Wednesday, 13 August 2025

Parentline

Nick McGOWAN (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:51): (1832) Very timely. Thank you for that. Well, it is another day in this place, and I am not going to let any day in this place go without mentioning something that is very important to my heart and very important to every minister and every member here who happens to be a parent. But even if you are not a parent, you need to care about Parentline regardless. I spoke yesterday about this, and it is no surprise that I am speaking about it yet again today. This is for Minister Blandthorn in her capacity both as Minister for Children and minister for child protection.

At a time in this state when we have a crisis in child care – and I do not need to go into that, because it is self-evident to everyone here what I am talking about – Parentline is the only service in this state that provides a critical service to parents when they need it most. For any children from zero to 18, it is there from 8 am to midnight every day of the week. What this government is proposing to do, sadly – and I hope the minister intervenes, and I call on the minister to reverse this decision – is close it on 31 October. It is a program that costs just $1.3 million – that is it. It is equivalent to the interest per hour we are paying on our debt. That is what it is equivalent to: 1 hour’s worth of interest, $1.3 million.

Bev McArthur interjected.

Nick McGOWAN: ‘What does it do?’ I hear you ask, Mrs McArthur. This is what it does. It provides one full-time team leader and 15 part-time dedicated, expert counsellors. They are people like psychologists, teachers and social workers, and it is their job to answer those calls. ‘How many calls do they get?’ I heard you say; they get 17,800 calls a year, and this government’s response to that is to shut it down. This is not the first time. Minister Carbines in the other place had a proposal in 2022 to shut it down, then the portfolios changed and Minister Brooks stepped in. Minister Brooks wisely and correctly did a review, and Minister Brooks saved it at that time, so credit to him – credit where it is due in the other place. But here we are again, three years down the line, and unfortunately we are in a crisis situation.

I had the great fortune today of meeting with Magda. Magda is an industrial officer of the CPSU. That is a union, for those opposite who are not familiar with unions these days. They have lost so much contact with the working people it does not matter. The CPSU are interested in workers rights. Magda was very clear to me, and she is an expert not only in child protection but also in parental help. All of those other services that this government are saying can step in, not only are they not being consulted but they do not provide these services. The maternal and child health line does not. That is for zero- to five-year-olds. Kids Helpline, which is based in Brisbane and does not receive a cent of funding from this government, does not help because it is all about kids. The Raising Children Network is online and does not speak to anyone who does not speak English, so that is not a great start.

It gets better. Headspace have a five-week waiting list, so that is no good to us. The Orange Door is 9 to 5, Monday to Friday; that is completely useless. It gets better. Safe Steps is even better because, guess what, they only deal with women, so any men who are parents are struck out, and any parents who are men and men are completely struck out. Sooner or later this government will realise they have to step in yet again and save Parentline.