Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Did you know that statistics show that dementia is the second leading cause of death amongst Australians every year and approximately 250 people are joining the population with dementia every day? This disease is a silent, often overlooked killer. Dementia doesn't discriminate. It doesn't matter what your race or gender is or whether you're from city or surf, rich or poor or which country you're from. The chance of dementia infiltrating your life or the life of someone you love is a tough reality that we have to face.

Right now there are thousands of families affected by dementia. I was recently sent a book by one of my constituents, Debbie Flack, titled Forget Me Not. It's about her mother's dementia battle. Because of this book, I have been able to understand the perspective of those who are impacted by dementia, and I have a new-found drive to help raise awareness of the struggles of living with dementia. As a government, we cannot ignore the progressive increase in the number of Australians suffering with dementia. I'm incredibly proud that we've delivered a national framework for action on dementia and that we've also added $5 billion to the aged-care sector in this year's budget. I'd like to thank Debbie for sharing her story, and so many people like her can learn— (Time expired)