On Wednesday June 10 2020 Liberal Party Member for Chisholm Glady Liu MP spoke in Parliament about how mental health services and suicide prevention were a priority for the government.
She also took the unashamed liberty to promote five Christian services and churches in her electorate, whilst overlooking any non-Christian or secular services.
The coalition government is doing its bit in this space, but I cannot let go by an opportunity to speak about the excellent work of some organisations in my electorate of Chisholm who are doing the hard work to assist those in need. Organisations such as St Vincent de Paul, the Salvation Army, Crossway Baptist Church, NewHope Baptist Church and UnitingCare East Burwood Centre provide numerous services to people struggling through these times, and I’m proud to work with these great organisations to ensure that everyone in Chisholm is able to get the help they need.
PRIVATE MEMBERS’ BUSINESS: COVID-19: Mental Health
Without too much effort I located one non-faith based mental health referral service operating within her electorate in Box Hill: Eastern Melbourne PHN. There may well be more such services. I’m sure her staffers are sufficiently capable of researching this.
Whilst it’s disappointing that my elected representative is exclusively promoting Christianity, it doesn’t entirely surprise me given her conservative religious values.
The devastating part of what Gladys Liu has done here is promote a range of services, some of which are complicit in extreme negative mental health outcomes for segments of the community, most specifically LGBTIQ+ people.
I have taken the opportunity to send a message to Gladys Liu advising her of Eastern Melbourne PHN and asking that she prepare a comprehensive list of mental health services in Chisholm that extend beyond Christian churches or church-based services.
Hopefully next time Gladys Liu is reporting on services in Chisholm, she remembers her responsibilities to her electorate do not include advantaging religion. With any luck her speech might even not backfire on her.
If you know of a non-Christian and/or non-faith based mental health service in Chisholm, let me know.
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