MADONNA JARRETT: Good morning everybody, I'm Madonna Jarrett and I'm the local member for this area. First of all, I'd like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land in which we meet today, the Yuggera and Turrbal people, and pay my respects to the elders past and present.
Look, I am so excited to be here today with Assistant Minister McBride and our Health Minister here in Queensland, Tim Nicholls. It's a really exciting announcement. I obviously have to leave it to them, but it wasn't that long ago that I was out on the campaign trail, and people raised with me quite a lot, and especially young people, how difficult it was for them to get the mental support and care that they needed. And some of that was because of access, some of it was because the facilities weren't quite the right facilities for them, they didn't feel safe, they didn't feel like it was a place that they wanted to be. So I don't want to say too much more. I will hand over to Assistant Minister Emma McBride to say a little bit more about why we're here. But it really is exciting. What we have here is something that's going to be free for everybody and accessible. Thank you.
ASSISTANT MINISTER EMMA MCBRIDE: Thank you very much, Madonna. And it's such a pleasure to be back here in the inner north of Brisbane and to be standing alongside Queensland Minister Nicholls. In Australia, we have a bipartisan approach to mental health and suicide prevention, and as part of the national agreement, we are able to deliver services like this right here today. This is part of three that will be open today in Brisbane, right here in Lutwyche, in Strathpine and in Caboolture, and part of a $12 million investment between the Commonwealth and the Queensland Government. We know that for too long it was hard for people to be able to access services, and what we are doing through this national program of 91 Medicare mental health centres, 23 right here in Queensland and 3 opening today, is putting mental into the heart of Medicare and services into the heart of communities.
I'm a former mental health worker myself and I saw people in distress end up in crisis in the acute units that I used to work in because they couldn't access support sooner, closer to home and affordably. And what these centres are doing right here in Queensland and right around the country is breaking down those barriers to access. You can walk in, you don't need an appointment. You don't need a referral from a GP. You don't need a mental health treatment plan. And it's all free for everyone. And what we've seen already from the centres open in Logan and in Ipswich and in Kingaroy is exactly that. People in communities and families being able to access support close to home, affordably and when they need it. And this is wraparound support. Clinicians, I've spoken today to mental health social workers, to the psychologists and also to the peer workers, and bringing their own lived experience to walk alongside people. And sometimes the best support that you can have is from someone who's walked in your shoes. And I think what is making these Medicare mental health centres really impactful is that combination of lived experience and clinical support all under the one roof, close to home and free.
And I'd also like to let people know that in the coming months, these centres across Australia will be linked up to a virtual network of psychologists and psychiatrists. So for any centre that you walk into across the country, whether it's in Strathpine, or in the Goldie or in Tuggerah in my community, you'll be able to see face to face or via telehealth a psychologist or a psychiatrist and for free. I'm so proud to be here today as part of this $12 million commitment commissioned through the Primary Health Network and operated by Communify, and to know the real difference this will make to people and families in this community. I'll now hand over to Minister Nicholls. Thank you, Minister.
TIM NICHOLLS: Well thank you, Emma. For too long, mental health has been cast into the shadows. It hasn't been dealt with properly and as a community and as a country, we have not dealt with it. But thankfully, that is now changing with investments such as those that the Assistant Minister has announced and the rollout of the clinics that they've announced, together with the investments by state governments. And the Minister is right, this is something above politics. This is about delivering better health outcomes.
And so as part of the Crisafulli LNP government's $33.1 million record health budget, this year we'll be putting $15.8 million into partnerships with the Commonwealth to co-fund 12 of these centres across Queensland. This follows on our investments in things like the Step Up and Step Down facilities that we'll be building in Rockhampton and in other locations throughout Queensland. Because together, as governments and as communities, we need to address this issue. We need to do it in a sensitive way. We need to do it, as the Assistant Minister has said, through the eyes of those with lived experience, and we need to do it in partnership.
And I do want to thank our community partners who are coming along for the ride and providing the services here as well. So to the PHN and to Communify, thank you very much for your engagement in this are new facilities. These are new facilities. They are only as good as the people who work in them and the services that they provide. And we need to make sure that we are providing those services. So this is a very worthwhile investment in an area that for too long has been, as I said, left in the shadows, and it needs to be dealt with and it needs to be dealt with in our communities. It needs to be easily accessible, it needs to be non-stigmatising, it needs to be friendly and it needs to be available. These facilities will go a long way to dealing with that and that's why the government at a state level is very, very keen to partner with the Commonwealth in the delivery of these services.
And if I can just say to Madonna, you're not the only local member here. I am…
[Laughter]
JARRETT: [Talks over] Absolutely.
NICHOLLS: And as you might know by the grey hair, I've been here a little longer than you have. So I also, Assistant Minister, I also want to say it's a welcome addition to the community of the inner north side. And I can say that with my local members’ hat on as the Member for Clayfield. Thank you very much.
JOURNALIST: I’ve just got some questions for the health minister. Sorry…
NICHOLLS: Oh, have you? Oh, okay. I would never have guessed. No.
JOURNALIST: Just on a separate story, [indistinct]…
NICHOLLS: [Talks over] Yes.
JOURNALIST: Can you confirm the decision to appoint a chief health officer was made solely by the Director-General?
NICHOLLS: Well the process for the appointment of a chief health officer is set out in legislation. We expect that legislation to be followed.
JOURNALIST: Okay, and did you direct the Director-General on the appointment of a chief health officer?
NICHOLLS: Well no, the process, as I say, is the process set out in the legislation and I expect that process to be followed and the government expects that process to be followed.
JOURNALIST: Queensland Health put out a social media post referring to perimenopause as cougar puberty. Was that in poor taste?
NICHOLLS: I think that others will have their judgements on that post. I am aware that a number of people thought it was in poor taste and I've seen the comments in relation to that. That post has now been removed and I think that's the appropriate response that’s been made by the social media unit at Queensland Health.
JOURNALIST: Do you think that was in poor taste?
NICHOLLS: I think everyone will have their view on it and social media is an area that has a lot of views on it as you might gather. I think on balance though, it's an appropriate decision that Queensland Health have made to remove that post, absolutely.
JOURNALIST: And just on the latest flu update, it shows 87 per cent of the nearly 60,000 cases of flu in Queensland this year have been unvaccinated. What's your reaction to that?
NICHOLLS: My reaction is the same as it has always been and that is if it's medically appropriate you should get the flu vaccine. It's no good in the vial, it's only any good in your arm. It's proven, it's safe, it works, it lessens the impact of the flu on you and it aids your recovery. It's not a preventative but it certainly makes it a lot better, and it means we have fewer people presenting in our hospitals and our EDs which means that we are putting less strain on the system.
I noticed the latest stats in fact that we have now had more people vaccinated for the flu this year than last year and we also this year have seen a lower peak to this date of flu cases. So we are down on last year and we have more people vaccinated this year and that follows a greater investment in advertising and a longer period in pushing the flu vaccine here in Queensland. So I’m thankful for those who haven't- sorry, I'm thankful for those who have, and for those who haven't, it's still not too late to get the free flu vaccine. We fund it for over fives and up to 65s, and it's available in 2500 locations across the state, community pharmacies, doctors, local GP and health clinics. So there's no reason, if medically it's appropriate for you to get the flu, that you can't.
JOURNALIST: Just for the Assistant Minister. In Queensland, we’ve just- Queensland Health have just referred an investigation at Queensland Children's Hospital of the alleged mistreatment of patients at the mental health ward. It's just been referred to the Crime and Corruption Commissioner. How tragic is this, these claims, and what's your reaction to it?
MBCRIDE: I understand that from what you've said and the reports that an investigation is underway, so I won't make any comments on that whilst that investigation is underway. But I would expect that across the country that all patients or participants would be treated respectfully and medically appropriately. But given the investigation that's underway and the referral that’s occurred, I won't be making any further comments.
JOURNALIST: Do you welcome that investigation?
MCBRIDE: I think in all jurisdictions there are investigation processes, whether they can be initiated by an individual or by another referrer, and I think that it’s appropriate that we do have those pathways so that things can be thoroughly investigated, that it is a robust process, and that people in the community have trust and confidence in it, which is why I won't be commenting at this point in time because the investigation needs to go through that appropriate process in order to be able to be a robust and thorough process, and we will of course look to any recommendations that come from that.