IT’S time to break the cycle of addiction in Mildura.
The abuse of drugs and alcohol is a perpetual issue in our community.
The Mallee has long maintained a veneer of unbreakability, the idea that we could farm a desert, survive war, drought and colonisation and be stoic and unfazed in the face of hardship.
Many of us come from families where it was the “done thing” to set painful feelings and experiences aside, and just “get on with it”.
But the numbers betray the illusion. In the Mallee we are tough and we are brave, but we are not unbreakable.
Social indicators show that our region’s historical stoicism has had a tragic and unintended legacy that has reverberated through the generations.
Our mental illness rate is high, as is the use of drugs and alcohol to medicate it.
Countless families have seen their loved ones turn to drugs and alcohol as a means of dealing with bottled-up pain, distress, trauma and loss.
A recent report on the drug and alcohol issue in the Mallee showed our suicide rates were 40 per cent above the state average.
Our rate of mental health presentations was 45 per cent above the state average.
And family violence rates were 157 per cent higher than the state average.
That’s why we need and deserve a local residential drug and alcohol facility, to give our kids and families a fighting chance at recovery without the additional stresses of being taken away from their home town.
We’ve been warned the overdose situation in Mildura is getting worse.
As I told the Premier this week, this is literally a matter of life and death, as locals are suffering and dying unnecessarily.
The Premier has promised to sit down with me and a range of stakeholders to discuss the proposal.
There’s a new drug and alcohol rehab facility in the Premier’s home town of Wangaratta – now it’s time for one in our home town.
