Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Professor Peter Leibman AO, director of the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, recently briefed me on a visionary proposal to develop a Western Australian comprehensive cancer centre which will bring together world-class multidisciplinary cancer care, innovative research and clinical trials for the WA community in one purpose-built iconic modern facility. It will be a not-for-profit centre that treats all types of cancer, integrating the translational cancer research and linear clinical trials.

Western Australian cancer patients receive excellent clinical care. However, unlike New South Wales and Victoria, there is no single facility dedicated to the treatment of all cancers. This means that cancer patients, including those living in my electorate, simply navigate multiple services to get the treatment they deserve. It is fragmented. An autonomous comprehensive care centre focused on a bench-to-bedside approach is needed with its own emergency department and intensive care unit. WA is the only mainland Australian state without a current or developing comprehensive cancer centre. The Chris O'Brien Lifehouse in Sydney and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne are examples of leading centres in Australia. The facility being proposed for Western Australia consists of a 10-storey building occupying 75,000 square metres of gross flow area costing an estimated $750 million to build, with funding required to be sourced from the WA state government, the federal government and through corporate philanthropy.

I wish to formally place on the parliamentary record my strong support for a substantial federal funding contribution to be considered as part of the budget process for a comprehensive cancer centre to be built for the benefit of my fellow Western Australians, including those in my electorate. The benefits of having a comprehensive cancer centre based in Perth include improved patient survival and quality of life through improved access to the latest drugs via clinical trials. Total cancer care will be provided centrally, including diagnosis and treatment, imaging, pathology, surgery, radiotherapy, oncology, immunotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, exercise and wellness treatments. The facility will also foster world-class translational research that attracts the best clinicians and researchers from across the world.