Skype’s the limit call on MP’s UN trip

FEDERAL MP Warren Entsch says he will use his three-month appointment to the United Nations in New York to fight for Australia’s big issues.

But Cairns Post not so sure.

The Leichhardt MP will fly to the US in mid-September to represent Australia at the UN General Assembly, an annual event requiring a representative from each of the two major parties.

First topic off the rank is youth mental health and suicide prevention. Mr Entsch hopes to learn how other countries cope with the issue, readers are using his background as a serving independent chairman of a Headspace centre and close involvement in mental health initiatives to share the Australian perspective with the UN’s other 192 member countries.

“The global trade in illicit wildlife is another issue I’m particularly interested in, along with the work that other countries are doing to manage and maintain protected areas like World Heritage sites,” he said.

Finding a new tuberculosis vaccine rounded out the core discussion list, due to the Far North’s proximity to countries where the disease was still rife.

Despite Mr Entsch’s assurances, not everyone was convinced having their representative abroad for three months was a good deal.

Commentators on the Cairns Post Facebook page were overwhelmingly upset at the secondment and the long absence it would entail.

“Use Skype Warren. We do not need to pay for your holiday trip,” wrote one reader.

THE GLOBAL TRADE IN ILLICIT WILDLIFE IS AN ISSUE I’M INTERESTED IN

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