Andrew Robb [Federal Member (Goldstein) of the Australian Parliament, opposition spokesman on emissions trading] has taken time off work to deal with his depression [SOURCE]. He has been lucky enough to share his responsibilities with his colleagues which means he can step down from the front bench and sit on the back bench, I assume, while his biochemical imbalance is sorted out. Andrew got assistance by calling his old mate and former Liberal Premier of Victoria Jeff Kennett who is the chairman of Beyond Blue.
Andrew is very lucky to have such a caring work environment. He is lucky that he has a mate to call on and get some assistance and he is lucky to keep his job while taking such extended leave. Depression is horrible and I really wish him a speedy recovery, especially since his has been dealing with this most of his adult life.
Josh Oram is from Taree in New South Wales, painful surgery has left him depressed [SOURCE]. Compare Andrew’s outcome with Josh. He has a complicated form of cancer and has had part of his jaw removed, luckily his jaw has been rebuilt with part of his leg. He’s in pain most of the time and needs frequent visits to his doctor which requires a fair amount of traveling. Josh is unable to qualify for the right sort of government assistance. He’s on unemployment benefits and has to fight for his right to receive the higher disability support pension. His appeal has been turned down and now he is seeking a higher authority to adjudicate. The man has to deal with all sorts of complications with his cancer, has to focus on getting well again, and in amongst all that, no doubt, is feeling depressed. I’m sure you see the point, so I won’t make it.
Oh, yes I will. On one hand you have a highly paid member of parliament that has called in a favour from one of his mates. He’s unable to work because of his depression and his colleagues step in to take up the slack, on the other hand you have a sick guy from Taree who is unable to gain the simple payments he should be entitled to from his government and is forced onto a lower payment at a time in his life when he really needs a helping hand, not bureaucratic batshit. I really feel for both men and their illness and the inequity of this situation is very stark. Quite simply its not fair.