Leon Rebello (McPherson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Recently I had the privilege of meeting 12-year-old Dexter Welsh, a remarkable young man from McPherson. When Dexter was just seven he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. He shared with me his story—the daily reality of managing his lifelong condition and the difference that an insulin pump has made to his life.

Every person who has type 1 diabetes lives with the relentless burden of monitoring blood glucose and administering insulin simply to stay alive. Yet in our community of McPherson only 24 per cent of people have access to insulin pump technology. Dexter told me of the freedom and dignity it provides, allowing him to live as normal a life as possible, but he also shared confronting statistics: 867 people in McPherson live with type 1 diabetes; each faces prospect of losing, on average, 22 healthy years of life; 346 will suffer a serious complication such as blindness or heart disease; and the total cost to our community is $19.2 million every year.

We must do better. Accessible insulin pumps are not a luxury—they are a lifeline. If we can give every Australian living with type 1 diabetes the chance to live healthier, fuller lives then we must act. I thank Dexter for his courage in sharing his story and I commend him for speaking not just for himself but for every person living with type 1 diabetes.

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