Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In my first speech in this parliament, I spoke about the most precious gifts we all have: life and time. For two families in my community, this statement rings true. Bonnie and Charlie are two young girls from my electorate who live entirely separate lives but who have both been diagnosed with rare brain tumours.

At age four, Charlie's routine eye test changed the Fraser family's life forever when it uncovered a brain tumour larger than a tennis ball pressing on young Charlie's brain. In her short lifetime, Charlie has undergone two major surgeries, including a 21-hour operation. Our incredible surgeons managed to remove just over half of the tumour, but Charlie needed multiple blood transfusions and spent three days in ICU in an induced coma to let her little body recover. She was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of brain cancer—just the third case in Australia in 15 years. The good news is that it is curable, but only with a specialised radiation therapy that is only available in Florida, America. I was proud to support her parents, Daniel and Kate, and the family by playing in the T20 fundraising match between the Mount Evelyn Cricket Club and the Powelltown Cricket Club to help raise funds for Charlie's trip. It was a heartwarming display of community spirit, raising much-needed funds and providing a morale boost for the family.

Bonnie has also undergone many treatments in a short number of years, with varying degrees of success. Bonnie's latest round of chemotherapy has not achieved desired results, and her specialist has recommended the proton beam therapy in Florida. These local families aren't just fighting the devastating diagnosis; they are fighting a geography that says their child's best chance of life exists 15,000 kilometres away. It's simply because we haven't prioritised the technology here in Australia.

The most devastating part is that Australia was on track to have a proton beam therapy centre in Adelaide, and it has become abundantly clear that the federal government has lost confidence that the South Australian Labor government can deliver this critical project, which would treat 2,000 patients a year. Health Minister Mark Butler told a press conference last November that he was 'working through the issue'. I note the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre has handed the government a proposal to buy and operate a proton therapy unit.

This must be fixed urgently, and I stand here today to ask the government to prioritise the establishment of a proton therapy unit in Australia to help families and give Aussie kids like Charlie and Bonnie the best chance of the bright future that they so richly deserve.