Tuesday, 20 September 2022

 Mr EDBROOKE (Frankston) (19:21): (6545) My last adjournment of this government term is to the Minister for Health, and the action I seek is for the minister to strongly, strongly consider a commitment to The Crossing worker-led residential rehabilitation project as soon as possible. When we are presented with great ideas, it is our responsibility to grab those ideas, grab those opportunities and make them a reality, and we have such a profound opportunity in front of us right now with the successful worker-led residential rehab model that I have witnessed working firsthand. The Crossing is a model that gives people suffering addiction and crisis the avenue back to a healthy life, respect from their families and also back to work. Right now we literally fly workers to Sydney for treatment at the original worker-led residential rehab facility, Foundation House. That is the preferred treatment option for many people. Foundation House has been in operation for over 20 years, and the clients of Foundation House, or ‘Foundo’ as it is called up there, are not just statistics, they are overwhelmingly success stories.

From healthcare providers to construction industry groups, many sectors are broadly supportive of the concept, including: the Master Builders Association; Yooralla, which has a workforce of around 1800; Incolink, with 84 000 members who work in a number of specialisations; 3PE; Possability, with their 1600 staff; and Amcor, which has 46 000 employees across 40 sites across the globe. The cost-benefit ratio is unquestionably good but hard to quantify, as it always is when you are dealing with a crisis at the top of the cliff and not using 10 times the resources and funding to treat people in catastrophic circumstances at the bottom of the cliff afterwards.

I know the minister is seriously considering this project because it is the type of project that only Labor governments do. It is innovative and it is courageous, and we can reshape the future of our community, our workers and their families. We certainly should invest in the lives of workers by funding this proposal, The Crossing.