Jenny Morrison opens up about her own battles and rallies support for mental health

Australia’s “first lady” Jen Morrison has revealed she suffered from mild depression when her daughters were young, and tells why she wants mental health brought out into the open. PLUS which group of voters is warming up to her husband?

• Crucial role of Jenny Morrison and Chloe Shorten
• Opinion: Look to PM’s marriage to realise his strengths

It was meant to be a check-up with a doctor to have a freckle on her leg examined.

Instead Australia’s “first lady” Jen Morrison discovered she was suffering from a very different health condition — mild depression.

“I found myself at the doctor’s going, ‘I’m trying to do everything and I just can’t seem to do it all’,” the wife of PM Scott Morrison said.

Scott and Jen Morrison take a break at The Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm at Elizabeth Town in Tasmania this week. Picture: Adam Taylor

In an exclusive interview, Mrs Morrison has revealed she was treated for the mental health illness when her two daughters — Abigail, 11, and Lily, 9 — were very young.

With her husband’s burgeoning political career often taking him away from home, Mrs Morrison found herself “alone” caring for two small children.

“Scott went into politics as soon as my baby was born, so I’ve had 12 years nearly of him not being around and doing that alone and that was really hard and, yes, I suffered and didn’t know why,” the 51-year-old said.

Mrs Morrison had a “few appointments” with a psychologist and now, about eight years later, she is a passionate supporter of mental health programs.

Jen Morrison hands over a cake for morning tea at headspace. Picture: Jamie Hanson

“I didn’t have to take medication or anything like that — it really helped to talk to someone,” she said.

During her time on the election campaign trail last week, Mrs Morrison visited a headspace youth mental health centre in Brisbane ahead of the leaders’ debate on Friday night.

Arriving armed with a passionfruit cake she had bought for afternoon tea, the down-to-earth Sydney mum told the staff she wanted mental health “to be something that people aren’t afraid to talk about”.

And with two daughters approaching their teen years, it’s a topic very much on Mrs Morrison’s mind. She also worries about the impact the election campaign might be having on them.

Mrs Morrison is a big supporter of mental health programs.

The PM’s wife tries to stay positive. Pictures: Jamie Hanson

“I think it’s very hard for a child to see their parent on commercials or anything like that when they’re not being treated so nicely,” she said.

“The children have to see angry pictures of their dad and they are very well aware — they can read and hear and understand everything — so I have a bit of chat with them and say, ‘you know that’s not Dad, you know what Dad’s like’.”

She described the backlash to images of her and Mr Morrison attending Easter Sunday service at their Pentecostal church in Sydney’s south as “hurtful”.

“People are always going to have those reactions to Christianity and I do not know why,” she said. “To paint us all as whatever they want to paint us as is hurtful, number one, and disrespectful.”

The Morrisons: Jen, Abbey and Lily with Scott. Picture: Instagram

However, Mrs Morrison is learning not to take everything that comes with a life in the spotlight to heart.

“I have to put things aside, otherwise I wouldn’t sleep at night,” she said.

“I wouldn’t be able do my general duties and I’d be a ­little mess on the floor. But you have to put your tough shoes on and tough it out.”

More than eight months after Mr Morrison became Australia’s 30th prime minister, his devoted wife has been travelling “back and forth” between home life in Sydney and life on the road.

As she flew with her husband from Tasmania to Melbourne to Queensland last week, girlfriends cared for her daughters, taking them to school each day.

The Morrisons enjoy a cake decorating session at Canefield Clubhouse, which offers rehabilitation programs for adults suffering mental illness. Picture: Mick Tsikas/AAP

“The poor girls haven’t had the greatest of holidays because we’ve been here, there, everywhere,” she said.

“I’ve been away and back and Scott’s been away a lot so I have to make it up to them … somehow when this is all over.”

When Mr and Mrs Morrison do manage to grab rare moments alone together at the end of a long day, they enjoy a glass of wine.

“He downloads to me and I try to be encouraging,” she said.

The media-shy Mrs Morrison admitted she has little interest in politics and rarely talks about it with her husband when he’s home.

“I think about my kids more than thinking about policy,” she said. “I’m not that political — I grew up in a family that wasn’t.”

Family comes first for Jen Morrison. Picture: Twitter

She does, however, believe cost-of-living pressures and looking after the elderly are important issues.

Mrs Morrison was also “very happy” when asylum-seeker children were ­removed from Nauru.

“It was fantastic that could come to fruition,” she said.

If her husband wins the federal election, Mrs Morrison has no plans to move into the Lodge. “My home is Sydney,” she said. “I love being near my family and my friends.”

It means she would have to continue commuting for an hour from Kirribilli to her daughters’ school. “I don’t mind driving, so that’s a good thing,” she said.

Next year, Mrs Morrison will celebrate 30 years of marriage to her childhood sweetheart, a man she says is a loyal “good person”.

“He makes me laugh and I think he’s listening to people and that’s important,” she said.

LIBS SAY WOMEN WARM UP TO SMIRKING SCOMO OVER SMARMY BILL

Mums are softening to Prime Minister Scott Morrison although female voters still think he’s “smirking”, according to internal Liberal research.

Liberal Party research shows mums are warming to Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Picture: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Women aren’t much happier with Bill Shorten, describing him as “smarmy” when asked about who was the most competent leader, the research shows.

Publicly available Newspoll data shows female support for the past three Liberal leaders has largely remained unchanged, being lower than men for Tony Abbott, rising above for Malcolm Turnbull only to drop again for Mr Morrison.

But a senior Liberal source said internal polling conducted in the past four weeks in the “seats that matter” show women in the 25-45 year age group coming back to the Coalition.

Among the policies that party insiders claim to have resonated with the group have been mental health and youth suicide funding, family business initiatives and proposed cuts to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme threshold which will help 1.4m Australians get cheaper medicines.

And while Labor’s childcare subsidy boost received a tick of approval from the target group, the overall trend was that support from women was returning to the Coalition.

“Women used to hate us,” the source said. “They don’t anymore.

“There is a perception that the household budget will be worse off under Labor, and that’s what I believe is a key factor. There is a definite softening to Scott Morrison.”

The source said it was not accidental that the Prime Minister’s wife Jenny dressed as a “suburban mum” when appearing on the campaign trail, as the couple sought to connect with working class families across battleground seats such as Lindsay, Banks and Reid.

But one party pollster said both leaders had image problems with women. “Some women see Morrison as smirking a bit whereas they see Shorten as a bit smarmy,” he said.