Q & A: Youth suicide in Goulburn

IF ELECTED, WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO HELP COMBAT YOUTH SUICIDE IN GOULBURN? 

Michael Pilbrow (Labor)

IN this campaign, I have appreciated the opportunity to meet with and listen to young people across Hume, in particular in Goulburn. I have been struck by their interest in being involved in helping find solutions to different challenges – and not having older people decide everything for them. The phrase used elsewhere of “nothing about us without us” is very appropriate when thinking about issues for young people in Goulburn.

Suicide Prevention Australia is a national organisation that I respect greatly and one of their principles is “involving young people in the design and implementation of youth suicide prevention programs”.

Guided by this principle, I will keep listening to young people in this campaign, including the Goulburn Youth Council whose invitation to meet I was very pleased to accept. If elected, I will continue this approach and I will make one of my first priorities to sit down and talk to young people in Goulburn about what they would like to see from all levels of Government to support them and to help reduce the tragedy of youth suicide.

My motto will be “nothing about young people without young people”.

Angus Taylor (Coalition/Liberal)

WE have endured too many youth suicides in Goulburn and we must not sit idly by as more young people lose their lives. Some weeks ago, I hosted a Youth Mental Health forum in Goulburn, with the coalition’s mental health spokesperson. The forum was well attended and brought a lot of people together who had not come together before. This and other events have inspired the formation of a youth mental health working group (comprising affected families, not for profit organisations, clergy, teachers, councillors, politicians and mental health professionals) in which I participate.

Jointly, we are working through how we make better use of the services we already have, and what is needed to fill gaps. Critical to any solution is training of people who have regular contact with young people – such as teachers, parents and sporting coaches. We need to help these people to recognise problems early and also help the entire community learn how to do that. There is a lot of goodwill and commitment to this issue from many people in Goulburn. I am confident that grass roots, community led solutions will emerge – which will make a real difference on the ground.

Adrian Van Der Byl (Christian Democrats)

I SUGGEST that youth suicide is not just an issue for Goulburn. Mental health is of greatest importance to our children and youth when it comes to suicide prevention. The family environment goes a long way to shaping the well-being of our youth. Statistics of youth suicides taken from the 1960’s onwards are most revealing; then it was the toleration of de-facto marriages, now it is the outright promotion of same sex marriage, sodomite and lesbian lifestyles and now we have even LGBT youth suicide hotlines. Since the 1960’s to now there has been a continual increase of youth suicide rates.

While the Headspace program goes a long way to addressing this issue; the root cause must also be addressed to further bring down youth suicide rates. The best family environment to avoid youth suicide is one that has a mother and a father, in particular one where public marriage vows of love and commitment were entered into. Two things can be done to address this issue:

• The ending of government promotion of unnatural life styles for example Gay & Lesbian Madi Gras and the school pride program.

• People should be prepared NOT to vote for politicians who are promoting marriage equality, which is a euphemism for marriage destruction. Of interest if you see my core-flute posters, there is a slogan: Save our Families; Save our Nation

Bruce Nicholson (Katter’s Australia Party)

I THINK one of the big contributors to this issue, not only in Goulburn but throughout Australia is the peer pressure alcohol binging that goes on. Alcohol is a depressant and as such must be considered as one of the causes. I recall when I was growing up that the Pub closed at 10pm. The club closed at 11pm and the night clubs closed at midnight.

If you wanted to have a drink after these times you had to go to someone’s house and anyone who played up or got violent, didn’t get invited again. This seemed to deal with the anti-social aspect of it. I don’t know how it happened or why but kids nowadays don’t go out till about 10 or 11 pm and they generally prime themselves up with alcohol from home first. I think a return to the old opening hours would be a good start.

Lynette Styles (One Nation)

SUICIDE is a leading cause of death for teenagers on the mortality scale, but it is preventable. In many cases parents, teachers, friends and workmates are in a position to detect warning signs and call for professional help.

Everybody who cares about the zest for living is committed to eradicating suicide by identifying risk factors which includes mental illness, environmental disorders, drug and alcohol abuse, sexual abuse and family dysfunction.

All medical centres and schools should adopt guidelines on how to deal with young people with suicidal tendencies. Parents need to be informed as part of suicide prevention and need to actively participate in eliminating risks by family cohesion, open and honest communication, and nurturing youth self-worth as a priority.

If elected, I would help to combat youth suicide in Goulburn by supporting funding for health and psychological experts trained in dealing with youth suicide in schools, hospitals and through organisations such as Lifeline.

I would campaign on policy lines to ban firearms in the home; legislate for tougher penalties on drug dealers and abusers of social media networks.

Bullying is totally unacceptable. Above all else, I would support funding for 24 hour suicide prevention hotlines and maintain urgent access to medical and mental health resources for young people in Goulburn contemplating an irreversible act.

Lindsay Cosgrove (Citizens Electoral Council)

WHEN I grew up we were still building this nation, and a young man like me had a future in agriculture. The U.S. put man on the moon and Australia played a role. This nation and this planet had a mission. But today young people see only the deliberate shutdown of our industry and agriculture— typified by the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. They are inundated with false fears about global warming and overpopulation.

They do not see a future, nor a pathway to solve these problems. In a two-party political system that is completely sewn up, how they can even play a role in changing this? The CEC’s vision is to return to the principle of national banking, the original intention of the Commonwealth Bank, which was a bank of the nation designed to fund grand infrastructure and development schemes.

Visionary projects like the Snowy Scheme are urgently required today and the opportunity for young people to participate in designing and building them will change their lives.

High-speed maglev rail, high-speed shipping lines, nuclear power, large-scale water projects, and pioneering space, are all in the CEC’s “Infrastructure Road to Recovery” program. Young people will be happy and thrive under these conditions.

James Harker-Mortlock (Independent)

ACCORDING to an Anglicare study, 50pc of local young people have experienced depression and 76pc admitted to being bullied at school or surrounding areas. We have a major problem on our hands. There is no single, magic solution unfortunately.

I believe that this pressing and tragic issue needs to be attacked from a number of different angles. First, I would seek funding for a youth support facility in Goulburn. This would be an immediate action but only acts as a dressing on a wound. I would suggest a facility along the lines of the Headspace model.

Second, I would seek funding for Mental Health First Aid in Goulburn to provide mental health training. Third, we need to consult with young people to ascertain what they need and want. There is no point creating grand schemes which nobody wants. There could perhaps be mental health seminars in high schools. There could be in-school support and training for teachers.

There could be a youth worker at Goulburn Base Hospital. We need to work out if young people themselves think that these measures would work. Fourth, I would work on creating reasons for young people to feel needed and respected in the community. I would work for the establishment of a tertiary education facility in Goulburn and also for the creation of a rail/freight hub.

Both of these initiatives would create educational and work opportunities for young people which would hopefully build their self-confidence and sense of belonging to, and being valued by, the community.

Zaza Chevalier (Greens)

YOUTH suicide is a leading cause of death for young Australians and is a particular problem in rural areas, leading to much distress in our local communities. The Greens seek a reduction in the rates of suicide and mental illness among children and young people through adequate funding for mental health services.

Adequately funded children’s and young people’s services, particularly for addressing mental illness, will help address the epidemic in youth suicide that saw the lives of 281 15-24 year olds claimed in 2008. We need to remove barriers to the wellbeing of youth and target risk factors, while increasing protective measures. Early intervention, making it easier to ask for help, as well as including suicide prevention programs in school curriculums would be of great benefit.

The challenges faced by rural communities put more pressure on our youth, and the perceived stigma of seeking support are major problems that need to be accepted and addressed.

■ Palmer United Party’s Jason Cornelius did not respond.