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

I rise to speak on the motion on burn injury prevention put forward by the member for Hindmarsh. I thank the member for putting this motion before the House this evening. I congratulate the member for Kingston on her contribution. I am glad to see she made it back to the House this week without any severe burns from her cooking experience. The motion raises much needed awareness of burns treatment and burns prevention strategies. I congratulate once again the member for Hindmarsh, who is the chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health and Ageing and of which I am deputy chair, for having clearly taken on board the spirit of the roundtable which we conducted on burns prevention. That roundtable brought together experts on burns prevention from all over Australia. It was the first time it had happened and they congratulated the parliament for making the effort to bring them together so that they could swap ideas about burns.

I am sure the member for Hindmarsh will be pleased to know that I have also taken on the recommendation from the inquiry to increase burns management awareness in my electorate. I will soon be starting an information campaign in the electorate of Swan for first aid and burns. One of the things I found out after the burns roundtable was that many people in the electorate and in the community do not know how to treat burns properly once they have been burnt. I have managed to come up with a fridge magnet that will tell people how to treat burns as a result of electrical and chemical fires and scalds. I will be sending these out to every household in my electorate because it is such an important issue. This motion also commemorates the ninth anniversary of the Bali bombings, which took the lives of 202 people, including 88 Australians in Kuta, on 12 October 2002. I have spoken in this place about the bombings before, and I have spoken about the special resonance the anniversary has in Western Australia. Many Australians looked on in dread on 11 September 2001 as the World Trade Centre was attacked in New York. The terrorist attacks on 11 September upset Australians as we shared the uncertainty and the fear Americans experienced in the aftermath of the attacks. These fears were realised in Bali on 12 October 2002 as the horror of terrorism found its way to Australia's doorstep and hit our nearest neighbour, Indonesia. This event deeply affected our nation, as the stories of death and of burns victims filled the evening news. The attack involved the detonation of three bombs—two of which were detonated at nightclubs in Kuta that were popular with Australian travellers. A third bomb was detonated outside the United States consulate in Denpasar.

A large number of the victims of the Bali bombings were from my home state of Western Australia. In March 2010, I met with the governor of Bali, Governor Pastika, to discuss the goals of the Bali Peace Park Association, a Western Australian organisation whose aim is to establish a Bali peace park at the site where the bombings took place. I also met with Nick Way, from Channel 10, who is also promoting the Bali peace park. The aim of the park is to promote a future without fear by promoting tolerance, understanding and freedom for future generations, regardless of nationality, culture, religious belief or race. I will continue to provide my support to this group as they work to have the park open by 12 October 2012.

Julian Burton, who is referred to in the motion, is a former Australian footballer and teacher who experienced the horrific events at the Sari Club in 2002. Julian received severe burns and spent an extended time recovering from the blasts. Julian's story is one that I am sure many of my colleagues in this place will agree is an inspiring and truly Australian story. Instead of letting the bombings ruin his life, Julian turned the events into an opportunity. After completing some research, Julian discovered that there was no national burn care community organisation in existence in Australia. This is despite the fact that burns are one of the top three injuries suffered by Australians every year. Julian established the Julian Burton Burns Trust in 2003, along with Dr John Greenwood, Director, and Ms Sheila Kavanagh, CNC of the Royal Adelaide Hospital Burns Unit. The aim of the trust is to make a difference for burns sufferers, their families, and the professionals who work in burns care. The organisation is doing much to support the 220,000 Australians who will suffer from burns injuries every year. This includes Indigenous Australians living in remote areas, who are up to 25 times more likely to suffer a serious burns injury than those living in metropolitan areas.

Julian was recognised in 2006 with a Medal of the Order of Australia for his contribution to the communities of Australia through the Julian Burton Burns Trust. I am glad to have the opportunity today to recognise the enormous contribution Julian has made. I commend this motion to the House.

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