Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to update the parliament on a very important day for the young people of the Ryan electorate, and I talk not about St Valentine's Day but the fact that today we have a brand-new headspace centre opening its doors—a new, expanded centre. Headspace Taringa was one of the busiest centres in the country—the second-busiest in the whole nation, in fact—throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and demand for the support centre has skyrocketed.

Now, they had a fantastic team there, but the simple fact was that, because they had outgrown their facilities, they were faced with the problem of having to cut off their waiting list because they had a wait time of over eight weeks. Thanks to a $780,000 contribution that I secured from the federal government, headspace Taringa has now been able to relocate to a brand-new, much larger facility in Indooroopilly. It's far more fit for purpose, not only for the staff but also for the numbers of young people who they need to service there. Those staff have worked tirelessly to keep up with the additional demand, and I know that the new larger facility will help them to reach even more young people in the Ryan electorate. Its doors are open today for young people to visit, and I encourage anybody who needs a hand to reach out to headspace Taringa.

I want to congratulate Jamie and the whole team—now, headspace Indooroopilly; formerly, headspace Taringa. I can't wait to visit the new centre and officially launch it, but, in the meantime, I'm delighted that the doors are open and it's servicing and helping young people in the Ryan electorate.

See this speech in context