Mrs Fardell made the shocking revelation this week during speeches on the drought’s devastating impact on rural mental health. The speeches noted the drought was particularly affecting young men.

“A few weeks ago a taxi driver asked me what the effects of the drought were,” she told Parliament.

“The most overwhelming effects I see ... are mental illness and suicides.

“I explained to the taxi driver it was going to take many years to recover from the effects of this drought, not financially, but emotionally.

“I am aware of at least one person a week committing suicide in my area.

“Terrible things ... are happening all the time. A Queenslander who lost his farm travelled until his fuel ran out in Dubbo, where he took his life,” she told Parliament.

Mrs Fardell later told the Daily Liberal that weekly, she and her office were hearing of local suicides due to the extraordinary stresses caused by the drought.

She said deciding to speak out about the drought’s incredible impact on rural and farming families was difficult, but necessary, in order to encourage people just to talk about how they were feeling.

She urged people to “be alert and talk to each other”.

“We need to make people aware that we’re all walking about normally and appear to be coping, but every family at present is experiencing, or will experience, someone with depression who may not be able to cope,” she said.

The drought was driving people from their farms and families, Mrs Fardell said. While farming families may have battled for years, the toll was mounting, creating a “snowballing situation”.

“The effect the drought has had is that the women are leaving - they might not have their garden any more,” she said.

“Then farmers who are frugal investors and bought a home in Dubbo for their superannuation, they’re now considered to have separate income and may not qualify for help - so they sell that and their super is gone.

“I know of five wives who have gone to family on the coast,” she said.

Mrs Fardell highlighted the lack of transport services for seriously ill rural residents requiring treatment at Dubbo or Orange and said one man in the electorate hanged himself while struggling to cope with cancer.

The man’s condition was compounded by depression brought on by a broken marriage and his difficulty in accessing oncology and mental health treatment, she said.

Anyone seeking help should call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

lynton.grace

@ruralpress.com