OFFICIAL
DAN REPACHOLI MP
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR HUNTER
SPECIAL ENVOY FOR MEN'S HEALTH
SPEECH
SPEECH TO BUSINESS HUNTER LUNCHEON
BREAKING THE SILENCE: MEN'S MENTAL HEALTH & LEADERSHIP
NOAH'S ON THE BEACH NEWCASTLE
17 November 2025
Before I get started, I want to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land we are meeting on today, the Awabakal and Worimi peoples, and pay my respects to Elders past and present. I also extend that respect to any First Nations people joining us. It is a privilege to live and work on this beautiful country.
G'day everyone. Thanks for the invite, and thanks for taking time out in the middle of the day. If you are anything like me, a good lunch is right up there with a good chat. Today we are doing both, and we are doing it about something that really matters: keeping the blokes in our lives with us and keeping them healthy.
I'm Dan Repacholi. I'm the Federal Member for Hunter and Australia's first Special Envoy for Men's Health. I am also a five-time Olympian and a three-time Commonwealth Games gold and bronze medalist. I've spent plenty of time in workshops, around mine sites, in sheds and in sporting clubs. Unlike a lot of politicians, I come from a trade background. I have been on the tools. That gives me a pretty good feel for the things we are talking about today. I love my job, I love this region, and I am here because men's health, especially mental health, is not a side issue. It is a family issue. It is a workplace issue. And it is a bottom-line issue for every business in this room.
Now, that title Special Envoy for Men's Health might sound a bit fancy. What it really means is this: my job is to make sure blokes are not forgotten when it comes to health. For too long, men's health has been treated like an afterthought. We are expected to be the rock, the steady one, the problem solver, the bloke who just gets on with it. But the truth is, a lot of us are doing it tough and a lot of us are doing it quietly. My job is to help change that-to make sure men are seen, heard and supported, and that Government is awake to their issues.
Now, when you invite a big bloke like me in to talk about mental health, you might be thinking, "Righto Dan, is this going to be a lecture?" Do not stress. I am not here to sing Kumbaya and make you share your deepest feelings in a circle. I am here to talk about blokes, the places we work, the things that get in the way, and the things leaders like you can do to make a change.
So I want to start with a simple question: what is happening with our blokes? Let us start with the big picture. Australian men and boys are among the healthiest in the world. We live in a country with great health care, but we still die earlier than women. And we still turn up late to the doctor, or not at all. We put off check-ups. We miss the early warning signs. We try to tough it out until the wheels fall off.
We don't treat our cars like that. If the oil light comes on, we don't say, "She'll be right for another ten thousand k." We pull over. But with our bodies and our minds, we drive on.
Here are a few realities we should all have at our fingertips: men live on average five years less than women; about seventy-one percent of Aussie blokes are overweight or obese; we are more likely to have type two diabetes and heart disease than women; and we are over-represented in a whole list of chronic diseases and cancers that are very treatable if we act early.
A good example is prostate cancer. Almost 4000 men die each year from prostate cancer. If that disease is caught early, it is often highly treatable. But you have to book the appointment. You have to get the test. And it's no longer a finger in the arse, guys-it's just a simple blood test. Now I know some people will be disappointed about that, Brendan Brooks, I'm looking at you. Last year we ran a prostate testing day in Parliament. I lined up with a heap of other blokes. A few of them got high readings and are still seeing specialists now. Those simple blood tests will save lives. That is the difference between doing something and doing nothing.
Then there is the mental health side. Let me put it straight. Every day in Australia, seven men die by suicide. Seven sons, dads, brothers, mates, workmates-gone. The median age is mid-40s, right in the middle of careers and raising kids. Suicide is the leading cause of death for men aged 15 to 44. Not shark attacks. Not some extreme sport. Just blokes like the ones in this room, struggling quietly.
We also know men are less likely to reach out, more likely to wait, more likely to tell themselves to toughen up until something snaps. Six in ten men wait more than a week to see a doctor after symptoms show up. A third wait more than a month. Almost one in four say they would not seek help from anyone if they had a personal problem. What are we doing here, guys? For every suicide, it is estimated that around 135 people are affected-family, friends, workmates, first responders, health workers. Kids who lose a parent to suicide are three times more likely to die by suicide themselves. The economic cost runs into the tens of billions each year. But the real cost is empty chairs at the dinner table and vacant lockers at the work site.
Here in the Hunter, we have a high number of workers in construction, manufacturing, mining and FIFO or DIDO roles. These are exactly the industries where risk is higher because of isolation, long hours and a culture of "just get on with it." Men in these industries have much higher rates of suicide and mental health distress.
This is not about lecturing men. Most of us were brought up to be stoic, to shut up and get on with it. That attitude helped build our industries. But in 2025, some of those old ideas about what it means to be a real man are costing us our health, our relationships and sometimes our lives. And it does not help your teams or your bottom line either.
The Hunter is a proud region built on doing tough jobs well. We look after our gear, we tag out dodgy leads, we isolate hazards, we do the pre-starts. But we still have work to do when the hazard is between our ears and in our hearts.
Here is the good news: we can change this. And when we do, everyone wins-families, teams and your businesses. Fewer injuries, fewer days lost, lower turnover, better morale, and more men who get to go home safe and well.
So what does this look like in real life? When we think mental health, we often picture sadness or tears. But for many men, the signs look different. It can look like mood changes, especially anger and irritability; losing interest in the things that used to fire you up; avoiding your mates or staying late at work because home feels hard; headaches, gut aches, not sleeping, eating rubbish and pretending it is normal; performance sliding, more near misses, more mistakes, or just grinding through in second gear.
Another big one is loneliness. About one in twenty Aussie men say they don't have a close friend. We are social creatures. Even the "I'm fine, leave me alone" types need connection-whether it is a Men's Shed, a fishing trip, a lunchroom chat, or a toolbox talk that is not just about bolts and bandsaws.
We also know there are trigger points that increase risk: the loss or breakdown of a family unit; financial or legal pressures; big changes to life or health; problems at work like bullying, redundancy, conflict or injury. Too often the signs that someone is not ok are missed or hidden. How many times have we heard, "I had no idea," or "he was the last person I would have expected"? You never know what someone is going through unless you ask. And work is a great place to have those conversations.
So let us talk about work. Many of you lead mainly male workplaces. These workplaces can be brilliant-strong teamwork, good banter, pride in a j