- By Christopher Luxon, Leader of the Opposition and MP for Botany
Support for mental health is a significant issue that only continues to grow.
There is no doubt that the past few years of dealing with Covid-19 have strained the system – especially for Aucklanders who endured a snap lockdown which lasted over 100 days.
All this and more have played a huge part in the increased stress and anxiety that many of us feel as we adjust to a new normal. That’s why it is important to have a government that ensures there are services in place to accommodate Kiwis whose mental health has suffered as a result.
This Labour Government claims to have invested $1.9 billion towards mental health services but they have failed to deliver any real benefits to Kiwis or make any improvements to our dismal mental health statistics.
A damning report released last month by the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission found that despite the $1.9 billion announced by Labour, improvements have not materialised and our specialist services for mental health are facing increased demand since the beginning of the pandemic.
The report also reinforced what many mental health groups and services have been telling National’s Mental Health and Suicide Prevention spokesperson, Matt Doocey, for some time: they’re not seeing any of the $1.9 billion promised for mental health and can’t point to where the money has gone.
Matt Doocey called on the Commission to explain the findings from the report to the Parliamentary Health Select Committee. Unfortunately, politics came into play and the Labour members of the committee used their majority to block the request.
When it comes to issues as serious as this, we need to put politics aside and address the growing mental health challenges Kiwis are facing every day.
Unfortunately, this is emblematic of a Government that is all spin and no delivery. Labour’s only measure of success is how much it spends on things. But it needs to be about the outcomes that we achieve for New Zealanders – especially for our younger people seeking support.
Secondary and tertiary school students have really felt the impact of the pandemic; final exams and assessments are stressful for many students but the added pressure of doing all their studies from home would have required extra services for our students to cope.
In July 2020, the Government announced a $25 million fund for free mental health services for tertiary students for four years. In 18 months since that announcement, the Government has delivered just 304 counselling sessions at a cost of $4 million. This is a gut-wrenching waste of money as the same amount could have accounted for 30,000 counselling sessions.
Labour has allocated almost $2 billion towards mental health services, but without a proper plan in place the money has been wasted. Having good intentions isn’t going to solve the growing mental health problems that New Zealand is facing, but strong leadership and a well-managed plan to execute change will.
