Brett Whiteley (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The previous speaker should be reminded that there is a big difference between protesting and trespassing.

There are very few people in Braddon and across Australia who have not been impacted in some way by drug and alcohol abuse or a mental illness of sorts, whether it be a family member or friend who has been diagnosed with depression or someone in the community who has fallen victim to a drug or alcohol addiction. It is an unfortunate reality that a significant number of people, either through their own experience or the experience of someone they know, have been impacted by the effects of substance abuse or mental illness.

In Braddon, the Somerset Football Club is holding an event to start the conversation about drugs, alcohol and depression. The event, called Shirt Front the Big 3, tackles drugs, alcohol and depression through sport. The community forum targets sports clubs and management of sports associations. A number of community and sporting leaders will be speaking at the forum, with a focus on the effects and ramifications of drugs, alcohol and depression on society, but specifically towards sporting clubs. This event is about getting people with firsthand experience in dealing with substance abuse and mental illness to work with the community to have a local community based approach to tackling these issues that confront the people of Australia on a daily basis.

Shirt Front the Big 3 will have representatives from AFL Tasmania, Tasmania Police, experts on mental health and substance abuse, sporting representatives as well as recovering addicts and sufferers of depression. I will be attending this event and ask any of those in the Somerset region to come along to work with us on tackling drugs, alcohol and depression in our region. The clubs and administrators session is on 23 March, and the session for the community of Somerset and surrounds is on 24 March. Both sessions are to be held at Langley Park, the home of the Somerset Football Club, at 6 pm.

When I am out in the community, on a daily basis I hear about the scourge of ice and other drugs, their effects on our communities and our loved ones and the impacts they have on mental health. It is no secret that these are enormous problems that face each and every community in Australia. I congratulate the Somerset Football Club, especially Rod Groom, on the initiative they have shown in putting together the Shirt Front the Big 3 event. Events like these are the way forward in formulating a community based approach. It is not just those individuals and families who are experiencing the problems firsthand who need to come up with strategies to combat the challenges. It is all of us, the people who live on the north-west coast. We must together take control of our place and our future and formulate a community based solution to the problems that arise from substance abuse and mental illness.

See this speech in context