Henry Pike (Bowman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A new mental health service planned for Redland Bay in my electorate of Bowman is in jeopardy due to the change of federal government. The former Liberal and Nationals government committed $3.4 million over four years to establish and operate a Head to Health mental health service for the Redland Satellite Hospital, which is currently under construction by the state government. Head to Health are a new network of community based mental health centres which are being rolled out across Australia as part of the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan. Mental health issues are a growing concern in all Australian communities, but those in the field are telling me that my community is severely underserviced when it comes to all levels of support.

I recently wrote to the health minister to confirm that the new government was committed to this important project, and the response was extremely worrying. The new government has refused to confirm the funding for the new facility and is refusing to be drawn on the time frame for a decision. The letter indicates that the government is going back to the drawing board to ask the state government and primary health networks to resubmit their proposals, which will undergo a whole new assessment. This is despite the fact that the Redland Bay location was already selected after a rigorous process of assessment based on local needs. If this investment gets taken out of the Redlands and magically appears in a Labor held electorate, I will be calling it out. I'm putting the government on notice not to play politics with this important project for the Redlands.