Jeremy Buckingham’s son takes own life after telling dad horror secret

Australian politician Jeremy Buckingham’s son has tragically taken his own life, just one day after revealing to his parents he had ‘suffered the most evil abuse’ from a relative.

The devastated father and former member of the Greens party shared the heartbreaking news that his ‘beautiful golden boy’ Eden had died to Facebook on Friday afternoon. 

Mr Buckingham described his 23-year-old son as a sensitive and intelligent warrior who had been struggling with mental health from a very young age.

The devastated father described his son (pictured, Eden) as a sensitive and intelligent warrior who had beaten addition

‘These are the hardest, unbearable words,’ Mr Buckingham wrote.

‘My beautiful, golden boy Eden is gone. I love him so much and can’t believe I have to go on without him. Tragically he took his own life on Monday.

‘His family and friends knew his struggle, that his mental health had been challenging since a very young age, but Eden battled hard – he was a sensitive, intelligent, warrior.

Mr Buckingham explained that his son, who had beaten addiction and was making future plans with his best friends and brother, could not live with the shame and guilt of alleged abuse from a relative.

The devastated father and former member of the Greens party shared the heartbreaking news that his ‘beautiful golden boy’ Eden had died to Facebook on Friday

Eden committed suicide a day after revealing to his parents he had suffered abuse from a relative.

‘Eden couldn’t live with his truth, telling us a day before he passed that he had suffered the most evil abuse from a relative,’ Mr Buckingham wrote.

‘His trust, faith and hope were shattered. He couldn’t live with the secret shame and guilt, and couldn’t live with the truth revealed.

‘He said he didn’t want to be the guy that this had happened to. It was too much for him. I understand and am not angry at him. I know why.’ 

An NSW police spokesperson confirmed Eden’s body was found near a walking track in the mid north coast NSW suburb Bellingen on Wednesday at about 4pm.   

‘Officers from Coffs/Clarence Police District commenced inquiries to locate a man last seen at a home in Bellingen on Monday,’ the police spokesperson said. 

‘Following extensive enquiries, a man’s body was located a short distance from a walking track in Bellingen about 4 pm yesterday.

‘A report will be prepared for the information of the Coroner.’

Mr Buckingham (right) thanked NSW police and State Emergency Services and vowed to get justice for his ‘beautiful golden boy’ 

He vowed to bring his son’s abuser to justice and thanked NSW Police and State Emergency Services for taking care of Eden. 

He said he will remember his ‘beautiful boy’ every day and will see him again ‘at the long table in Valhalla’ – a great hall in Norse mythology where those who have died and are deemed worthy reside with Gods. 

Mr Buckingham was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 2011 to 2019. He was a Greens member from 2011 to 2018, but resigned from the party on 20 December 2018. 

In June he returned to politics, joining the Legalise Cannabis Party and campaigning for the drug to be decriminised across the country.

‘In Australia 65,000 people are arrested every year for simple Cannabis possession, tens of thousands of these and up before the courts and are fined or criminalised unnecessarily, and thousands more are put into jail wrecking their lives at great expense to the taxpayer,’ he said about his decision to join the party. 

‘It’s time this ended. It’s time we had a rational, data driven debate about a sensible approach to Cannabis law reform. It’s time to legalise it.

‘Let’s deal with this issue sensibly, create an industry of enormous benefit to our economy and farmers and free up a medicine millions of Australians use regularly.’