Ann Sudmalis (Gilmore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Congratulations Deputy Speaker Hogan. I've mentioned Shoalhaven Relay for Life before, and I congratulate them again for the work they do, along with relays in Eurobodalla, Kiama and Milton. Thanks for your efforts to raise money for vital research. It's great to see the list of over 70 cancer drugs and treatments that have been added to the PBS by the federal government since the 2013 election—thanks to everyone's walking and fundraising, which have accelerated cancer research, and thanks to their letters and calls, which have inspired me to advocate on their behalf to the federal Minister for Health, the Honourable Greg Hunt. Thank you all for your efforts to get these drugs evaluated and then added to the PBS, changing the costs—sometimes from thousands of dollars—now down to the cost of a script.

Since October 2013, our government has invested over $4.8 billion for these 70 new treatments to be listed on the PBS. Just a few treatments include those for malignant melanoma and in 2014 for advanced soft tissue sarcoma, bone tumour, cancer of the blood or lymph nodes, some brain cancers and prostate cancer. There are so many, it's hard to list in this really short time. But, this April, three more will be available on script: one for non-small-cell lung cancer, or NSCLC, for many of those who suffer from it; another for basal cell carcinoma, BCC; and another one for one of the T-cell lymphomas.

On an equally joyous note, I welcome Polly Hill, president of the Rotary Club of Nowra, and our exchange student, Carla from Denmark. Carla Jenson is interested in international issues and how our different levels of government work. Hopefully, ours works politely today, but I've explained it's not like it normally is. (Time expired)