Jennie George (Throsby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too would like to add some thoughts, on indulgence, by recognising the immense contribution that Jane McGrath has made to her community, her family and the nation in a larger sense and how profoundly saddened we all are by her untimely passing. I want to thank the member for Cook for his contribution in the House and here in the Main Committee this morning. I know that when he passes on to the McGrath family the condolence book he will pass with it the sympathies and expressions of sadness from both sides of the chamber.

Before I came up here for chamber duty, I happened to switch on to Sky News, and I saw a beautiful sunny day in Sydney, a blue sky and the Garrison Church where Jane and Glenn apparently married and which today is the sad focus of her untimely death and passing. I was interested, sitting here on duty, to hear the contributions made by my colleagues from both sides, and I could not fail to note that six male colleagues made contributions. I thought about how important that is for this issue because, as others have said, cancer is not something that affects just one person, nor is breast cancer just a woman’s issue. That really shows how, over the last decade in particular, issues of this nature are much more easily aired in public. The battle that women have fought, sometimes on their own, on these issues has probably helped to inspire men to deal more seriously with the range of cancers that afflict them, particularly prostate cancer.

The Treasurer has been one of those men at the forefront of raising men’s consciousness of those issues. I want to pay tribute to the men who spoke on indulgence this morning, because I think it sends a very powerful symbol to women that they are not on their own—that men, family members and community members understand that this is an issue that touches probably everyone in one way or another. I reflected, while listening to the debate, on how much progress we have made through the fundraising efforts of organisations like the McGrath Foundation, other cancer foundations and many voluntary community groups. The research that has been undertaken has helped to prolong the lives of people who are afflicted by this awful illness.

The late Paddy George died at 39 from bowel cancer that eventually spread to the liver. My cousin Irene Rathbone died from breast cancer with the same trajectory as Jane’s; however, just in the short period of a decade, we can see that research and treatment has now made it possible for women to survive much longer, even when they are facing a secondary cancer. I never had the honour or privilege of meeting Jane but, in a sense, I think we all felt that we knew her, particularly after the Andrew Denton interview. What really touched me was her incredible naturalness. Here she was, a woman from England, walking down the street and people were saying g’day to Glenn McGrath, and she wondered who this man that she was going to marry was.

Certainly his fame left Jane very unaffected—to use the words of the member for Brisbane, her ‘effervescent vitality’ shone through. Obviously she was a woman of immense courage, resilience, optimism and good nature. She was a woman of grace and a woman who touched so many people. I think that is why her untimely death has really captured the spirit of so many people across the length and breadth of Australia. There was something very magical about her, which is probably associated with the affinity we have with people who are touched by adversity when we contemplate how they handle that adversity and assist others to do likewise.

In that regard, I think of the many women in the Illawarra who are involved in Breast Cancer Network Australia, which is headed by the wonderful cancer nurse Gloria Swift. I want to pay tribute again to the work that Gloria does in our local community. I know that the McGrath Foundation commits a large amount of funding to the promotion of additional cancer nurses. I think I speak on behalf of not just the members of the Breast Cancer Network but all those I represent in the electorate of Throsby in adding my condolences to those already expressed on the untimely passing of Jane McGrath. All who saw the Andrew Denton interview could see that the love between Glenn and Jane was palpable; it was just genuine, warm and loving. No doubt she was a wonderful wife—and no doubt she could not have been a wonderful wife without also being a truly wonderful mother, in that order. It is incredibly sad for James and Holly to be left without their mum; however, I think in time, when they have grown up, they will be able to look back and reflect on the wonderful contribution that Jane McGrath has made to her community, her family and the nation.

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