Goodhew Jo: Mental Health Commission Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Goodhew Jo: Mental Health Commission Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:641;Page:11002] 
JO GOODHEW (National—Aoraki) 
: 
 I rise to join other National Party MPs in supporting the Mental Health Commission Amendment Bill. We have taken this opportunity as has been brought up by the member opposite to add our own particular views on the way mental illness is dealt with in this country. Although this bill gives the Mental Health Commission the opportunity to review the way it operates given that we had submissions both for and against the continuation of the bill now is a good time to reflect on just how well mental illness is addressed in this country. 
We know that the commission’s role is now slightly altered. When we outline that role we see that it is around advising and reporting to the Minister on the implementation of the national mental health strategy promoting and facilitating collaboration and dialogue about mental health issues and advocating for the interests of people with mental illness and for those of their families generally. That too is the role of a local constituency member within an electorate. I find that I speak with organisations that look to address not only the needs of those who are mentally ill and their families but also the needs of the organisations—the organisations and the families. I have had occasion to meet with groups in the last 20-odd months. I have also had occasion to talk to the families of those who believe they have not been well served by the health sector. 
We know that about $1 billion is spent on mental health in this county. I was at a meeting recently where a large group of people asked: “Why is the district health board not funding some counselling services? Why is the district health board not funding some of the low-level services that may well stop people deteriorating into a higher level of mental illness?”. The district health board said quite plainly: “Because we cannot. We are prohibited from using the blueprint funding for counselling services because that is simply not what that money is for.” But that does not get around the heartache of the people who see their family members or loved ones descending into a state of desperation or suffering from depression. 
 I mentioned the rates of depression in the second reading debate and I will mention again that up to one in four women and one in 10 men can expect to become clinically depressed at some point in their lives. I think that is an understanding that New Zealanders are coming to very gradually and in understanding that particular fact we also increase I believe our understanding of those people. Hopefully we will reduce the discrimination in the community against those with mental illnesses and those who suffer from depression. I am happy to say that there are fewer people out there now who say to someone suffering from depression: “Pull yourself together. Come on. Get a decent night’s sleep. Pull yourself together.” because it is not like that. 
There are a number of different forms of depression. I know that some district health boards are putting money into trying to monitor the occasions of post-natal depression in women who suffer from it. I know that that has been very much a hidden illness in society for many years. This is not just about third-day blues. It is not just about feeling a bit low because one is short of sleep. Post-natal depression is very very real for those who suffer from it. 
The World Health Organization has predicted that by 2020 depression will be the second-highest cause of ill health and disability in the world. That is a phenomenal statistic to hear. So what are we doing in this country? We are spending $1 billion or more on mental health but we are actually doing that for roughly the top 3 percent of New Zealanders who suffer from significant mental illnesses. There are a lot of people who still feel that their needs are not being met—like the lady who came to my office and said that her husband had committed suicide after being in a unit at the local district health board. He was sent home despite the fact that she pleaded with the staff and said he was not well enough to go home. Of course the ultimate tragedy was that he went home and committed suicide. 
All is not completely well within the mental health sector but we know that it is a lot better than it used to be. The Health Committee made some comments about wanting to ensure that addictions were covered within the Mental Health Commission. We recommended that an addiction advisory group be established to provide expert advice to the commission. Certainly as New Zealand’s number of addictions or the types of addictions and the number of people suffering from them continues to grow this is an area that we must give the due interest and the due concern that it deserves. 
In speaking in the second reading debate I noted my concern about the number of masters that the Mental Health Commission has. Those masters include the Ministry of Health the district health boards the mental health service funders the providers those with mental illnesses their families and caregivers and also groups representing the interests of people with mental illness their families and caregivers. There are not a lot of people who do not fit into one of those groups. They are quite a diverse bunch of masters so I am sure the Mental Health Commission’s job is not a simple one. But I also hope the Mental Health Commission reflects on the submissions that we received that said they would rather the commission did not continue and that we did not renew or amend the bill to have a continuation of the Mental Health Commission. I hope it reflects on that and looks at why it was not meeting the needs of those people. 
I will make just one other comment and that is to talk about a group in my electorate that is working very very hard and very very well to meet the needs of those who have a severe mental illness. This is a group called the Victoria House Trust. It is a caring landlord service for those with mental illness. This caring landlord service helps people who experience mental illness to go into rental accommodation. The trust pays the rent on behalf of the person and also the power and phone bills. Those are the sorts of things that can worry someone who has a mental illness—turning on the power then having to pay the power bill. The trust supports those people very very well within that particular arrangement—so well in fact that eventually some of these people are able to go into accommodation without having the caring landlord service. In speaking on this particular bill I just wanted to put forward my thoughts about that organisation. It does a fabulous job in South Canterbury in Aoraki and I think that other areas of the country would be well served if it were happening there too. 
In conclusion I just reiterate that this is a turning point for the Mental Health Commission. We have changed slightly the way it operates. We are now giving it an opportunity to continue to grow and to meet the needs more ably than it has done in the past with those many masters and now that opportunity has arrived as the commission looks forward to the future.