Page 4614 - Week 14 - Thursday, 24 November 2005
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very valuable therapeutic information for people suffering from mental illness 24 hours a day.
These are just some examples of what the ACT gets from our engagement with beyondblue. I was very pleased to join with Mr Kennett yesterday in signing our ongoing commitment to beyondblue. I encourage all members in this place to continue to recognise the widespread prevalence of depression in our community and the importance of communicating to the community that depression is an illness, not a life sentence. Depression does not reflect a personality flaw or incapacity on the part of a person, but is an illness like any other and must be addressed in the same way that we address any other illness.
MS MacDONALD: I ask a supplementary question. Minister, can you inform the Assembly of Mr Kennett’s assessment of the ACT’s performance in addressing depression?
MR CORBELL: Again I thank Ms MacDonald for the question. Yes, yesterday Mr Kennett was asked by representatives of the media how he felt the ACT was performing when it came to dealing with issues such as depression. I know that those opposite have been very critical of the government, I think unfairly so, and this for me was confirmed in the comments of Mr Kennett. He is not known as a supporter of the Labor Party or Labor governments, but he said very clearly that the ACT had one of the strongest commitments in the country to dealing with depression.
He went on to say that the ACT was doing a better job than most in dealing with depression. I very much welcome that comment. He recognises, unlike Mr Smyth and those opposite, in an unbiased and reasonable way that the ACT is making significant strides in this regard. Mr Kennett is not somebody who votes Labor. He is not someone who is known as a fellow traveller of the Labor Party. In fact, he would usually be one of those that Mr Mulcahy would be coat tailing, running around behind, saying, “Jeff, aren’t we doing a great job?”
We do not need to do that. We stand by our record. I was very pleased that Mr Kennett recognised it yesterday when he said that the ACT was doing a better job than most in dealing with depression. He reckoned that the ACT is ranked in the top half of states in dealing with depression. He said that we are not in the bottom half; we are in the top half. That is what Mr Kennett said, and I really welcome his comments. They are affirmation of the commitment this government is making to address issues to do with mental health.
Most tellingly, at the end of the day, Mr Kennett said that the ACT had not been dragged “kicking and screaming” to support the program. Those were very encouraging words from him. I thank him for his recognition and endorsement of our activities. Like everyone in this debate, he recognises that there is more work to be done. He said that yesterday. I continue to say that as minister. But the important thing is that we are getting strong endorsement from national leaders at a national level that we are on the right path when it comes to tackling issues to do with depression and mental illness.
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