Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to speak on this motion on ovarian cancer today. I thank the member for Lilley for bringing it forward, and the member for Paterson—all members, indeed, including the government members, who've spoken on this bill and made contributions today. This is a diabolically deadly cancer for Australian women, and it is going to take the will of all in this parliament to make a change.

Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and Teal Ribbon Day are, of course, great opportunities to raise awareness and understanding of this terrible and, as I said, truly deadly disease and to fight for increased investment into the research that we know is so desperately needed. Every day four Australian women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Over a year, that's 1,500 women who will learn that they have this disease. While there have been some incredible breakthroughs that have driven down the rates of other types of cancers, survival rates for ovarian cancer remain distressingly low. Indeed, 1,000 Australian women will die each year from ovarian cancer, with only 46 per cent of women surviving beyond five years. That is the lowest survival rate for any women's cancer. Compare that to breast cancer, which has a five-year survival rate of more than 90 per cent now. That's the benchmark we should be aiming for.

Part of the problem is that there's currently no early detection test—we've been hearing this in the debate this morning—and the symptoms are often very similar to a lot of other conditions. As a result, women can wait for many months for an accurate diagnosis, and often their disease has advanced significantly by that time. These problems are compounded by difficulties in treatment. It's a complex disease with multiple manifestations and characteristics. And, for those who do go into remission, the likelihood of that cancer recurring is high. But, despite all this—despite the multiple lethal challenges and grave statistics—ovarian cancer receives less than a quarter of the funding of other deadly cancers.

There is, however, a strong movement driven by some incredible champions of change who are fighting to turn this around. One of those champions has been Jill Emberson. She was a very special advocate and a woman of enormous strength from my home city of Newcastle. She was an ABC journalist and a community leader, who was recently named the Newcastle Citizen of the Year. But Jill's life was tragically cut short by ovarian cancer last December. After a four-year battle with ovarian cancer, she didn't make even her fifth year review period. But her life touched the lives of so many people, and she has left an enormous legacy for us all. She was, of course, the most precious of persons in my regard. She was a builder of communities. She knew how to find common ground, how to highlight injustices and how to build alliances and coalitions, bringing people together from all walks of life to commit to making our world a better place. For that we remain deeply indebted to Jill.

In her latter years, Jill took on a new role—that of an activist. She championed the call for fair funding for ovarian cancer research. She became a regular visitor to this Australian parliament, knocking on doors and presenting a powerful case for greater investment into research to better diagnose, prevent and treat the disease. I recall vividly the very powerful address that she and Kristen Larsen made at an ovarian cancer breakfast here in Parliament House just last February—less than 12 months ago. They pleaded for increased funding and additional funds for research. That both these amazing women are now dead is both diabolical and a stark reminder to us all of just how appalling the survival rate for this disease is. However, Jill's advocacy in Canberra—both in Parliament House and at the National Press Club—bore results, including the one-off boost of $20 million for ovarian cancer research which the Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, announced last year.

In her final days Jill wrote to the minister, thanking him for that money but making very clear that $4 million a year over five years was never going to be enough to cut this. So I'm standing here, joining Jill's campaign that she left for all of us—the Pink Meets Teal campaign that she kickstarted in Newcastle—and campaigning for what has to be really fair and adequate funding. The cause has actually gone on in Newcastle: Jill said $20 million a year and Pink Meets Teal says $50 million a year might go some way to making a difference.

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