Northern Beaches Mental Health Services

Debate resumed from 17 April.

Mr WATKINS (Gladesville) [12.01 p.m.]: I oppose the motion moved by the honourable member for Wakehurst. It is wrong and misleading, and it should not be supported. Funding for mental health services in New South Wales is at an all-time high. Only last week the Government brought down a budget which outlined a third, historic increase in funding for mental health services in this State. The assertion that funding for mental health services has been cut on the northern beaches or anywhere else in New South Wales while Labor has been in power is a gross lie and is part of a scurrilous campaign to undermine public confidence in the health care system, a health care system which is finally recognising the needs of the mentally ill in our community.

Only yesterday the Opposition ran the line that intensive care units at Mona Vale and Ryde hospitals would close. At the same time as the Northern Sydney Area Health Service was paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to upgrade the intensive care units at those two hospitals. If the honourable member for Wakehurst was really concerned about the plight of people living with mental illness he would have done more when the former Government was in office. When Labor came into office New South Wales had the lowest proportion of spending on mental health services in Australia. That shameful situation was made worse by the fact that the former Government, in its seven years in office, deinstitutionalised, closed hospitals and put thousands of mentally ill people into the community. That was where they belonged, but they needed proper care and the expenditure of funds to support them. That care and expenditure is not cheap; it costs big dollars. The previous Government never put those dollars into community care of the mentally ill.

The Carr Government has undertaken a number of initiatives to reverse that disastrous situation. In its first two budgets, the Government increased spending on mental health services by a massive $20 million. Last Tuesday that amount was further increased by another $7 million. That extra funding is bringing real and genuine improvements for people with mental illness. I hold a seat in the area for which Northern Sydney Area Health Service is responsible. The honourable member for Wakehurst also holds a seat in that region. I am aware of the expenditure and level of care provided for the mentally ill in that area. I know what improvements have been made. Labor is doing more than just increasing funding. It has already launched a $5.5 million package for child and adolescent mental health, an issue unfortunately neglected by the previous Government. Tragically, it is an issue that has been neglected also by the present Federal Government.

In my electorate an organisation called Mental Illness Education Australia is doing fine work in schools educating children about mental illness. That organisation has had its funding cut by the Federal Government. Funding for that program is essential to address the tragedy of youth suicide but, unfortunately, that funding is gone. Mental health legislation amendments which are currently before the Parliament will dramatically improve health outcomes for people with mental illness and their families. I am sure all honourable members welcomed those legislative amendments as they will bring real improvements for people suffering mental illnesses who are not receiving the care that they require.

In addition to these statewide initiatives, a number of service enhancements have been made to
Page 8716
northern beaches mental health services. There has been a $800,000 enhancement for an additional 10 mental health beds and a supplementation of $80,000 for an extension of the 24-hour crisis team, the teams so necessary for the proper care of people in the community. In the electorate of the honourable member for Manly, Labor has provided funding for an innovative program called Manly Club House. No-one in this Parliament could say that Labor does not care for people with mental illnesses. The Government has done more in its first two years in office than the previous Government did in its seven years in office. We are at the forefront of work in this nation for those with mental illnesses. The present Minister for Health, the Hon. Dr Refshauge, is a magnificent advocate for the needs of people with mental illness. [Time expired.]

Mr HAZZARD (Wakehurst) [12.06 p.m.], in reply: There is no dispute that members on both sides of this House support the provision of mental health services. The issue is clear: my motion seeks to focus on the downgrading of mental health services on the northern beaches. The bottom line is that the Government is wholly responsible for the closure of the Dee Why mental health facility. The honourable member for Gladesville and the Minister spoke about the big picture, but in reality on the northern beaches fewer services are now available because of the Labor Government. I want to point to some facts that the honourable member for Gladesville and the Minister obviously do not want to hear. They can attack me and accuse me of not telling the truth, but everything I have said is true.

The honourable member for Manly has made it clear in this debate that he has the same concerns as I do and he supports the motion. Everyone on the northern beaches, regardless of their political allegiances, would be concerned about the closure of an essential service such as the Dee Why health centre. What is happening under the current Government? When the Dee Why health centre was closed by the Government it was receiving 40 new referrals a month. What was the Minister's justification for closing the centre? In his address to the House on 10 April the Minister said that the closure of the centre would save $35,000 in rent. That is a lame, lousy, mean-minded excuse. Many people on the northern beaches need ready access to mental health services, and they need those services to be in reasonable proximity to them.

The Minister simply took $35,000 out of the budget and sent the patients down to the Queenscliff health centre. It does not matter how ill or how much in need they are, they can sit in the public corridors with everybody else. They might have to catch an extra couple of buses to get to Queenscliff but that does not matter. That was the unreasonable attitude of the Minister. He will be judged by the people of the northern beaches on what he did to the Dee Why health centre. The Opposition knows that is only the tip of the iceberg. The House will hear about that in another motion that will be debated today. Health services on the northern beaches are basically being destroyed. Almost in the opening words of his contribution the Minister claimed that community mental health services have not been downgraded. To close a mental health service and send the patients to a service a number of kilometres away that is already overused is almost as big a downgrade as one could picture.

The Minister has not provided any extra funding to the northern beaches. I do not doubt that funds have been allocated to health services in other areas, but not one scintilla has come to the northern beaches. The honourable member for Gladesville talked about his electorate. Why would he complain? For every $2 that is spent on mental health services in his electorate on the upper north shore, about $1.50 is spent on the northern beaches. Indeed, if the funding for Macquarie Hospital is removed from that equation, only about $1 is spent on mental health services on the northern beaches. The people of the northern beaches are receiving less than half the funding for community health services that the honourable member for Gladesville and the upper north shore are getting. That is about as big an injustice as one could possibly imagine.

Of the $45 million budget allocated for the Northern Sydney Area Health Service only $5 million goes to the Manly-Warringah and Pittwater areas. That is simply not enough. This Government has to realise that the area needs more money and services. People on the northern beaches will not accept what the Minister has put before this House. They will not accept that what I have said is a lie. They want the Minister to act; they want him to provide the necessary funding and facilities. I call on the Minister and the Government to stop telling fibs, and to give the people of the northern beaches the services they need. [Time expired.]

Question - That the motion be agreed to - put.

The House divided.

Page 8717

Mr Armstrong Mr O'Doherty
Mr Beck Mr O'Farrell
Mr Blackmore Mr D. L. Page
Mr Brogden Mr Peacocke
Mr Chappell Mr Phillips
Mrs Chikarovski Mr Richardson
Mr Cochran Mr Rixon
Mr Collins Mr Rozzoli
Mr Cruickshank Mr Schipp
Mr Debnam Mr Schultz
Mr Downy Ms Seaton
Mr Ellis Mrs Skinner
Ms Ficarra Mr Slack-Smith
Mr Fraser Mr Small
Mr Glachan Mr Smith
Mr Hartcher Mr Souris
Mr Hazzard Mr Tink
Dr Kernohan Mr J. H. Turner
Mr Kinross Mr R. W. Turner
Mr MacCarthy Mr Windsor
Dr Macdonald Tellers,
Ms Moore Mr Jeffery
Mr Oakeshott Mr Kerr

Ms Allan Mr McManus
Mr Amery Mr Markham
Mr Anderson Mr Martin
Ms Andrews Ms Meagher
Mr Aquilina Mr Mills
Mrs Beamer Mr Moss
Mr Carr Mr Nagle
Mr Clough Mr Neilly
Mr Crittenden Ms Nori
Mr Debus Mr E. T. Page
Mr Face Dr Refshauge
Mr Gaudry Mr Rogan
Mr Gibson Mr Rumble
Mrs Grusovin Mr Scully
Ms Hall Mr Shedden
Mr Harrison Mr Stewart
Ms Harrison Mr Sullivan
Mr Hunter Mr Tripodi
Mr Iemma Mr Watkins
Mr Knight Mr Whelan
Mr Knowles Mr Woods
Mr Langton Mr Yeadon
Mrs Lo Po' Tellers,
Mr Lynch Mr Beckroge
Mr McBride Mr Thompson

Mr Humpherson Mr Price

Question so resolved in the negative.

Motion negatived.