Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to raise some issues of concern for and of interest to my constituents in the electorate of Solomon—the communities of Darwin and Palmerston, the capital of northern Australia. Today, we had a launch for a book that was written about the important subject of post-traumatic stress disorder. There has been a lot said about whether it should actually be called a disorder or a reaction, because it's a normal reaction to traumatic events. The name of the book is Everything's OK. It tells the inspirational story of a former commander, Todd Berry, and his journey with post-traumatic stress, which took him to the depths. But, with the love and support of his family and those around him, he wrote a book to help others who are going through the difficulties of the trauma that they have experienced. The book was co-written by Rob Ginnivan, and he acknowledges the brave work of our nation's frontline guardians and first responders. No matter whether you're a fireman, a trauma nurse or a veteran, many people experience trauma and need to experience assistance. That's what Todd and Rob have done in writing this book called Everything's OK, which we launched today.

They've taken an interesting spin on PTSD. The subtitle for the book is 'Past traumatic stress dissolved'. It is a really easy-to-read practical handbook for those who are affected physically and psychologically by their service or the experiences they've had. It teaches those combatting the effects and their carers strategies to build emotional resilience and transform their lives for the better. Two of the key things they talk about in the book are mindfulness and the use of yoga—which Todd has termed 'combat yoga' to make it a bit more approachable for former soldiers. I want to thank my colleague the member for Kingston, our shadow minister for veterans' affairs, for launching the book and all those members from both sides of the House who attended that book launch.

There was another event on at the same time as the book launch. It was about Safer Internet day. This is a very important subject as well. Today, of course, is that day, Safer Internet Day, with the theme 'Create, Connect and Share Respect: a better internet starts with you'. To that, I would add 'a better internet starts with all of us.' Safer Internet Day is an international event run in Australia by the eSafety Commissioner. I commend the website of the Office of the eSafety Commissioner, which has very useful resources for parents and children. People can find it at https://www.esafety.gov.au/. Within that website, there are various sections. There's one called iParent, with useful suggestions for parents about safety settings on web-connected devices and strategies for keeping young people safe online. There is eSafety Women, with suggestions on how Australian women can take control of their online experience—for example, when they need some help with cyberbullying. That part of esafety.gov.au is tailored for women. There is also the Kids Helpline, which provides free and confidential phone and online counselling.

Online safety is a real challenge for kids and also for parents. With the massive growth in the use of smartphones, anonymous bullying is a big problem. I think that sometimes the kids who are carrying out this cyberbullying don't fully understand the gravity of that bullying and the effects that it can have. This came home to us in the Territory in a terrible way last week with the very sad death by suicide of Dolly Everett. Dolly, from the NT, was in Queensland, away from her parents, but it's very sad that Dolly saw death by suicide as the only way out.

I was very pleased to see that the member for Capricornia, as reported in the NT News, was making suggestions around what could be done in this space. Until yesterday, we served on the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Industry, Innovation, Science and Resources together, and at the moment there's an inquiry looking at the effects of online competition on Australian businesses. This has led us to think more broadly about the effects of online communications, emails and social media on individuals in our community, and particularly this issue of online bullying.

To come back to the tragic death of Territorian Dolly Everett, I again send my sincere condolences to her family and her many friends. I hope that some good will come out of this terrible situation and that other young people will know that they can receive help and support and that the people who carry out this cowardly bullying will be stopped or at least have their behaviour changed in some way so that they're not having this terrible effect on our fellow Australians.

This raises the point that we tend to approach this issue only from the perspective of the person being bullied, which is why I was interested to read a recent article in The Conversation, the online newsletter, called 'What should I do if my child is a cyberbully?' It gave useful suggestions, including making it clear that bullying is always unacceptable, but that parents should try to see the situation through their child's eyes, as young people may not have the maturity to fully consider the consequences of their actions. A parent's role is to help their children develop empathy for others. It is unhelpful for the child to be shamed or to ban access to the technology. This kind of response prevents a child from opportunities to learn responsible online behaviour. Parents must take charge in setting the conditions of using technology, and these include monitoring its use until the time when the young person shows that they can manage their online behaviour responsibly. I thought there was some helpful advice in that article in The Conversation. I am no expert on such issues, but I think we should listen to the experts and work out a way that we can work with young people to make sure that they really understand the ramifications of their actions, and then we can make sure that the bullied have access to those resources that we've described.

I caught up with a fellow in Palmerston the other day who knows the Everett family, and he told me a bit more about the foundation that they're setting up, called Dolly's Dream, which aims to educate young people about how to protect themselves on the internet and where to get help. We'll be working together to support that charity in the future.

Another issue I want to bring up quickly that is of great interest and concern to my electorate of Darwin and Palmerston is the City Deal. As to the City Deal for Darwin, it has now been 254 days since the Northern Territory government and the Commonwealth government signed a memorandum of understanding for a City Deal. In September last year, the Prime Minister reaffirmed the Commonwealth's commitment to that agreement, but we are now in February. So we want to see that deal confirmed at the earliest possible time. It's really important for our northern economy, particularly as the INPEX project draws down, to have these job-creating projects that will come out of that investment from the City Deal start to become a reality. Darwin's a resilient city, and that was demonstrated after the World War II bombings and with Cyclone Tracy. We will again get through these challenges but we'd love that City Deal to come on board.