CHRIS BOWEN, FEDERAL MEMBER FOR MCMAHON: Can I welcome you all to the heart of my electorate in Blacktown, particularly welcome the Premier of New South Wales, my friend, Chris Minns, and my state colleague, Stephen Bali, the Assistant Federal Minister for Health, Emma McBride, who's just doing a fantastic job in the Federal Government, and my friend Rose Jackson, the Minister for Mental Health in New South Wales.
One of the great changes in my lifetime is seeing mental health becoming something that was hidden and not talked about, to becoming the centre of government action. It is no longer hidden away. It is now very much at the front and centre of government agendas and also community agendas. And I'm delighted that this mental health centre funded together with the State Government, $1.3 million of Federal Government money, has been opening here in Blacktown, supplying support now 600 appointments to locals here who just need bit of assistance. Walk in, no appointment necessary, no charge, and it's just a wonderful thing. So, great to formally open it today. It's not Emma or my first visit here, or Steve’s. We've been regulars, but today, we're formally opening it and making sure the community is aware the service is here.
So I'm going to hand over to Emma, who as I said is such a valuable member of our team, doing such wonderful work with Mark Butler in lifting the profile of mental health and Federal Government activity, and then our state colleagues will say a few words. Thank you.
ASSISTANT MINISTER EMMA MCBRIDE: Thank you, Minister Bowen, and I want to start by acknowledging the Premier, Chris Minns, for your leadership and the strong collaboration that we have had with your government in putting mental health into the heart of Medicare and services into the centre of communities. Minister Jackson has joined me now for a number of openings of Medicare Mental Health Centres as part of a network that we're expanding and strengthening to 92 across the country, 33 in New South Wales, to make sure that wherever you live, you've got access to free walk-in mental health supporting care close to home.
As someone who worked in acute mental health and patient services for much of my working life, people in distress in the community would often escalate to crisis and end up in our state emergency departments of our public hospitals, and I know how dedicated the staff are working there. And if we can help to ease the pressure on our emergency departments and provide safe and welcoming care in the community, it's making such a big difference already.
To Minister Bowen, the local member, for his advocacy and the work that he did when he was responsible for this portfolio for our government, and to local members like Steve. I know the difference it makes when you can with confidence, say, to a local person or to a community now there is support available, that it's free, that you can walk in. You don't need a diagnosis from a GP. You don't need a referral. Here, you can just walk in. There are no wait lists or wait times. And I want to thank the clinicians working within these services here across New South Wales and across the country who are providing compassionate care, wraparound support, and making a real difference um to people and communities.
I'll hand now over to Minister Jackson for some comments from New South Wales.
ROSE JACKSON, NSW MINISTER FOR MENTAL HEALTH: The New South Wales Government is so committed to making sure mental healthcare is available. I'd hold up my Medicare card if I had one. Of course, I'm on the app. So, that's the vision though. The vision is a Medicare service that supports mental health patients as well. And that means free care. That means accessible care. That means care that you don't need to navigate complex pathways. For mental health, that hasn't been the case for a long time. There's been long wait lists. It's been expensive. And it's been really hard to figure out where to go to have someone to talk to.
Between the New South Wales Government and the Australian Government, we have a vision of 33 of these centres right across the state. We've already got 18 open, and they are already caring for tens of thousands of people. Places like Lismore, Wagga Wagga, Fairfield, Liverpool, Penrith are already seeing over 10,000 people walking through that door, without needing to pay, without needing a referral, without needing a diagnosis, without needing an appointment, just wanting someone to talk to. And if they're not coming here, they're in our emergency departments, they're waiting to see a GP or a specialist, or they're struggling alone and at home. Making sure we're cutting through all of that and providing care that is quality and affordable when people need it is what we're all about. We want to make sure that mental health is addressed early, that we prevent things escalating. So, we are thrilled to partner with the Australian Government to make sure that these Medicare Mental Health Centres are open, are affordable, and are accessible. And of course, Western Sydney is the heart of Sydney. It's a growing community. Blacktown absolutely deserves one right on Main Street, and it's fantastic to be able to officially open it today.
CHRIS MINNS, NSW PREMIER: Yeah. Thanks, Rose. It's great to be here with you and Chris and Emma and Steve. An important announcement for Western Sydney, the establishment of this practice in Blacktown is exactly where we need it. And what it will do is it means that without payment or a referral, someone can come in off the street and get the help that they need from a qualified, caring expert. And when we came into the centre this morning, to be met with so many smiling faces, dedicated professionals who care about what they're doing, I think the message we need to send to families in Western Sydney is that you'll get help right here in this location. And that's exactly what many families need. I think Rose hit the nail on the head: if the help doesn't or isn't provided in the community, eventually, for some people, it can spill into emergency departments or even worse. And this early intervention model that doesn't cost anyone to get basic healthcare will make a massive difference, we think, in the community.
Fantastic to work with the Federal Government. I think Chris is right. Emma and Mark Butler have shown a genuine and real commitment to mental healthcare as a basic health need. We need to expand access to that for people in the community. It affects every family, every family, and we need to make sure that it is as available and as important in the health system as access to a GP. So, hats off to everybody here. You've established a fantastic service, and I think we're all happy to take questions.
Before I get to that, I do need to mention and reiterate something that Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna has spoken about this morning, and that is the challenges that Sydney will face on Monday as a result of President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Sydney. This is an important visit for our country. It's hugely important for the Jewish community of New South Wales as they recover and mourn that horrible terrorism event on 14 December. There's a massive police and logistical operation, a massive security operation, that will take place in Sydney on Monday afternoon. And I want to make it clear, the reason for that operation is to keep the people of New South Wales safe, whoever you are and whatever you're doing in the city. You can’t have a situation where mourners and protesters are meeting in the city's streets without police being present. And I think common sense and appropriate restrictions need to be put in place in order to keep order and keep the public safe.
And police have facilitated hundreds of protests particularly for this group, thousands if you include other organisations over the last few years. They've been allowed. They've been marshalled. They've been, largely, safe, although there's been some notable and disturbing incidents within them. But largely, they've gone out- gone off without issue. We need to make sure that Monday night does not devolve into some kind of conflict on Sydney streets. That would send a horrifying message to the rest of the world and the rest of the country.
I'm confident that if common sense prevails and people approach Monday with a bit of respect that other people that live in our city, then we can get through it. But I'm- we're not mucking around when we say, there'll be a genuine and huge overwhelming police presence in the city on Monday night. And if you don't follow police directions, then you can expect to be, at the least, moved on and, at the worst, arrested for resisting what police will be doing to keep the public safe.
With that, I think we're all happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Is the organiser telling people to work from home.
MINNS: I think, particularly in the pm hours close to 5:00 to 7:00, if you don't need to be in the city, in recognition of the fact that there'll be thousands of people in there either to mourn or some will be protesting, but there'll also be an overwhelming number of police, then you should try and get out of the city earlier if possible. I know that's the message being given to New South Wales Public Service. That's not always possible, but if it's possible a little bit earlier on a Monday then that would be good advice.
JOURNALIST: Have the organisers been open to changing the route for the protest, or is that still within the battle zone?
MINNS: Yeah. I mean, the answer to that is so far, as far as I've been told, no. But I think it's also incredibly important to, I guess, reveal to the public that New South Wales police have been working with the organisers to establish a protest route away from the centre of the city. Almost the exact route that they took last Sunday when the PAG protest took place from the middle of Hyde Park south along St Mary's into the southern part of the city.
Now, that route has been opened. Police have said to the protest organisers, it'll be open to you if you want to do it at that location. And so far, as per the latest information I've got, it's been resisted by the by the organisers.
Now, I think that's a mistake, but that's their decision. But it doesn't mean that there's going to be a conflict in Sydney streets, and it doesn't mean that anyone believes that they can cross police lines and expect there to be no consequences. There will be.
JOURNALIST: We understand on a different matter that the state government has been in ongoing discussions with the Newcastle Writers Festival in the lead-up to their program being announced. And John Graham, when asked yesterday, seemed to be aware that Randa Abdel-Fattah would be part of that. Has her inclusion come up in any discussions between the state government and the border staff?
MINNS: I think it probably has, but I don't know the latest information in relation to communications. Look, what I'd say about the inclusion of that author is, I don't know why these organisations do it. It's a real head scratcher for me. I think they're crazy to invite that author when you think about how divisive it is and how difficult it would be for the organisation as a result of the notoriety. I want to make that clear. It's not as if this author's Harper Lee or Salman Rushdie. I find it difficult to understand, but I don't want to get into an endless doom loop about cancellations or a long a long conversation about it. I think it just drags more notoriety to the author and some of her views and postings.
And frankly, we've got more important things to do in New South Wales, in particular keeping the people of New South Wales safe this coming Monday and Tuesday during the President of Israel's visit.
JOURNALIST: Premier, this is something, though. This author has previously, right after October 7, shared an image of a paraglider - that sort of thing, used some very inflammatory language. Just to be certain, you're ruling out the state government stepping in on this one and potentially talking to those organisers about her presence on the program?
MINNS: My understanding is the organisers will not withdraw the invitation. And you know, from the perspective of the New South Wales Government, I want to make it clear, I think they're crazy to invite the author. But in some sense you end up dragging even more notoriety and more publicity well over and beyond the literary achievements of the particular author. And I think that we've got to have some semblance of normality here and say, we've got big issues to deal with in New South Wales, particularly the safety and security of millions of people. If you're asking my personal view, I'll give it to you. But yeah, I don't want to get in an endless debate about cancellations.
JOURNALIST: There won't be any further moves that the state government can make in regards to that?
MINNS: No. No, we're not going to shut down Newcastle.
JOURNALIST: We saw, after the South Australian Writers Festival, that the South Australian Premier pressured the Board and it resulted in, you know, a number of events which resulted in the event being cancelled. I mean, are you conscious that you’re, sort of, public pressure [indistinct]…
MINNS: No, that’s my point. I don't think I am putting public pressure. You're asking me my opinion. I think it's really reason- really straightforward. But I also think that, as a result of the interest, you end up having the author being more notorious and gathering even more publicity well over and beyond the literary achievements of the author.
JOURNALIST: Are you able to review a government grant for $250,000 that goes to the festival?
MINNS: I think in some respects, doing that would just feed the interest of the author and I think that'd be a mistake.
JOURNALIST: So, not something you’d consider?
MINNS: No, I'm not flagging that. I mean, the only caveat I'd say is that we've got really strict and important hate speech laws in place in New South Wales for a reason. And we would expect any organisation or any public conference or convention to abide by New South Wales law. That's whether it receives a state government grant or not. Whether it's involved in community- a large scale community organisation or not, the rules will apply to everybody. It's important that they're applied.
But I’d just make the point, I think reasonable people in New South Wales do accept that we've got a massive responsibility here in the state to keep the public safe at the moment, and that must be our priority - not the ins and outs of this particular issue.
JOURNALIST: Premier, just in terms of your responses to this and the government response to this, have you learned from the situation that occurred with this author in South Australia? Have you used that- is that shaping your response to this?
MINNS: I mean, it's- I've learned about it primarily because I hadn't heard of her before the Adelaide Writers Festival, which gives you gives you an indication as to how prominent the author is. Not that I'm a big bookworm, but I think there's got to- I think that in some respects, as I said earlier, by dominating a media conference like this or being in the newspaper day after day, it drags even more publicity and attention well over and beyond the literary achievements.
JOURNALIST: So, that's the key lesson you've learned from what happened?
MINNS: [Laughs] I mean, I don't know. I could promise you it's important that the New South Wales Government focus on very real and very serious security challenges in the days ahead, and I think that you would expect me- for that to be our focus at the moment. I can assure you it is.
JOURNALIST: On mental health and in the relation to the Bondi inquest recommendations yesterday, do you have a specific timeline to respond to all of those recommendations?
MINNS: I might pass over to Rose, if that's okay?
JACKSON: Yeah, sure. So obviously there are 23 recommendations that came out of the Coronial Inquest. Twelve of those specifically relate to the New South Wales Government. We've said that we want to be responding within the next six months. Some of those are things we're able to act on immediately, and some of those are things that we have already put work into. Say, for example, inter-jurisdictional data sharing. One of the things that the coroner talked about was the challenges between Queensland and New South Wales when individuals are moving across state boundaries. New South Wales has already been leading at the ministerial council meeting to address that issue. Another one is mental health and housing, talking about how hard it is for people to manage their mental health if they have unstable housing. Well, we've already put over $100 million into specifically providing mental health and housing support. Not to say that there's not more to do. We recognise that there are still ongoing challenges. But within the next six months, we hope to have comprehensive responses to all of the 12 recommendations that specifically relate to the New South Wales Government.
JOURNALIST: Do you anticipate that your government will need to provide more than the $111 million announced in 2024 to address these issues?
JACKSON: I mean, look, we're going to work through those coronial recommendations. They're not issues that are new to us. We've already done some work on them. We obviously have an upcoming budget in New South Wales that might provide an opportunity for us to look at that. But just to be clear, on top of that over $100 million, that specifically provides integrated mental health and housing support. We're spending over $5 billion building social housing in New South Wales, and that is a foundational investment in this issue. Social housing is the safety net for people who would otherwise struggle in the private rental market – $3 billion sold off by the previous government. The system decimated many people who were struggling, unable to get that roof over their head. We are on time and on budget in that roll out, and that housing is specifically a solution for people who might be struggling and we are building thousands of homes.
MINNS: Can I just add to that, do you mind, Rose? Whilst we're speaking about the coronial report that was handed down yesterday, I did want to take the opportunity to thank the families for participating in that coronial inquiry. I spoke to many of them over the last year. It was incredibly difficult to reopen those wounds, to examine the circumstances of their loved one’s death, but they recognized that it was incredibly important to get to the bottom of what happened and have as comprehensive inquiry and recommendations as possible. But that doesn't mean it was easy. It was incredibly hard, and I think the courage and the determination that they had to get through it, we owe them a big debt of gratitude, and I want to thank them and tell them that we're thinking about them today.
JOURNALIST: Premier, on a lighter note, government spies have found that a third of Aussie pubs are falling short on their pours. Have you ever felt short changed when you pour a schooner at a pub?
MINNS: Well, I haven't drunk in four years …
[Laughter]
… so it's not something that directly affects me. But as someone that used to be a beer drinker, I am outraged. I'm appalled by it, and I expect every decent publican to take a stand against this short shift of beer drinkers in Sydney. And I just want to claim, I don't make this designation very often, but I think it's appropriate in these circumstances: it's un-Australian.
JOURNALIST: Premier, one from Elizabeth Daniels, the future of Cammeray Golf Course has been secured. Does this mean the war on golf is over?
MINNS: well, look, I don't know if there's ever been a war on golf, but we're trying to manage, I guess, golf courses and housing and open spaces for a big growing, bustling metropolis like Sydney. I think we try and get that balance right. There's a lot of golf courses in Sydney, but we still have to make sure that there's open space for people to play football and soccer and throw a Frisbee and have a picnic. My ministers are trying to get that balance right, and I think this is another step in that balance today.
JOURNALIST: Do you have an update on this police situation? I mean, North Coast?
MINNS: I don't. I mean, it's unfolding as we speak. My staff have briefed on it in the last hour. I mean, other than to say there looks to have been a shocking crime against a young woman- just start that again. There looks to have been a shocking crime against a young woman in her home, in a place that she should have felt safe in, and that's incredibly distressing. But I'm going to let police do their job and report to me and the public when there's further information available.
JOURNALIST: Do you have any advice to those Labor MP’s planning to attend Monday's protest? And do you know how many of your team are?
MINNS: I don't. But I just want to make the point that the law applies equally to everybody. Everybody is expected to follow police directions, and the police will not apply any favour or disfavour to anyone in the crowd. I mean, they need to enforce the law. They need to keep the public safe. And that applies to somebody who's a member of parliament or someone who's just rolled up to the protest on Monday afternoon.
JOURNALIST: Premier, just back on the Bondi Junction recommendations, one of them was to promote the concept of escape, hide, and tell in emergency situations, particularly after the Bondi Beach incident. Do you- what's your view on that? And do you think Australia should follow a similar path to the UK enlisting celebrities to advertise those principles?
MINNS: Look, you're just going to have to give us a bit more time to examine the recommendations and come back. I don't want to talk about it off the top of my head. It's a comprehensive report. The minister is all over it. We know we need to do more and announce more, but I want to take my time with the findings and the recommendations. Okay, thanks everybody.