Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On indulgence: death can be cruel. It affects young people and old, it visits us when we least expect it and it sometimes comes to us after many years of battle. There is a saying, ‘The question is not whether we will die but how we live,’ and I believe Jane McGrath lived a full life and lived by those words. Never succumbing to cancer throughout her battle, she chose to live her life with determination and strength. She responded to the challenge that cancer flung towards her with selfless courage and she was a true heroine. She was an inspiration to all of us and a source of hope for many. I would like to personally extend my condolences to Glenn and his children, James, eight, and Holly, six. They have lost an extraordinary wife and mother, and we have lost a true champion in our community. Lynn Caine once famously proclaimed, ‘Every death diminishes us a little.’ Recognising the profound effect Jane McGrath had on all Australians, when we think of her passing last weekend, that really comes to the fore.

There would not be a person in this House who has not had someone in their family or a friend suffer from breast cancer. Breast cancer is one of the biggest killers of Australian women; more than 2½ thousand Australian women died last year because of it. It has got to be considered a mainstream health issue not just for women but for men also. I call upon Australian men to take a greater role in this regard. Too many of us think this is a women’s issue. It is not. It is a mainstream issue; it is a family values issue. We should think more about it and concentrate more on it, and more money must be spent on cancer research. I would encourage all Australian women, young and old, to self-test. As the father of teenage daughters, this worries me, as it would worry most parents with young girls in their family. I would encourage all Australian women to attend breast screening regularly. It seemed to me, watching Jane McGrath talk on Enough Rope with Andrew Denton, that she was a person of tremendous character, a real fighter. She was not a victim and she faced disease and death head-on. She never let it control her life, and we mourn her loss.

I would encourage Australians not to dwell on the tragedy; I would encourage Australians to look at her life and see how she lived it. Her life was a testimony to determination and a source of inspiration to us all. Having heard the tributes flow from the member for Cook, I want to really congratulate him on the speech he made the other day in the House and on his speech today. It is a testimony to his integrity and to the compassion he feels in his heart. Many in his electorate also feel for Jane. I am sure she would want all Australian women battling cancer to replicate her strength and to never give up hope. It is very fitting that the Australian test cricketers were wearing pink gloves and pink grips this morning. I got up early to look, and so they were. That is terrific. That is testimony to the affection and love that the Australian cricket team had for Jane.

Glenn McGrath is a wonderful role model and example as a sporting hero in our country, but his wife’s legacy will live on. The McGrath Foundation secured $12 million from the federal government to help recruit, train and employ 30 breast cancer nurses. Every time we see a nurse involved in breast cancer research we will think of Jane McGrath. She was a highly respected woman; she was held in high esteem in our community not just for her courage, dignity and stoicism but for the contribution she made to our nation. We are better in this country for having Glenn McGrath here, but we are also better for having Jane McGrath come to her adopted country and live and work amongst us.

When the deeds of Jane’s husband, Glenn, on the cricket grounds across the world are remembered, here at home and in the member for Cook’s electorate and in the capital cities, rural communities, byways and beaches of this country, we will think of a woman called Jane. It is a simple name but her contribution was not simple; it was immense. What she meant to Glenn and to her children will not be forgotten. The contribution she has made to breast cancer research and the fight against breast cancer is extraordinary. I say on behalf of my electorate of Blair, in Queensland, to all those women in my electorate who are battling this disease and on behalf of their partners, sons and husbands: never give up hope, and look to Jane McGrath for inspiration. To Jane I say simply, thanks, and rest in peace. Our thoughts are with Glenn and the children. We thank you for what you have done for us, and I thank the member for Cook for his wonderful speech and for bringing this to the attention of the House.

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