Andrew Leigh (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on a petition scheduled to be tabled by the chair of the Petitions Committee on Monday. The principal petitioner is Ms Ariette Singer, a constituent of mine, who is concerned about funding for myalgic-encephalitis and its accompanying illness multichemical sensitivities. The petition notes that ME/CFS has been classified as a neurological disorder by the World Health Organization since 1969, but there are not currently universally recognised treatment protocols. Many sufferers are still undiagnosed or, as the petition argues, misdiagnosed. I was fortunate to meet in my electorate office with Ms Singer, who spoke with me about the challenges that ME/CFS and MCS presents her. She spoke to me about her hypersensitivities to extremes of temperature, chemicals, light, noise and smells, frequent migraines and the fact that other sufferers have even attempted suicide. I draw the House's attention to her concerns and those of other sufferers.

A terrific volunteer in my office, Samm Cooper, has also recently been diagnosed with CFS and so it is a condition of which I am well aware and one to which more attention should be paid.