Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to rise to speak to the member for Shortland's motion. It is not the first time I have spoken to motions moved by the member for Shortland in this place and I think that is probably a reflection of the many things we share in common. This particular motion on bowel cancer is very important as has been mentioned by other speakers. This Wednesday 19 June marks the Red Aussie Apple Day, which is a day that will mark the beginning of a month-long campaign where all Australians are encouraged to support the vital work of Bowel Cancer Australia through the purchase of a small pin for $2.

The issue of bowel cancer, as my colleague the member for Scullin also mentioned, is a very important one. My electorate shares a boundary with the electorate of Scullin, and the demographics are similar. It is very important that as members of parliament we are involved in the process of raising awareness because awareness leads to prevention through screening. One of the things I and the members for Scullin, Shortland and Flinders are sensitive to is the fact that there are many barriers to prevention and many reasons why people do not seek to avail themselves of the preventative and screening measures available. Some of those barriers have to do with language. My electorate has a very high number of people are linguistically and culturally diverse and there is a very large ageing population. It is a very multicultural electorate. Health issues generally are going to become a major facet of the ageing of my constituency.

Indeed, the so-called Mediterranean diet, which the member for Scullin would be very familiar with, has often been lauded as a diet that mitigates against bowel cancer. The question is: why is it that bowel cancer is on the increase in areas where there are lots of Southern Europeans? I think there are two reasons for that. One is that it has been proven over a period of time that the southern Mediterranean diet is one of the best diets for mitigating against bowel cancer, but people who came to Australia and have lived here for very long periods of time change their dietary habits. In this instance, they adopt a more Western diet and therefore lose the preventative qualities of their traditional diet. It is very strange that that should be the case, because we are now at a phase in Australia where we are adopting all of these diverse cuisines and diets. What do we do for constituents who started off on a very healthy diet and have change their eating habits? As a result of that change, we are seeing an increase in bowel cancer amongst this constituency. How do we assist them to be part of the screening process that could save their life? The whole issue with bowel cancer is that, if it is detected early, it can be cured.

We know that cancer is generally a very difficult disease, but, just like the member for Flinders said, we have to train people to take advantage of the screening kits that they receive. For example, when you turn 50 you receive a screening kit from the Australian government. I have often said in this place that I consider it to be a birthday gift from the Australian government. Many people do not understand what the kit is about and throw it away. The government has invested an enormous amount of money in it. Indeed, in the last budget we extended the program. So we have invested a lot of money, but we were not getting value for money. I asked the Australian Cancer Foundation what the return rate on the kits is and the answer was that something like 36 or 38 per cent were returned, which is a very small number considering how many are sent out.

The point that I want to make this evening is that we need to continue to talk about this issue. We must raise awareness and encourage people to take advantage of what is very much a life-saving screening kit that they not only receive but must continue to use every two or three years. I commend the member for Shortland for the opportunity to once again speak about bowel cancer prevention.

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