, including teachers in South Australia, who came there to learn from those professional development activities. So perhaps in their haste to make a cheap political point the Liberal Party might like to think through these issues. Are they concerned about mental health issues amongst young people—yes or no? Do they recognise that Professor Seligman’s program has been recognised around the world as making a difference to those mental health issues amongst young people? And, therefore, should they consider whether supporting teachers to get access to that kind of curriculum and professional development is a good idea or a bad idea? Before they keep making cheap political points maybe they should just spend a moment reflecting on each of those things.

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