Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Finance (Senator Gallagher) to a question without notice I asked today relating to men's mental health.

I asked a question today of Minister Gallagher with regard to male and boys' suicide in Australia, of which there were 2½ thousand in 2023 and only 203 amongst females. I asked the question: why wasn't any Labor representative down there on the Parliament House lawns yesterday? I know for a fact that veterans, farmers, defence personnel, police officers, paramedics and health professionals are at risk of suicide. I asked a question about how the 20 visits a year have now been cut to 10 visits a year because we don't have psychologists. We have all these suicides that are happening, and people who have attempted suicide and need assistance, but they can't see a psychologist, because we don't have psychologists.

How about looking at the NDIS? Professionals can be paid up to $195 an hour in the NDIS, so you have psychologists leaving the profession. They're not dealing with veterans, and they're not dealing with those people who need it in the normal sector. They're all flooding to the NDIS. That is one idea: let's look at what we're paying them in the NDIS.

Another thing is, why don't you give incentives to the universities to get the students to actually apply for psychology courses? Give them incentives, because this problem is not going to go away. We have to find measures of addressing that.

I also addressed family law, but you've got a closed bloody heart to this because you're not admitting that your policies and legislation are making it harder. You say it's in the best interests of the child, while the reports have said the best interest of the child is to have a connection with both parents. When you deny connection with the father—and if there is abuse there, by all means deny connection, but fathers are being denied the right to see their child when there's not. It's the right of children to have a connection with their fathers. Stop suicides happening in this country and get a minister for men.

Question agreed to.