Wednesday, 9 September 2026

 Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (16:36): Today I rise to speak on the mental health and wellbeing commissioner’s annual report, and one of their objectives is to promote the role, value and inclusion of families and of people living with mental illness or psychological distress. Every day in Australia nine people lose their lives to suicide. Two of those are in Victoria, and every one of them leaves behind a heartbreak that will never heal.

The heartbreak and the devastation caused by suicide is unspeakable, and today I am going to share a letter that was left by Aaron Davis before he took his own life in 2016. His mum Bobo asked me to read it today because tomorrow is suicide awareness day and she hopes that (a) it will help others and that (b) by reading it we honour his memory. It is extremely sensitive, and I want to let you know that it is not something that I take lightly. It was written on 13 April 2016. This is the letter:

Hi, my name is Aaron Davis.

I am a 22-year-old who unfortunately fell down the horrid path of ice addiction.

I have been an ice addict since the age of 15. There were 6 months of rehab, but it didn’t work because well, I didn’t want it to. There was also 12 months after getting busted that I stayed clean but again the devil pulled me back in.

My mum used to call it the devil, and I used to think: if only she knew how good it was and how it made you feel. But guess what? Like always, mum was right.

Yes, I met some amazing people along the way, but I also met some selfish backstabbing dogs.

Which is unfortunate, because deep down they actually are good people. They just have been taken over by this devil, and they will do whatever, say whatever and become whatever they have to just to get some.

This life gives you nothing but takes everything you ever loved, cared for, owned, the lot – it will literally hold you by your ankles and shake you while everything falls out.

To my family and friends, I’m sorry.

Sorry for never listening, for never asking for help or for accepting your help when you offered but I didn’t know how I could help myself so I couldn’t see how anyone else could.

I’ll miss you all dearly and love you forever.

I’ll always be there watching over everybody and if you ever need me, just think of me.

Love, Aaron Davis

Xoxo

After he wrote that he committed suicide. His life was over, and the life of every single person that loved him changed forever. So what went wrong? Aaron was kind and funny. He came from a good, hardworking family who loved him absolutely, and he was the father to beautiful twin girls. At the age of 15, though, he started his first job, and at that job he was given drugs. He was a young, impressionable kid, yet somebody made the decision to exploit him. His letter, I believe, describes perfectly the hold that drugs can have on a life. And when you consider the whole context, it is so hard to fathom. That letter was exactly what was on his mind right before he took his own life, a life which in a sense was stolen by drugs long before he died. They changed everything. Drugs changed the entire trajectory of his life. Aaron’s mum Bobo said:

… suicide for Aaron was his way out from addiction that he couldn’t escape from and the pain that it caused.

From the age of 15 until he died Aaron’s family gave him all the help, support and love that they possibly could. The message here is a clear one: drugs are not harmless. Some people may be able to stay in control; others lose the battle and completely become a slave to them.

Mental health and drugs can be very tough topics to broach, but tomorrow, on suicide awareness day, I encourage every single person to be brave and open up a conversation if you see somebody is struggling. You will never regret it.