Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Settlement) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak of a special event that happened in my electorate yesterday. Parkinson's Queensland held its annual Unity Walk to raise funds and awareness of Parkinson's disease. I congratulate President John Bird and CEO Helen Crew and all of their volunteers for their fantastic organisation of the event. The walk started at New Farm Park and went along the river and down to Teneriffe and back. Approximately 500 Brisbane residents showed up for the event. I thank the patron, Queensland Reds player Jake Schatz, and former swimmer and now Parkinson's sufferer Ian Findlay. My colleagues the local state member, Robert Cavallucci, and Brisbane City Council Central Ward councillor Vicky Howard were also in attendance.

Official figures show that Parkinson's disease affects approximately 16,000 Queenslanders and 64,000 Australians, but those are conservative figures, given the lack of awareness of the diagnosis of early symptoms. We know that wonderful work is being done by Parkinson's Queensland and that the real figure is likely to be upwards of 80,000 people across the country and growing. This is a particularly special event for me, as both my father and my father-in-law suffer from Parkinson's. I, along with many Australians, desperately hope that one day we will find a cure.

In my remaining time I congratulate the Wilston Grange under-12 team for their grand final victory on the weekend. I reluctantly also congratulate the North Queensland Cowboys on their finals win over the Broncos on Saturday. (Time expired)