Hopes dashed on suicide prevention

EACH year, about 100 people take their lives at the notorious Sydney suicide spot The Gap.

EACH year, about 100 people take their lives at the notorious Sydney suicide spot The Gap.

The sandstone cliffs have witnessed troubled souls end their lives in the raging waters below for about 150 years, from the first recorded suicide there in 1863.

Since her daughter Tracy plunged to her death at The Gap in 2005, Dianne Gaddin has campaigned tirelessly to have suicide prevention measures installed at the site, including a fence.

When Julia Gillard specifically referred to The Gap in her speech outlining her government's mental health package yesterday, Ms Gaddin thought her lobbying had finally succeeded.

Her excitement turned to deep disappointment when it became apparent the federal government had not set aside any funds for project work at The Gap, despite the Prime Minister's words.

"I was on a high when I heard the news initially, but I came right down when I heard there was actually no money allocated," she said. "It really leaves a very bad taste in my mouth."

Last night, the Prime Minister's office confirmed no money had been allocated to The Gap.

"The Gap is just used as an example of where councils could apply for funding in the future," said a government spokesperson.

Malcolm Turnbull, a vocal supporter of Woollahra Council's suicide prevention plan for The Gap, criticised Labor for falsely raising hopes.

"When voters scratch the surface of (Ms Gillard's) mental health policy today, they will discover no money has been allocated and none will be until July 2011 at the earliest," he said.

Instead, Woollahra Council will have to apply for funding to a re-elected Labor government, with no guarantee of success.

Woollahra Mayor Andrew Petrie said the council's application had been rejected twice.

"Why would we have any confidence that we're going to be any more successful the third time?" Mr Petrie said. "I've spent the last two years trying to explain to (Infrastructure and Transport Minister) Anthony Albanese that it's a national self-harm issue."

The council has installed CCTV cameras and emergency telephones at the site, but says it does not have the $1.1 million required to install curved fencing, lighting, seating and signage that could reduce the number of suicides that occur there each year.

Estelle Dragun, the mother of Ten Network newsreader Charmaine Dragun, who committed suicide at The Gap in 2007, said a better suicide prevention system "would have made a huge difference" in her daughter's case.