Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have risen many times in this place to discuss matters of importance to the electorate of Canning. While today is no different, what I wish to speak about cannot be summarised in a word or a sentence. It is very complex and affects different people in different ways. For some it is drug and alcohol addiction, for others it is domestic violence and, sadly, for too many it is mental health issues and suicide.

When I was first elected to this parliament in 2015, Canning was crying out for assistance in stemming the flow of ice into the community. I spoke to school principals who are trying to manage drug addicted children, parents who were scared of their violent kids, service providers who had more patients than resources to help them, and small-business owners who were fighting an uphill battle against crime. The overwhelming message was: 'Something needs to be done.' Within 30 days of being elected, I established the Canning Ice Action Group, made up of educators and service providers I had spoken to, in addition to local government representatives, community leaders and police. A number of meetings and a public forum identified that, while ice is indeed a big problem in Western Australia and in Canning, it is symptomatic of broader social dysfunction.

On Monday, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission released the first report of the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program, and the results are alarming. In Perth, the average daily consumption of ice is one dose per 17 people. Nationally it is one dose per 28 people. As the Minister for Justice stated this week, 'We cannot simply arrest our way out of this problem.' The only way we can tackle this problem is with long-term behavioural change and preventive measures. In order for the ice action group to effect that change, it was agreed that we needed to shift our focus from rehabilitation to prevention and to early intervention targeted at, but not limited to, drug and alcohol addiction, mental health and youth suicide. We recognised that there was no point reinventing the wheel by duplicating services that already exist. GP Down South, a wonderful local organisation which runs the Peel Youth Medical Service, known as PYMS, was already operating at capacity in providing outreach and in-house services to 400 young people a month in the Peel region. Eleanor Britton, from GP Down South, has a plan to cater for this growing demand with the PYMS Health Hub, which targets 12- to 24-year-olds in the Peel region. It is a plan supported by the Canning Ice Action Group. The project will co-locate PYMS with other providers in the health hub to ensure that clients and their families have access to a full suite of services, including GPs, psychologists, a mental health social worker and an eating disorder clinic.

Tragically, the need for better models of preventive care has been evidenced by a number of youth suicides over the last two years in the Peel region. This is a heartbreaking development in our community. Acknowledging the gravity of this situation very early in April of last year, the Prime Minister and the former health minister met with a delegation from Peel comprised of local and state government leaders from both sides of politics, police, students and youth leaders. We impressed upon them our community's need to get the PYMS Health Hub off the ground. I am very grateful that we managed to secure $2 million for capital works for the PYMS Health Hub at the federal election. The Prime Minister has followed this project very closely and is invested in it. At the recent state election, this project received bipartisan support, with both Labor and the Liberals committing to fund the remaining $5 million. I commend local MLAs David Templeman of Mandurah, from the Labor Party, and Zak Kirkup, the newly elected Liberal member for Dawesville, for their advocacy for PYMS.

As devastating as the deaths in our community have been, they have drawn people together to look for a lasting solution. Part of that solution is headspace, a national youth mental health foundation that focuses on early intervention for youth needing help with mental and physical health. It provides work and study support, and alcohol and other drug services. At present, there is no headspace centre in Canning, and the closest one is over an hour away by public transport. Acknowledging a gap in the services, and in response to this government's commitment to fund 10 additional headspace centres, PYMS has started a petition to get a headspace centre in the PYMS Health Hub. We will get the funding for a new facility. We will have a range of service providers that complement the PYMS vision, and we are very much hoping that the federal Minister for Health will commit to putting a headspace centre in the PYMS facility. PYMS has been working very hard and, to date, their petition has just over 2,300 signatures from the local community.

Two weeks ago, I stood at Halls Head shopping centre with the PYMS team to promote their petition. In one hour, I heard many stories of loved ones lost to suicide, youth struggling with depression, and parents who did not know how to help. I really noticed the interest and concern that many people expressed about the problem that we have in the Peel region. People who were just there to shop took the time to step aside for five minutes and talk with the PYMS team. It was heartening for all. It just reinforced how many people in our community need better services. Since then, I have had a very positive conversation with the Minister for Health about the petition, and I am hopeful that Mandurah will soon be announced as one of the new headspace sites. This would be a considerable encouragement for the Peel region.

However, no number of health hubs or headspace centres can come close to achieving what the Canning community has already achieved on its own. We have service providers united by a focus on preventative care. We have bipartisan support at all levels of government—local, state and federal. We have a football club and a netball club encouraging their young members to talk openly about mental health, and we have community support to address youth suicide. As I have said, we have very strong grassroots support. Last year I went to a fundraiser put on by local community leaders for PYMS, and in one night I think they raised something like $50,000. PYMS is an institution that is fully functional. It has a lot of support, even before the state or federal governments come to the party. The vision is to supercharge PYMS and to make sure that they optimise their service for the community.

All the changes that I have spoken about may be incremental, but they are not insignificant. These things take time. Institutions take time to build. Healing also takes a long time. But I am proud of the people of Canning for the support that they have given me. I am proud of the things that they have done as individuals and the way that they have come together as a community to get our young people back on track. I am hopeful that we can find solutions to the problems of suicide and drugs and alcohol, and that we will have a strong community into the future.