Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to speak about the coalition's recent announcement that we'll be investing $100 million to further help people with type 1 diabetes. This is fantastic news. The additional funding will expand free access to life-saving glucose-monitoring devices to over 37,000 eligible people with type 1 diabetes, including pregnant women, children and more adults. I'm proud to be part of this government that recognises the need to support people with type 1 diabetes and their families. I personally know many families in my electorate affected by type 1 diabetes who stand to benefit from this support. Thanks to this government's investment, they will achieve savings of up to $7,000 a year. I want to thank my constituents who have shared their personal experiences with type 1 diabetes with me. I've met with type 1 diabetes patients and their parents, relatives and friends, who've opened my eyes to how difficult living with this condition can be. This year I've met with representatives from the DANII Foundation and JDRF Australia regarding continuous glucose-monitoring systems, including the FreeStyle Libre system. I thank the Minister for Health for meeting with them as well as heeding their calls for further funding. It's great to see that fully subsidised access to these CGM devices will be expanded from 1 March next year to people with type 1 diabetes, who will need it most. I'm pleased to see that most of the people will have access to the glucose-monitoring system, and I thank everyone involved for that.