A second Tasmanian government minister has announced his intention to resign from cabinet and move to the backbench. Finance and sport minister Nic Street explained today that he’s taking a step back in order to look after his mental health.
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00:00After a lengthy mental health battle, Nick Street's putting himself first.
00:07Having got to know my mental health the way I have, I would say that I'm probably at about 75-80% at the minute.
00:14What's become abundantly clear to me is that if I'm ever going to get back to 100% where I actually want to be, that I need to take a step back.
00:22After briefly taking leave for mental health reasons in May, he planned to reassess his ministerial future at the end of the year.
00:30But a reshuffle triggered by Michael Ferguson's resignation brought forward the timeline.
00:35Obviously the events of this week mean that there's going to be a reshuffle.
00:39And so on Monday night the Premier and I had a discussion and we came to the conclusion that the best thing to do was for me to go now as well to allow a seamless transition.
00:48Today's a sad day for me, for Nick, but one that I really respect. Nick has made the right call for Nick.
00:58Mr Street offered some parting words for others facing similar battles.
01:03Seek help. Speak to people who know what they're talking about and share what you're going through.
01:10The worst thing that you can do is internalise it and try and deal with it by yourself.
01:14I've always been a really big believer that the best way to get support for yourself is to put your hand up and actually acknowledge that you're going through a tough time.
01:21So it's incredibly brave of him, but absolutely the right thing to be doing.
01:24Elected on a recount in 2016 and then again in 2020, Mr Street became a minister in 2022.
01:32He's received glowing reviews from across the political divide.
01:36We need more members of parliament like Nick Street. We need more people who are honourable, who are kind, who have integrity, who have courage.
01:45Nick Street is one of the genuinely nice people in politics and I think he's brave, he's kind and he's very generous sharing his story and his challenges in his life.
01:55Sunday's cabinet reshuffle will now result in two new faces being promoted, with the Premier needing to find a new treasurer but also a champion for his Hobart AFL stadium.