E&OE TRANSCRIPT
HOST, MURRAY JONES: The Assistant Minister for Social Services and for the prevention of family violence, Ged Kearney, joins me this morning. Actually, I should- Do you say Kearney or Carney?
GED KEARNEY, ASSISTANT MINISTER: No, Kearney is spot on.
MURRAY JONES: The Irish can be a bit particular about those type of things, so I thought I'd better check in with you about that one.
GED KEARNEY: Thanks, Murray.
MURRAY JONES: But nice to have you along this morning. And this week is actually Men's Health Week. And look, something interesting has come across my desk and I think it really, I guess, focuses on some of the issues. We talk a lot about some issues with youth crime in our region, but when you look at the figures, domestic violence is still one of the largest offences and hurt people hurt other people. Let's break that down. Let's talk about that further. Ged.
GED KEARNEY: Yeah, hurt people hurt other people. Well, you know, there's a lot of different voices telling men and boys who to be, Murray, you know, how to treat others. There's voices online. You know, society from birth, we tell little boys they have to hide vulnerability, stay strong even when they're struggling, you know. And we do know that men are more likely to commit suicide. 75% of all suicides we know are men. And so mental health or showing vulnerability and help seeking is not how society thinks men should behave. Do you know? And this can lead to all sorts of harmful behaviours later on in life, including the use of violence. And if young boys have been exposed to family, domestic violence or sexual abuse as children, we know that that can either be repeated later in life or can go on to be perpetrators. Not everyone, of course, but that can happen. And so we're incredibly interested, and I particularly am looking at how we can help young boys grow up to be really robust, connected, helpful, supportive men and how we can help men seek help if they're worried their behaviour at home, if they're worried about their mental health, we want them to be able to go and get support.
You know, I've talked a lot about this with your fabulous local member, Matt Smith, who I know is a great representative for this area. He's very switched on about family, domestic violence and men's health and the connection there. So, I think, you know, I'm not taking any accountability away. You should never, ever use violence. And we know that women are killed. A woman a week is killed in this country at the hands of an intimate parter. That's terrible and that should not happen. But if we are serious about prevention, then we have to look at how we are growing young boys and how we can help men be the best that they can be.
MURRAY JONES: It's important that, you know, we have these public discussions about these type of things and encourage men to really man up in relation to these things and actually deal with these issues. But sadly, we are seeing a bit of a pattern. You know, we're seeing a lot of stuff on social media, we're seeing things in the media about this manosphere. To a degree, this issue is actually becoming more of an issue, particularly the way that young men are being brought up these days, though, Ged.
GED KEARNEY: Well, we know that young men spend a lot of time on their phones. I was at an amazing meeting last night here in Cairns, where some amazing First Nations people from the LGBTIQA+ community actually said to me, you know, young kids, they have their heads down, they never look up at the sky and they're all looking on their phones. And like any young boys, they're looking about where they fit in with the world. You know, they're worried about all sorts of things. You know what a teenage boy is like. You've been there, Murray.
MURRAY JONES: Sure.
GED KEARNEY: And so, unfortunately, they're turning more and more to their devices and we need to lift their heads up. And there's a really positive story that's coming out of the data right now, and that is that boys with strong relationships, particularly supportive fathers and parents, have much better outcomes, like they're 50% less likely to use violence later in life. So, there's something that we really need to harness, is to help people be good dads, be good parents, and really get their, lift their boys heads up so that they can get out there and have good, strong relationships. You know, what are healthy relationships about? And I don't know if you know about Dan Repacholi, but he is the envoy for men's health in our government.
MURRAY JONES: Yes.
GED KEARNEY: And he and I have been travelling around the country talking about this with men and really trying to promote what we call positive or healthy masculinities and relationship building in young men. We're also interested in men and how we can actually create a space where men can be vulnerable, where they can talk about their feelings. Trying to break down that old trope that men have to be completely tough and never talk about how they're feeling, because that's not good for your mental health. There's amazing things, Murray, I don't know about Cairns. I should have had a look before I came, actually. There's men's book clubs, there's dad fit classes where you go and do workouts, and then after you work out, you sit down and talk about what it means to be a dad to you and talk about things that are happening at home. You know, there's men's table where men just go out for dinner together in a group and talk about things. We've got to create these spaces where, you know, we can help men kind of deal with their issues, particularly mental health issues. We do know that if you have moderate to severe depression, you're more like 62% more likely to use intimate partner violence or engage in intimate partner violence. And that's a worry. So, if we can deal with that beforehand, not taking any accountability away, not making excuses for men who use violence, you know, we're not about that. But Tanya Plibersek, my boss, actually says that something that we do know is that men who use violence, who leave a violent relationship, then often form another relationship where they're violent and then another one. So, we've got to break that nexus. And I'm trying to look for ways that we can do that properly.
MURRAY JONES: And look, you know, from my personal perspective, you know, I guess I've been relatively successful. I've been really, you know, quite lucky in a lot of ways. But, you know, each day I reflect on the things that are important to me and particularly, you know, my relationship with my son, my son's plural, and I think that's one of the most important things. So, I think having that open, strong relationship where you can talk to your son and you know, that your son rings you on a daily basis, you know, that's really the important things, you know, in life. And I do see, though, but thankfully, you know, we do talk about these, is that there are negative impacts, particularly that I see that he's facing in relation to social media. Thankfully, we talk about those things and we work them out and we talk about them together. But I guess, you know, they're the important things. And not just being the macho dad, having that relationship, I think, is certainly one of the most important things for me, Minister.
GED KEARNEY: Oh, and all the data shows that, Murray, you know, you are spot on and some people may not have had a very good role model as a father. So, you know, we have to look at ways that we can connect with dads. Often the best way to do that maybe is when a baby is born. We know who mum is, we know where the baby is and we know dad. So, maybe we need a bit more systematic approach where we approach the dads we care for, the mum and baby. Sure, that's perfect. We need to do that. Let's Care for the dads as well and say, how you doing? You know, can we help you be the best dad that you can be. So, these are some of the things that we're looking at and thinking about because that relationship is so important and, you know, it's not only, you know, parents as well, it's parenting that's incredibly important. But good, good male role models we know really help shape young boys’ attitudes.
MURRAY JONES: And I certainly see that with my partner being a primary school teacher as well, some of the troublesome boys that she has. She's identified some fairly toxic relationships with fathers which, I mean, sadly she sees firsthand contributes to some pretty difficult behaviour for, for mums, grandmums, sisters, brothers, partners, even of guys that are challenged. And that's, I guess, what we kind of started to talk about at the beginning of our conversation, encouraging men to man up and actually talk about and deal with these type of things. As we wrap up this morning, what do you think would be some of the best advice for particularly women who find that they're in a relationship with somebody who is basically maybe bordering on some of these issues where they may be perpetrators? What should they do?
GED KEARNEY: There is help, there is help out there from 1-800-RESPECT is a national line that you can ring if you are worried. You can speak to your healthcare provider. There are shelters. Please do not feel that you are alone. Absolutely do everything you can to be safe. And really this is what we are about. This government has spent over $4 billion trying to keep women safe and help them flee family, domestic and sexual violence. And I am meeting with some great organisations, some amazing organisations in Cairns. I had two wonderful meetings with this sector yesterday. There is support there, people are willing to help you. I'm at another two more meetings today, so there are many organisations. Please don't feel alone, please ask for help and don't feel that you have to do this on your own.
MURRAY JONES: Excellent. This week is Men's Health Week and of course, you know, we're not talking about all men here, there's just sadly a small percentage, but unfortunately the ones we hear about and they're the ones that often cause so much damage to families and to loved ones. Assistant Minister for Social Services and the prevention of family violence, Ged Kearney. Thank you so much for your time this morning. It's been great to talk to you.
GED KEARNEY: It's been a great pleasure, Murray.