MPs Vow To Tackle Male Suicide
At a political forum staged by Christchurch’s Men’s Advocacy Network, MPs from four of the represented five political parties agreed that a gender-specific approach is needed for male suicide.
Only National’s David Carter did not support gender-based health programmes, saying that programmes must be based on need.
Male suicide rates are 2-3 times that of women, and New Zealand is one of only a handful of countries where men under 25 commit suicide at higher rates than those over 65.
Predictably, the MPs disagreed on virtually every other issue discussed, from child support to prostrate cancer, to the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. David Carter said National would abolish the ministry, while Rod Donald, for the Greens, pointed to the ministry’s key achievement in ensuring recognition of the role of unpaid work.
