Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Fisher for moving this motion. 2020 has tested our resilience in ways that many of us have not experienced before. On the back of prolonged drought and before we even ticked over to 2020, thousands of people across Eden-Monaro were woken on New Year's Eve by a firestorm that came and took so much from us all. Not only did the New Year's Eve bushfires and those that followed decimate more than 750 homes across Eden-Monaro; people were killed, livestock was lost, fences were trashed and communities were displaced. As the 'black summer' bushfires unleashed their fury on Eden-Monaro over the following months, people lived through a deep sense of fear and heartbreak—which in many cases has changed us forever.

For the thousands of family members whose homes and belongings were destroyed, this year has seen them relive their trauma by trying to navigate the complex web of support that is available. Bushfire affected people often describe to me the challenges of trying to understand their bushfire attack level or dealing with neighbouring government owned land agencies, all while living with what they call 'brain fog'. For those who weren't directly affected, many were forced to evacuate their homes three or four times, shut down their business in the height of the busy summer period or support family members or friends who had lost everything. The stress on our communities and our systems was unfathomable.

For many, the stress has continued while 2020 has continued to throw us curveballs. The COVID-19 pandemic meant that bushfire affected communities, just as they started coming together to process the shock and pain, were separated again. The pandemic pressed pause on cups of tea or a friendly schooner in the pub with those closest to us. Most devastatingly, it meant that many support services like counselling couldn't happen on the ground where they were needed most. It's only been in the last few months that people have been able to gather, socially distanced, to support one another. The toll the delay has taken on people's mental health cannot be understated.

We know that our services across Eden-Monaro are stretched to their limits, and in many cases were stretched well before the incidents of 2020. Headspace has been overwhelmed. Domestic violence and housing support services can't keep up. More funding for these services, especially after cumulative natural disasters, is an absolute must. I was pleased to see the government announce in this year's budget a plan to provide an additional 10 Medicare rebate sessions for people with a mental health plan. It means Australians will get access to 20 subsidised psychological therapy sessions each year—a doubling of the current arrangements. This is sensible, and I entirely support it. However, those of us living in regional communities know that getting access to psychological services, counselling services or psychiatrist services is near impossible. We need more of these professionals in our regional communities and more trained professionals to reduce waiting lists.

It's been disappointing that federal money has slowly trickled out to bushfire affected communities when it should have flowed more quickly. According to the National Bushfire Recovery Agency, only 39 per cent of the more than $53 million announced to support the mental health of Australians affected by bushfires has been spent—only 39 per cent. Another bucket of money includes $13.5 million to boost emotional and mental wellbeing support for people affected by bushfires. Again, according to the National Bushfire Recovery Agency only 38 per cent has been spent. I appreciate that recovery takes time, but less than half of that money has been spent nearly a year on. It's something that I hear all the time from our communities; whether I'm in Batlow or Cobargo, people constantly tell me that more mental health support is needed. Teachers constantly tell me that mental health support is needed in schools. We know that those on the front line, the heroes who risk their lives for us, deserve proactive and ongoing support. I urge the government to fast-track this spending, because it is vital and desperately needed by so many.

While many of us joked about turning our clocks forward to 2021 when daylight saving time came into effect recently, perhaps there are some positives we can gain from this year. For a long time, we've been urged to put our mental health first. About 45 per cent of Australians will experience mental health. About 54 per cent of people with mental health illnesses do not access treatment. After this year I think the message has sunk in: it is okay to say you are not okay. I hope this community empathy and understanding continues and grows into the future. At the start of my first remarks in 2020, I said, 'It has tested our resilience, but it's also a timely reminder of what's important.' (Time expired)

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