The Gillard Government had no excuse for blocking a vote on an important Coalition mental health motion in the House of Representatives today, said Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Shadow Minister for Mental Health.
“The motion was to go to a vote today. But with key independents yesterday pledging their support the Gillard Government was facing the embarrassment of having both houses of Parliament calling for action.
“The Senate sent a strong signal on 26 October when the Coalition, with the support of independent Senators Steve Fielding and Nick Xenophon, passed a similar motion calling on the Gillard Government to act now.
“These are important steps by the Australian Parliament in recognising the dire state of Australia’s mental health services but this Labor Government appears to hold the voters of Australia in contempt.
“The Coalition took its $1.5 billion mental health plan to the election and received widespread support. This motion that now has been endorsed by both houses calls on the government to expand the number of headspace centres to a minimum of 90 nationally, establish a network of Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centres (EPPIC), provide an additional 800 beds associated with the EPPIC centres and provide extra funding to meet these commitments.
“Yesterday Australia’s top mental health practitioners Professor John Mendoza and Australian of the Year Professor Patrick McGorry travelled to Canberra to brief MPs and Senators on the need for a major injection of funds and expansion of services. They are disappointed and frustrated with the Government’s lack of action on behalf of the one in five Australians who are touched by mental illness in any given year.
“It is time to act now. Australians are sick of waiting.”