Labor politicians to meet families affected by suicide out bush

Member for Lingiari Warren Snowdon, along with four other Labor colleagues will be visiting the remote landscapes of Australia to talk to families that have been affected by suicide out bush.

Labor MPs and Senators Warren Snowdon , Malarndirri McCarthy, Murray Watt, Linda Burney and Pat Dodson will travel for nearly two weeks around Western and Central Australia to hear from very remote communities about youth suicide, constitutional recognition, government payments, the cashless welfare card and health services, photographed in Parliament House, Canberra. Picture Kym Smith

Member for Lingiari Warren Snowdon, along with four other Labor colleagues will be visiting the remote landscapes of Australia to talk to families that have been affected by suicide out bush.

The journey will see Mr Snowdon travel extensively throughout Central Australia and beyond as part of a 12-13 day trip as they intend to visit communities such as Laverton, Warburton, Ngaanyatjarra, Kaltukatjara, Yulara and Alice Springs as well as communities in Western Australia.

Mr Snowdon is hoping to bring to light the challenges people in rural communities face on a national level as fellow Labor Colleagues Malarndirri McCarthy, Murray Watt, Linda Burney and Pat Dodson accompany him to further understand the impact of suicide in communities.

“It’s about exposing people like Linda and Murray and other people to what the reality of remote living is and the isolation that occurs,” Mr Snowdon said.

“I think the real issue here is to be working with families and communities to establish the reasons why and the priorities with dealing for individual cases in families and communities, and it might be different from place to place, so it’s not an easy issue to resolve, it’s very difficult to solve.

“This trip we are doing through the desert and back into Alice Springs will show to the people who are on the trip the issues of locational disadvantages that arise.”

Mr Snowdon then went on to say that issues such as isolation, poor infrastructure, housing, and lack of employment as well as a variety of other complex factors in rural and remote communities are leading to suicide.

So far, at least 78 indigenous people have taken their own lives this year, 20 of them children, ­according to figures obtained by The Australian.

“These matters need to be resolved within the community with the community and I think we have to be very careful saying those of us from outside know the solutions,” Mr Snowdon said.

“What I do know is I have been travelling in the bush for many years and young people have got to be able to see some light in the future as to what they are capable of and what they can do, and what their opportunities are.

“It’s not about going to tell people anything about, it’s about becoming educated ourselves about what’s happening on the ground.”