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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 03 Hansard (Thursday, 11 March 2004) . . Page.. 1089 ..

Nevertheless, the feeling at the mental health forum was that the Richmond policy had its merits—it just needs to be better funded and better run.

The other strong feeling of the forum was the need for a secure facility and a forensic facility. There is no reason why we cannot embrace both community care and institutional care for our mentally ill. The problem with the Richmond model is that community support is fine until a patient is psychotic and cannot be dealt with by either the carers or by the CAT team. If there is nowhere to admit a psychotic patient or a patient who is at risk of suicide then community-based care fails. We have to accept that there is a point where hospitalisation is required both voluntary and, in some cases, involuntary.

Mr Speaker, I really do not want this to be a partisan debate but the Labor Party seems happy to use typical Labor bovver boy insults. They do not seem to understand that people are dying because our mental system—and I emphasis, Mr Speaker, “our mental system”—is not managing. It is too important an issue for partisan slanging matches and I really wonder what the motives of the government, particularly Mr Stanhope and Mr Corbell, are in some of their public utterances.

I think it needs to be pointed out to the government that the ideas that I have put up in the mental health debate come directly from extensive consultation with clients, carers and mental health professionals. It seems that the Labor Party oppose these initiatives because they come from the Liberal Party. This is a shame because the Liberal Party is merely in this case listening to the community and representing their ideas in the Assembly.

It amazes me that the government continues to assert that there is no need, for instance, for a time-out facility. They see no need for a secure facility of any kind and Mr Stanhope has dismissed out of hand a forensic facility as part of the prison. I have lost count of the supporters of the time-out facility. The Schizophrenia Fellowship, former Chief Police Officer John Murray, Chief Magistrate Cahill and Magistrate Burns are just a few who have said that such a facility is required. The question is: why won’t the government listen?

Mr Corbell: Name some of the consumers who want it.

MR SMYTH: Mr Corbell says, “Name some consumers”. I am not going to name in this place consumers of mental health services here in the ACT.

Mr Corbell: You have never met a consumer who wants it.

MR SMYTH: It is entirely inappropriate for the minister to even suggest such a thing. If Mr Corbell had bothered to attend some of the forums he could have actually met the consumers—

MR SPEAKER: Direct your comments through me, Mr Corbell. Please cease your interjections.

MR SMYTH: They were at the meeting and they were saying that this should occur.

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