Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to commence my contribution to this debate by congratulating the member for Werriwa for bringing this to the parliament. I know how passionate he is about this issue. I would also like to congratulate for their contribution to this debate the previous speakers, the member for McEwen, the member for Reid and the member for Lyons, who shared with us here in the parliament his personal experience. From listening to him, you realise just how common heart attacks can be.

October has been designated as Shoctober by the Cardiac Arrest Survival Foundation. I think it is important to look at the issue of heart attack, how prevalent it is and what the risk factors are and at actions that Australians can take to lower their risk factors. Obviously, the most common risk factors are smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, poor diet, lack of physical activity and being overweight. Age can also be a contributing factor, but age is not always a contributing factor, as we have heard here in the House this morning. In addition, ethnic background can be a factor. It is unfortunate that our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians are much more likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease than other Australians.

I think it is really important that people understand that heart attacks can happen to anyone at any time and that by having a combination of these risk factors you increase the likelihood that you will have a heart attack. The heart attack is known as a silent killer. There are no obvious symptoms until it strikes. You may not even know that you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Sometimes a heart attack will be the first sign that anything is wrong, as we have heard this morning. This is why it is important to know what chance a person has of having a heart attack. I would encourage all Australians to be aware of their heart health, particularly women. As the member for Lyons mentioned, the symptoms and signs of heart attack in women are very different to those in men. It is really something that can sneak up on people.

29 September was World Heart Day. At that time, it was highlighted just how many people in Australia die from heart attacks. There are 16,000 premature deaths that occur every year because of the fact that people are inactive, and inactivity in itself leads to cardiovascular disease. When we look at heart health, over 1.1 million Australians aged 30 to 65 have a high chance of heart attack or stroke, over 3.5 million Australians aged 45 and over have high cholesterol, 2.3 million Australians over 45 have high blood pressure and two in three Australians have more than one risk factor of having a heart attack or stroke.

This particular issue is really important. We have a friends of heart and stroke group in the parliament. The member for Werriwa has already approached me about raising this issue with that group. It is imperative that defibrillators be available and ready because of the sudden nature of heart attack. A defibrillator being available could mean the difference between life and death. I commend Sydney Trains and encourage more organisations to have defibrillators readily available and for the Commonwealth government to fund that. (Time expired)

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