Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kingston for putting forward this motion on Lung Cancer Awareness Month and am pleased today to speak in support of it. Lung cancer caused the death of 209 people in the period 2006 to 2010 in the Ipswich and Somerset regions in my electorate of Blair. Between 2007 and 2009 the West Moreton Hospital and Health Service, which covers most of the electorate of Blair, reported an annual average incidence of 101 patients presenting with lung cancer. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, lung cancer was the underlying cause of death for 1,560 people living in my home state of Queensland in 2011. This year an estimated 2,485 new cases of invasive lung cancer were diagnosed in Queensland, and close to 2,000 of those will not survive. There has been a 20 per cent increase in death from lung cancer since 2009. This year, despite the fact that Queensland tragically and often colloquially is called the 'skin cancer capital of the world', more people in Queensland will die from lung cancer than from any other cancer.

More men die of lung cancer than women. In fact, the incidence among men is 56 per cent higher than among women and male death rates are double those of women. A significant cause and risk factor for lung cancer is age, but clearly Indigeneity is an issue as well. Until recently, about 47 per cent of Indigenous adults smoked. Recent reports indicate a 10 per cent reduction in smoking rates amongst Indigenous adults, and that is a very good thing. Still, we see about 15,000 people across the country die each year from smoking related diseases in Australia. According to Paul Jelfs, division head for Social, Health and Labour at the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there has been a significant decline in smoking in urban areas, but it remains stubbornly high in remote areas and there is still a very high smoking rate for Indigenous people compared with the non-Indigenous population, so we have a very big health challenge ahead of us. On a more encouraging note, he went on to say that young Indigenous people are quitting, or not taking up smoking, in large numbers. Amongst 15- to 24-year-olds, 54 per cent of Indigenous young people have never smoked and 10 per cent are ex-smokers. That is a very good outcome and an encouraging statistic.

In May 2013 the former federal Labor government established the Rural Health Outreach Fund and the Medical Outreach—Indigenous Chronic Disease Program as part of its $179 million investment in health services for Australians living in rural and remote areas. Nevertheless, we know that the figures are still stark and concerning in terms of lung cancer. But the former Labor government had the runs on the board when it came to acting on its commitment. In August 2012 the former federal Labor government was vindicated when it won a historic High Court victory over tobacco giants who had taken their case to the High Court of Australia, challenging our world-first plain-packaging laws for all cigarettes and tobacco sold in Australia.

When an estimated 90 per cent of lung cancer in males and 65 per cent of lung cancer in females is a direct result of tobacco smoking, acting against tobacco companies is morally and ethically the right thing to do. In addition to the plain packaging laws that came into effect, there are many other things that we did, including listing nicotine patches on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to reduce the price of them. We also produced a round of anti-smoking ads and the like.

Locally, I want to congratulate Ipswich City Council for its stance against smoking and banning smoking in the pedestrian malls such as the Nicholas Street Mall and d'Arcy Doyle Place in the Ipswich CBD. In 2009, the then Labor government introduced the Australian National Preventive Health Agency Bill, and a report relevant to the bill and to the member for Kingston's motion today was prepared by the National Preventative Health Taskforce and entitled Australia: the healthiest country by 2020national preventative health strategythe roadmap for action. Recently retired Professor Robert Bush from the Ipswich campus of the University of Queensland was a participant in that report and did some terrific work along with his colleague Professor Helen Chenery, including the work they did on the Ipswich study.

I would like to commend and congratulate William Darbishire for his excellent work as the CEO of the Lung Foundation and make special mention of the Lung Foundation's very successful awareness campaign, Show Us Your Lungs, which they also brought to Parliament House. I have a great T-shirt, which I wear running around the streets of Ipswich, which I managed to pilfer from that particular event. So I want to congratulate William for that. We also made a great commitment. When we were in government after 2007, we put $3.5 billion—$226 million in last year's budget—towards improving the prevention, detection and treatment of cancer. As the then Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing, I am proud to be part of that decision. I thank the member for Kingston for her motion and fully support it. (Time expired)

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