Eric Hutchinson (Lyons, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A small country community in my Tasmanian electorate of Lyons believes in helping itself, even when the issue is the tough one of mental health. It was Bothwell nurse and farmer Anita Campbell who decided in July this year that something needed to be done to get her community talking about mental health. She enlisted the support of non-profit organisation Rural Alive and Well, led by the group's outreach manager, Wayne Turale, to plan a community event to promote mental health support services in Bothwell. Rural Alive and Well is ably supported by people on the ground, including Darren Thurlow and Garry Sharp, who do wonderful work in the southern part of my electorate. Mr Turale said that several unusual tragic events in the region in the past year had prompted a move to remove the stigma of mental health and get people talking about how and where to get help. Three people have taken their lives in the last 12 months.

The organisers hoped that 200 people would turn up to the event held last week at the Bothwell District High School gym. They knew they had judged the need correctly when a huge crowd, for Bothwell, of more than 300 people turned up to listen to various speakers provide information on mental health over a community barbecue. Anita Campbell believes that one of the main drawcards for the big crowd was the AFL star Brendan Whitecross, who plays for Hawthorn, who spoke about his own battles with depression. She said there were a number of young people from the district in the audience who really appreciated what he had to say. But the cross-section of older people at the event were also interested to listen to clinical psychologist from the University of Tasmania Jen Scott and the White Cloud Foundation director Marcus Pringle-Jones. White Cloud aims to provide education on helping people with depression.

Rural Alive and Well counsellors like Wayne Turale say that, despite the considerable inroads made on the issue of mental health, there is still a stigma attached which is often worse in rural and remote communities. Anita Campbell suggested that mental ill-health had become an issue for everyone in the Bothwell community—and I have heard that firsthand. Her plan is to start in the country area that she knows to lift the lid on mental health issues and then take it to other regional farming areas and urban areas around my state.

To run the highly successful event at Bothwell last week, Rural Alive and Well secured a grant from Mental Health Tasmania and received strong support from Lifeline, Anglicare, the Bothwell football club and Westaway and Ellendale rural fire services. Rural Alive and Well is an excellent service, and 1300HELPMATE is the phone line. My thanks also to the board of Rural Alive and Well: President Ian McMichael, Vice President Dianne Fowler, Junior Vice President Leonie Young, Secretary Robin Thompson, Treasurer Bernie Harrington, and the many other people on the board who do wonderful work in their community supporting those with mental ill-health.