Chris Trevor (Flynn, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight I want to speak on the McGrath Foundation and recent announcements made by the Rudd Labor government, including one made on 13 October 2008. Jane McGrath co-founded the McGrath Foundation with her cricketing husband, Glenn, after her initial recovery from breast cancer in 2002. In 2005 the foundation was relaunched with the focus firmly placed on raising funds to provide breast care nurses in rural and regional areas across Australia while at the same time promoting the importance of being breast aware to younger women. There are currently eight McGrath breast cancer nurses in areas reaching as far as Bundaberg—some areas of which, namely Moore Park and surrounding areas, are in my electorate of Flynn—Perth, Albury-Wodonga and Bega.

In 2008, the Australian government pledged $12 million to the McGrath Foundation to fund 30 breast care nurses across Australia over the next four years. On 13 October 2008, the McGrath Foundation and the federal government announced that this funding would be used to place specialist breast care nurses in 44 communities across Australia, with the majority of these communities in rural and regional areas. Breast care nurses are fundamental for women recovering from breast cancer. Breast care nurses are specially trained nurses who act as patient advocates, coordinating care for women with breast cancer, their families and carers. People wanting to show their support for the McGrath Foundation can make a donation to the foundation.

The Rudd Labor government is making considerable new investments to help Australian women and the health sector combat this disease. To support women with breast cancer the Rudd Labor government has committed $31 million in funding for external breast prostheses for women who have had a mastectomy as a result of breast cancer and support for integrated cancer care facilities and research. The Rudd Labor government is also providing $2.5 million to help fund a research study with the National Breast Cancer Foundation to gather vital data from up to 100,000 women, which may help to reduce the impact of breast cancer in Australia. In May this year, the government was pleased to include Tykerb on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to assist women with advanced breast cancer. As well, the government provides more than 90 per cent of the funding of the National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre—a world-leading centre fostering an evidence based approach to the diagnosis, treatment and support of women with or at risk of breast cancer.

The breast care nurse initiative, the locations for which were announced on 13 October 2008, is another weapon in the fight against the disease. This announcement by Minister Nicola Roxon was made with Glenn McGrath and the McGrath Foundation, with the minister paying tribute to Jane McGrath and her tireless efforts on behalf of all women with breast cancer. The nurses are being placed in areas that need them most and in locations where access to a full-time breast care nurse is not currently available. Eighty-nine per cent of these nurses will be located in rural and regional areas, including one in my home town of Gladstone, in my electorate of Flynn. My mother would be very proud of this announcement as she is a breast cancer survivor and Gladstone resident herself.

I thank Minister Roxon, Glenn McGrath and the McGrath Foundation for agreeing to place a breast care nurse in Gladstone. It is fantastic news for my community. I thank Glenn McGrath for the opportunity to meet him. He is a fine, outstanding man both on and off the field, and it was an honour to meet him at the launch of the announcement on 13 October 2008.