Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I commend the Manningham Parkinson's Peer Support Group, which I had the pleasure of visiting just recently. I thank Keith and Margaret Anderson, who are involved in the peer support group. They're also very involved in Rotary Club of Templestowe and St Mark's Anglican Church. It's estimated that one in 308 Australians are living with Parkinson's disease and that about 37 new cases are diagnosed every day. That's some 13,500 new cases that will be diagnosed this year. Of the 82,000 Australians estimated to be living with Parkinson's, about 18 per cent—almost one in five—are of working age; however, the prevalence does increase with age. For persons 65 and over there's a prevalence of one in a thousand, but by the time people reach 75 or over the prevalence comes down to one in a hundred. This disease is global, worldwide and increasing in prevalence. Whilst Parkinson's in itself is not life-threatening, it's clearly life altering, with shaking, slowness of movement and muscle stiffness being amongst the most obvious of the symptoms. I commend the group that meets in Bulleen, Parkinson's groups right around Australia and Parkinson's Australia in Victoria for the work they're doing for people in this situation.