Jim Turnour (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to lend my support to the good work of the Committee for Oncology Unit Cairns Hospital, known locally as COUCH. COUCH  is a local action group that was formed by Charles and Pip Woodward, well-known business leaders and philanthropists, at a public meeting they organised on 4 September 2006. This meeting was called after cancer sufferer Liz Plummer highlighted in an interview with the Cairns Post the inadequacy of cancer facilities in Cairns. COUCH has garnered much local support from private businesses, community organisations, the general public and the local media, including the Cairns Post and radio commentator John MacKenzie.

The lack of radiation oncology facilities in Cairns forces local people to travel to Townsville or Brisbane for treatment. This means a significant financial burden for sufferers and separates them from family and friends during treatment. It is not surprising then to find that people in regional areas with cancer are 35 per cent more likely to die within five years of diagnosis than patients in larger cities and that mortality rates increase the further away the patient lives. These are frightening statistics and the reason why securing a radiation oncology facility for Cairns is so important. The passion of Liz Plummer and the leadership of Charles and Pip Woodward and the rest of the COUCH committee, with support from the community, have brought us a long way since that first meeting, and they are to be congratulated.

I am proud to be part of a government that has strongly supported COUCH. The Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, met with COUCH twice in the lead-up to the election last year. She listened and responded to my representations on behalf of COUCH and cancer sufferers in tropical North Queensland. The Rudd opposition at the time committed $8 million to an oncology drug mixer and an MRI machine at Cairns Base Hospital to assist with treatment and diagnosis and, subsequently, $8.3 million towards a radiation oncology facility. We have delivered on that election commitment. We are delivering on all our election commitments, but I am particularly proud of the government’s commitment to improve health services in tropical North Queensland.

Critical to establishing this facility has been gaining the support of the Queensland government. The Queensland Minister for Health commissioned KPMG to undertake an investigation into a proposal for a public-private partnership to deliver a radiation oncology facility for Cairns. Last week COUCH organised a meeting following on from that report, and Queensland Health attended that meeting to answer questions and outline the Queensland government’s proposal in relation to radiation oncology in tropical North Queensland. Sadly I was unable to attend that meeting as I was away on parliamentary business with the member for Lyons in Western Australia. A member of my staff, Andria Rowe, attended the meeting on my behalf.

I am pleased that Queensland Health advised of their commitment to provide radiation oncology services to tropical North Queensland and Cairns within three to four years. They also advised of their intention to fast-track CT services to enable, within one to two years, mapping of a patient’s treatment prior to travelling to Townsville for their actual radiation treatment, which means for patients less time away from their home and loved ones. This is a welcome commitment. I look forward to working with the Queensland government and I thank COUCH for their work and their ongoing watchdog role in ensuring that we deliver these commitments on time. (Time expired)