Stephen Bates (Brisbane, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was lucky enough to have the chance to attend a morning tea with Cystic Fibrosis Queensland a few weeks ago, where I got to hear firsthand about the work they do across the state. They're an important part of my electorate of Brisbane, supporting many people and families within our community. I had the privilege of meeting multiple people who have benefited from their work. A child is born with cystic fibrosis in Australia every four days. There are approximately 3,500 people living with cystic fibrosis, and almost a third of these people rely on Cystic Fibrosis Queensland for advocacy, support and services.

There is no cure for cystic fibrosis, but there is hope for children being born today, and that is thanks to the life-saving modulator drugs. Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, or CFTR, modulators—apologies if I got that wrong!—are a class of drugs that act by improving production, intracellular processing and/or function of the defective cystic fibrosis protein. The latest generation of this drug is called Trikafta. It is estimated that Trikafta could give people with cystic fibrosis who are six years and over a longer life and improved quality of life.

For a child to be born with cystic fibrosis, both parents must be carriers, and carriers are symptomless. The work we do around raising awareness is critical because in Australia one in 25 people are carriers. I want to thank CFQ for the work they are doing raising awareness and supporting our community, and I look forward to continuing to work with them into the future.