Legislative Assembly

10171 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Thursday 29 March 2012 __________ The Speaker (The Hon. Shelley Elizabeth Hancock) took the chair at 10.00 a.m. The Speaker read the Prayer and acknowledgement of country. LOCAL GOVERNMENT AMENDMENT BILL 2011 Message received from the Legislative Council returning the bill with amendments. Consideration of Legislative Council's amendments set down as an order of the day for a later hour. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE Notices of Motions General Business Notices of Motions (General Notices) given. MORISSET HOSPITAL The SPEAKER: I inform the House that in accordance with Standing Order 139 the member for Lake Macquarie has submitted an amended motion. Mr GREG PIPER (Lake Macquarie) [10.05 a.m.]: I move: That this House: (1) notes that Morisset Hospital has cared for mentally ill patients since 1908 and that its capacity for mental health services is under-utilised; (2) notes that the site and its buildings have historical significance but are in disrepair and subject to vandalism and theft; (3) notes the recent implementation of measures to improve site security and measures to reduce the incidence of cruelty to the local kangaroo population; and (4) calls on the Government through New England Area Health, in their current strategic planning, to make better use of Morisset Hospital. I thank the House for its indulgence in allowing me to move my motion as amended: I gave notice of the motion in May 2011 and I wanted to make it contemporary. Morisset Hospital has had a long and interesting history since its establishment in 1908 and formal opening in 1909. From a modest start with 78 patients accommodated in calico wards—so named because of the calico render on the walls—the facility grew to house more than 1,400 during the 1960s. The original site was selected for its ability to be largely self-sufficient. The extensive site—it was more than 1,300 acres at the time—incorporated the catchment of Pourmalong Creek, which ensured the water supply for what in many ways was a town in its own right. Much of that land became part of a grant to the Koompahtoo Aboriginal Land Council in 1995 and some was transferred to the National Parks and Wildlife Service, leaving the facility with about 70 hectares. I admit to being somewhat sentimental about Morisset Hospital because I worked there for 24 years over a 27-year period and it is where I met my wife, Lyn, both of us having commenced working there in 1976. I met some extraordinary people during my time at the hospital, both staff and patients. The circumstances and stories of their lives and how they managed them have been important in making me who I am today. I know that anyone who works in the mental health sector for any length of time cannot remain unaffected. A book published in 2000 described the facility in its title as A Private World on a Nameless Bay. The book, which was researched and printed by volunteers who formed the Morisset Hospital Historical Society, included a foreword by former Medical Superintendent Dr Les Darcy. He wrote: Two aspects of Morisset Hospital which stand out are family tradition and service to the community. 10172 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 29 March 2012 That is true. The book correctly describes the hospital in 2000 as a ghost of its former self and speaks of the many who are saddened to see what has become of a once great institution. Twelve years on, that is even more accurate. Throughout the site there are magnificent reminders of the history of the hospital in some wonderful buildings, a number of which are formally recognised for their historic value. As with other public buildings of the time, they were generally wonderfully built by artisans who often sought to incorporate ornate or grand features. Utilitarian needs to house water tanks, for example, became an opportunity to build elaborate features such as fenestrated copper-clad turrets. One of the best examples of historic buildings is the recreation hall, which sits in close proximity to and overlooks the lake. This building was at the heart of so much of the history of the hospital, and in 2009 it was the venue for a centenary ball that was attended by many former hospital staff. I took a photo of those who attended the ball and they assembled in a way closely replicating a photo from a ball held in the hall in 1919 to celebrate the end of the First World War. That photo is now in the possession of the Morisset Hospital Historical Society. This is only a small part of the history of the site. However, to see what was once a facility with well-maintained buildings, roads, gardens and recreational facilities and to recognise the decline that is effectively a slow demolition by neglect is very saddening. With changes in policy on the use of institutions such as Morisset Hospital, there has been a significant reduction in the number of clients and staff. That reduction has lessened activity and passive surveillance has made the site a target for theft, vandalism and, very disturbingly, animal cruelty. Securing a site such as this will always be difficult, but it is heartbreaking to see the area damaged by hooligans in cars or thieves in trucks. Just last year copper cladding on the turret of the recreation hall was stolen and at one stage people were repeatedly accessing the hospital grounds to kill and maim kangaroos that graze around the facility. More than 200 kangaroos are thought to have been killed, with wildlife carers and authorities having to euthanase many that were left to die. Whilst this was widely condemned, the hospital at the time did not have the ability to deal with the problem. Since I gave notice of this motion last May there has been a big improvement in security of the site with the installation of control gates at two access roads. I am told that this is helping, but the gates themselves are now targets for vandals and were damaged as recently as last week. I acknowledge that local management and the Hunter New England Area Health Service have taken action and improved the situation. Any thought of increasing the use of the site should not be based on nostalgia about its past or on current staff; it should be because it would be beneficial to some persons within the mental health system and because it can provide a wonderful therapeutic environment, the kind of which has been increasingly lost in New South Wales. These opportunities should not be ruled out because of the belief that institutions are bad because, while they can be, the reality is that society is full of institutions of one kind or another. We need to make sure that we do not create a system of institutionalisation—and there is a significant difference. I acknowledge the improvements in mental health care over the years, many relating to direct provision and a better understanding by the community and medical staff within the field. A number of improvements should be noted in this Chamber, including the creation of a Ministry headed by the Minister for Mental Health. I acknowledge the Government's creation of the Mental Health Commission. I note the involvement of great Australians such as Professor Patrick McGorrie—former Australian of the Year and a visitor to this place—in raising awareness of the plight of people with mental illness. I also acknowledge the Parliamentary Friends of Mental Illness and thank the members involved in that friendship society. We should look for better opportunities in relation to mental health generally, and sometimes we should look to the past. I believe this site could provide a magnificent opportunity, but not with the Dickensian buildings that are now there. We should look at modernising the facilities, perhaps detached villa accommodation—something that enables people to live with dignity in a therapeutic setting with the support they need around them for modern mental health services. Morisset Hospital is not remote from the community, it is quite close, and it is a community within a community. I believe it could be put to much better use and I call on the Government to see that that is considered. Mr ANDREW CORNWELL (Charlestown) [10.12 a.m.]: I thank the member for Lake Macquarie for his interest in this matter. For more than 100 years Morisset Hospital has provided assessment, care and treatment of people experiencing mental illness. I pay tribute to staff, as well as families and carers, who do an absolutely fantastic job in providing care and support to patients. Many mental health consumers who receive care and treatment at Morisset Hospital have severe mental illnesses that require long-term mental health 29 March 2012 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 10173 inpatient care. In fact the majority of mental health consumers who are admitted to Morisset Hospital today stay for several months and receive mental health rehabilitation to equip them with the necessary day-to-day skills to return to independent living in the community. It was at the beginning of last century, in May 1909, when the first patients—78 men—arrived at what was known as the Morisset Asylum for the Insane. By the middle of last century the total number of resident patients in Morisset Hospital reached almost 1,500. Morisset Hospital was in fact a village with its own cricket oval, poultry yards, chapel and gardens. The hospital was a state-of-the-art mental health facility. Over the last four decades, with the availability of new and more effective medication and investment in mental health care in the community, deinstitutionalisation has been possible.

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