Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak tonight on the cost-of-living pressures facing Australians and, in particular, people in my community in Western Sydney. I recently met with the CEO of Christ Mission Possible and senior pastor of the Rock Christian Community, Martin Beckett, in my Penrith office. Christ Mission Possible is located in Kingswood, in my Lindsay electorate. It is a charity that provides food and accommodation, particularly for people experiencing homelessness. Each week, they support over 7,000 people with essential food items. They provide over 1,500 meals each week. Every year, they provide crisis temporary accommodation to over 1,200 people.

Martin and I spoke about the challenges people are facing in Western Sydney—in particular, due to food insecurity and cost-of-living pressures. Martin tells me that now most of the people coming through the doors to collect hampers of food and groceries aren't people sleeping rough. They are pensioners, retirees and families. The decision of whether to pay the rent or the mortgage or to use electricity, against putting food on the table, is very real in Western Sydney.

Hearings of the Senate Select Committee on the Cost of Living are revealing the real crunch Australians are facing with higher prices and higher mortgages leaving more families struggling to put food on the table and purchase essentials. This is impacting people right across Australia, including renters.

I want to talk further about some of the points from the Reserve Bank and their estimation that 800,000 Australian households will move off their low fixed mortgage rates this year. This is going to put real pressure on the pockets of those households, particularly in Western Sydney, where we see mortgage stress as a real issue. A Sydney Morning Herald article titled 'The Sydney marginal seats most exposed to rising interest rates' last year noted Western Sydney seats in the top three, including Lindsay. It said 42.6 per cent of Lindsay residents with a mortgage were in financial stress. After the non-stop rate rises seen under this Labor Treasurer, financial stress is now soaring. The RBA governor has confirmed more rate rises are on the way, which will cause even more pain before inflation, hopefully, gets under control.

Kate Colvin of Everybody's Home told news.com.au last year that, after this Labor government came to office, 'outer Western Sydney will be particularly hard hit by these rises'. The ABC covered this issue in the second half of last year, with an online story titled 'Western Sydney home owners bear the brunt of interest rate hikes, as mortgage repayments squeeze budgets'. In this article, the Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue's Adam Leto spoke about mortgage stress being a factor for years to come and the anxiety that can come from the risk of losing your house. These aren't just stories in newspapers; these are real people, with real lives, with real issues because of the cost-of-living pressures that are impacting every Australian right now. That also includes an impact on their mental health.

As shadow assistant minister for mental health and suicide prevention, I am particularly concerned that, despite the significant ongoing, persistent pressures on the Labor government, they are just not listening when it comes to the slashing of Medicare-funded psychology sessions, which have been cut in half, from 20 to 10. The former coalition government doubled the number of Medicare-subsidised sessions available, through the Better Access initiative. Serious mental health issues are often at their highest two to three years after a crisis, a pandemic or a disaster, which is why it is absolutely vital that vulnerable Australians now experiencing the additional impact of cost-of-living pressures have continued access to the psychology sessions that they clearly need.

Flooding has caused devastation across my community multiple times over the last few years, and I hear from locals about how they're struggling. The pandemic has caused wreckage to businesses and livelihoods, and this is causing mental health issues still today. The independent evaluation of the Better Access initiative recommended:

… the additional 10 sessions should continue to be made available and should be targeted towards those with more complex mental health needs.

The Labor government needs to listen to the mental health professionals and provide the services Australians need, because this cost-of-living crisis is impacting people right across Western Sydney. They can't afford to see a psychologist. During a cost-of-living crisis, it is extraordinary that the Labor government would force Australians to pay more for their mental health. They need to do something. They need to listen to every single Australian and every single psychologist in this country.