Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I can't imagine playing politics with people's lives, with their mental health, but the same can't be said for the likely Liberal candidate for Macquarie—the former candidate for Reid, who wanted to be the member for Hawkesbury—who has dangled a headspace clinic in front of thousands of young people in the Hawkesbury for months for her own political gain. Quite frankly, it disgusts me. We needed a headspace before the fires, we needed it before the floods and we have needed it throughout this pandemic, but just hinting about something that this government—your own party—could deliver right now and should have delivered eight years ago doesn't cut it. I say to her and her Liberal masters: it's clear you're going to announce a headspace at some point. So announce it. Build it. Staff it. Open it. Do something good with your time rather than trawling community Facebook groups promoting yourself. The fight for better mental health services is personal for me. My community knows this. I know the difference good local services can make to a young person and to their family. This is my why. It is people's lives we're talking about. It's not a tool to win votes. This is bigger than your next promotion. But then again, this is the difference between you and me. You fight for your own career. I fight for my community.