Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

) ( ): Mental health is certainly a growing issue in my electorate of Petrie. Since I was elected back in September last year I have had a number of people come see me at my local electorate office to talk about some of the health issues they are experiencing, particularly around mental health. It seems that anything can trigger it, and it is a growing issue throughout the country and where I live up in Petrie. I had a young man come to see me a few weeks ago. He is suffering a mental health problem at the moment mainly because as a child he was adopted out. He sat in my office and told me his story and some of the issues he was facing. It certainly made it very real for me.

Youth suicide and chroming are issues in my electorate that have been there in the past. Thankfully, chroming in particular is a little bit under control, but youth suicide in my area is fairly high amongst young people, as is drug and alcohol abuse. Drug abuse certainly seems to be on the rise. My concern there, of course, is that with young people it can cause permanent damage. Domestic violence and the damage that can cause, particularly to women and children, is certainly an issue that can affect people psychologically.

All of this, of course, impacts on welfare. As a government we are trying to deliver a budget surplus after six massive deficits resulting in a billion dollars a month in interest. We want to make sure that we can do everything we can to ensure that taxpayers' money is spent well. We want to make sure that welfare is sustainable for the long term. That is what the budget was about: ensuring that welfare was sustainable. It was about reigning in Labor's debt and deficit. But if we can make savings around mental health then that would certainly help our budget position overall.

I do want to congratulate the government—I am here to ask a question of the health minister—particularly in relation to education and the government's support for the School Chaplaincy Programme for a further five years. That is an excellent commitment. I note the opposition had not made that commitment before the last election. But it is good that they did continue it under the previous governments. Certainly the commitment for the next five years is well warranted. In Queensland we have an excellent system of chaplains in many schools throughout my electorate and throughout Brisbane generally. Whilst they are not always dealing with mental health issues and they might not necessarily be trained to deal with mental health issues, they do provide a strong local voice in schools and someone that children and young adults can come and talk to freely anytime and provide friendship to. Life is about relationships. Children have teachers at schools who they can talk to, and their parents and their friends. But having chaplains in schools is good too, and it is something I commend the government on.

It is estimated that one in four young Australians between the ages of 16 and 24 will experience a mental health issue in any given year. I am sure the minister is well aware of that. Three-quarters of mental illnesses occur in people under the age of 25. Minister, I would like to know just what the government is doing to invest in youth mental health and in mental health more generally throughout the community.

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