Great Southern goes it alone on drug addiction fight as major political parties fail to commit to rehab plan

None of WA’s major parties has committed to following through on a State Government-imposed requirement to deliver a residential rehabilitation facility in the Great Southern by 2025. The Barnett government’s WA Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drug Service Plan 2015-2025 — released in 2014 — identified that 16 residential drug rehabilitation beds would be needed in the region by 2025. The plan’s requirement has repeatedly been referenced by the State Government when questioned by the Advertiser about community calls for a drug rehabilitation facility. Mental Health Minister Roger Cook said in February he expected the Mental Health Commission would plan the beds “in due course”. “In order to meet demand, it is envisaged that 16 residential rehabilitation beds are required in the Great Southern region by the end of 2025,” Mr Cook said. Mr Cook’s comments came after the Southern Aboriginal Corporation shared its frustration about plans for its own 22-bed facility — which would eventually expand to a 44-bed detox centre — coming to a halt because it could not secure funding. “The reason we initiated this in the first place, was because the Noongar people across and beyond the Great Southern region said drugs were taking over our communities and destroying our mob,” SAC representative and Noongar elder Oscar Colbung said at the time. “And it’s just getting worse and worse. A lot of our people go to the hospital for help but get turned away and have nowhere to go.” Whichever party — or parties — win Government at the 2021 State Election will govern WA into 2025. Yet neither Labor, the Liberals nor the Nationals WA this week would commit to making the 2015-25 plan’s requirement a reality if they formed Government in March. The Great Southern’s drug crisis was again highlighted last week when The Penington Institute’s Australian Annual Overdose Report revealed drug overdose deaths in the region nearly doubled over a five-year period between 2014 and 2018. The findings showed the Great Southern suffered the most drastic increase in drug overdose deaths in WA outside of Mandurah. WA’s Opposition used the findings to attack Labor’s commitment to drug rehabilitation services in the region. This week, shadow mental health minister Zak Kirkup claimed the State Government had gone “missing in action with appropriate resourcing”, but he fell short of committing his party to a facility. “The Liberal Party in government will absolutely make the health and mental health of all Albany and Great Southern residents our foremost priority, just like we have done every time we are in government, which most recently culminated in the redevelopment of the world-class Albany Health Campus,” he said. “We will be making our policy announcements closer to the election.” Leader of the Nationals WA Mia Davies said The Penington Institute’s report showed Labor had “dropped the ball”. “We question the Labor Government’s priorities when they can find $50 million for a new bike path and bridge in Perth but let a community crying out for help to address the scourge of drug addiction go without vital residential rehabilitation,” she said. But Ms Davies also did not commit to delivering the 16 beds/ Mr Cook yesterday pointed to $1.6 million in funding for the Albany-based Great Southern Community Alcohol and Drug Service which has offices in Denmark, Mt Barker and Katanning. He mentioned no plans for a residential drug rehab facility. “The McGowan Government understands the devastating effects alcohol and drugs has on individuals, families and communities, and is committed to providing services for people in the Great Southern region so they can remain close to their communities and personal support networks,” he said. “Currently, we invest more than $20 million into mental health, alcohol and other drug services for people in the Great Southern. “Earlier this year I released my, WA State Priorities Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs 2020-2024, which highlights our commitment to invest in community-supported mental health accommodation and beds, as well as alcohol and drug transition housing.” Mr Cook’s 2020-2024 priorities plan makes no mention of residential drug rehabilitation. Ice Breakers and Access 2 Recovery Founder Margaret Gordon said a facility in Albany was “desperately needed”. The psychologist and former prison counsellor helps people from across the region through her Albany-based Access 2 Recovery drug rehabilitation program. Ms Gordon said Albany’s closest residential rehabilitation facilities — in Nannup and Brunswick in the South West — were “bursting at the brim”. “The more (drug rehabilitation) services the better, and we could do definitely do with, in our own district, a residential rehab facility,” she said. “We haven’t got one, we have nowhere for people to go, and some people need to be taken out of their environment and put into a safe place where they can address their addiction.” Drug and alcohol service Palmerston has been calling for a residential rehab facility in the Great Southern for years. “When we are talking about trying to minimise the travel and the separation of people when they are seeking treatment, it doesn’t make sense to then have a facility set up in Bunbury — it’s still too far,” Palmerston Great Southern manager Ben Headlam told the Advertiser in 2016.