Llew O’Brien appointed Shadow Special Envoy for Men and Boys

Llew O’Brien, the National Party MP for Wide Bay and former police officer, has been named Shadow Special Envoy for Men and Boys. O’Brien is calling for increased attention to the male suicide crisis in Australia, noting that approximately seven men end their lives every day.

During his time on a parliamentary committee for suicide prevention, O’Brien criticized the National Suicide Prevention Strategy for what he describes as a lack of focus on men. He argued that statistics are often “cherry-picked,” specifically pointing to the tendency to highlight higher rates of attempted suicide among women to avoid addressing the fact that men account for 75 percent of completed suicides.

Additionally, O’Brien advocated for more balanced discussions regarding family violence and the need for services to support male victims. He noted that the decline in domestic homicide rates over the last 35 years does not align with current political rhetoric and suggested that family court proceedings and family breakdowns are significant triggers for male suicide.