Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As Deputy Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health and Ageing, I am pleased to speak, along with the chairman of the committee and other members, on this report of the Australian parliamentary committee delegation to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. To give a bit of background about the work we did prior to making the visit, I will read from the report:

Before the delegation travelled to Papua New Guinea (PNG), the Committee wanted to learn more about the Torres Strait treaty, the status of health services in the Western Province of PNG, Australian assistance to the health sector in Western Province, the health concerns of Torres Strait residents and the jointly agreed Package of Measures designed to address health problems on both sides of the border.

The Committee also sought information on some of the major health issues jointly affecting PNG, Solomon Islands (SI) and Australia alike, including, avoidable blindness; child and maternal health; violence against women; water and sanitation; HIV/AIDS; tuberculosis (TB); mosquito borne diseases (malaria and dengue fever); the health impacts of climate change; and a rise in non-communicable diseases like diabetes.

We have just heard from the member for Hindmarsh, the chair of the committee. I thank him for his speech, which covered the details of the report very comprehensively. I also acknowledge his efforts, along with those of the other committee members who travelled, in putting this report together. I would also like to recognise the secretariat staff Sara Edson and Penny Wijnberg, along with James Catchpole. Sara and Penny produced a great effort in protecting us from mosquitoes, organising our days while we were away and providing a supply of water when it was needed.

Although I could not join the delegation on the Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands leg due to community commitments in my electorate of Swan, I was part of the delegation’s visit to the Torres Strait, an account of which is included in this report. I was fortunate enough to enjoy my birthday whilst on the trip to the Torres Strait, and on that day we flew to Saibai Island. The member for Kingston was horrified that I was offered the opportunity to take control of the plane on the way back from Saibai Island. But I managed to calm her down by not taking control—and I saw the relieved look on her face.

Whilst on Saibai Island we visited the local clinic, which is managed by a Western Australian lady from Mandurah. She is doing a great job there with limited resources. One of the things the committee found while we were away was that there is a lack of resources in these areas. The manager of the clinic related to us a story about a PNG national who had recently collapsed in the reception area of the clinic. The man was revived and sent to Thursday Island but died the next day. He had tuberculosis and HIV, both undiagnosed. This man had been waiting four months to get into the clinic. It is unfortunate that the state of health care on an island that is two kilometres from our resources in Australia is such that this person had to wait four months to get into a clinic and dies with undiagnosed tuberculosis and HIV. It is an indictment of the way our resources are delivered and how underresourced our clinics are. It is no fault of the people who work in the clinic; it is about the way we deliver resources to them.

The visit was arranged in the context of some community concern about the treaty arrangement that permits free movement between certain villages in the Torres Strait Islands and Papua New Guinea. The committee sought to find out more about a range of health issues, including tuberculosis, HIV-AIDS, malaria and diabetes, some of which have been linked to this treaty of free movement between the villages. The report makes various recommendations to the government and I would like to take the time to discuss these in more detail. Recommendations 5 and 14 both refer to improving nutrition and tackling health issues such as diabetes. Recommendation 5 states:

The Committee recommends that the Australian government partner with non-government organisations and communities to find nutritional solutions that promote healthy eating and redress malnutrition, in affected areas in the Torres Strait and Papua New Guinea.

Recommendation 14 states:

The Committee recommends that the Australian government support education programs about diabetes prevention and nutrition in the Torres Strait, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, in areas where diabetes and nutrition are problematic.

The committee has done plenty of work on the topic of diabetes and diabetes prevention. The more research the committee does, the more we understand how this issue permeates the whole of our society. The report notes:

Hypertension, a precursor to cardiovascular disease, and diabetes are on the rise (through increased salt and sugar intakes) …

The delegation asked what was being done in respect of preventative health and was advised that it is much more difficult to procure funding for prevention than for treatment. The hospital has recently applied for funding from the World Diabetes Foundation.

I continue to support healthy living and activity in the electorate of Swan. I am pleased to inform the House that during April I will be starting a number of walking groups across the electorate to kick off a healthy living program in my electorate of Swan. It is good to see the member for Kingston has arrived. I will not repeat the story about the plane, but I did mention your horror, Member for Kingston, when you thought I was going to take control of that plane!

Whilst type 2 diabetes is largely preventable, type 1 is not. Today’s Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation 2010 Kids in the House day brings 111 children and teenagers and their families from across Australia to Parliament House in Canberra to raise awareness of type 1 diabetes. I am pleased that Thomas Lyons, a young lad from my electorate, is here in Parliament House today with his mother, Nicki. Thomas was very happy to meet Tony Abbott, the opposition leader, as we were walking down the corridor. Thomas and his family spoke to me about the condition of juvenile diabetes and the challenges that he faces on a day-to-day basis. I was also lucky to meet this morning with Baden Ross-Willmore from Nola Marino’s electorate of Forrest. I look forward to catching up with them all at lunchtime.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is lobbying for $40 million of federal government funding to establish a clinical trial network for type 1 diabetes that it says would provide a range of benefits, including access to new treatments, improved diabetes management and reduced medical and hospital costs for people with type 1 diabetes. I will be interested to see the federal government’s response to this request and I ask the government to seriously consider this funding.

Going back to the report, while I am sure the freedom of movement between Torres Strait and PNG villages contributes to health issues, it is worth mentioning that there are certain benefits to that relationship. Given the health related issues, we must keep a watchful eye on this relationship and do all we can to help address the burden of issues.

In conclusion, this is an interesting report that highlights a number of important issues. With you, Deputy Speaker Georganas, being the chair of the committee, I hope the government will take a serious look at the report and that the outcomes from it are beneficial to our closest neighbours. It is important that we do not forget our fellow Australians in the Torres Strait. I also thank the committee members who were on the trip. They helped me celebrate my birthday while we were up there and gave me a nice present, which was very well received. I also thank the people, particularly those in the Torres Strait, who accommodated us, looked after us and gave us all the support we needed to help put this report together. I commend the report to the House.

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