"Had the perpetrators of a number of recent serious assaults and murders been assessed and treated as timely as this man, many deaths would have been avoided".

For Immediate Release:

Parliament Fast Track Mental Health Assessment!

A 54 year old man who tried to leap from the public gallery into the debating chamber at Parliament this week has been committed for a psychiatric assessment.

Meanwhile vast numbers of seriously ill patients are being turned away from Mental Health facilities around the country due to lack of beds, resulting in violent assaults, suicides and murder.

Auckland ’s high profile acute Mental Health Clinic, Te Whetu Tawera has even reduced its number of beds to help cut the number of assaults on staff.

Graeme Moyle, whose brother Colin was murdered by a dangerous mentally ill patient 4 years ago is cynical about this weeks Parliamentary incident.

"The only reason this man is receiving psychiatric evaluation is because this incident occurred in the Debating Chamber" Mr Moyle said, "had it happened in a shopping mall he would have been dealt with by the police. It seems the Politicians are little bit nervous when incidents of this type happen in their own back yard".

"Had the perpetrators of a number of recent serious assaults and murders been assessed and treated as timely as this man, many deaths would have been avoided".

"Murray Tait would not have been able to bludgeon his father to death with a hammer. Diane White would not have been bludgeoned to death by her neighbour. Cornelis Klein would not have had the opportunity to kill Roden Plimmer. Jason Harvey would not have been able to brutally bash his brother in-law. Matthew Ahlquist would not have murdered Colin. Not to mention the large numbers of suicides by patients supposedly under Mental Health care".

"Families, at their wits end, have tried in vain to obtain psychiatric treatment for their mentally ill family members, only to be turned away by the 'gatekeepers'. Lets hope this weeks incident has set a precedent, and all people showing signs of serious mental illness get immediate psychiatric assessment before they are able to hurt themselves or others" Mr Moyle said. ENDS

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