Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support this motion on World Tuberculosis Day. I want to thank the member for Ryan. She is to be commended for her continuing diligence in highlighting this issue. Indeed, her passion in ensuring continuing awareness of this issue is well known to the House, and she, along with me, many of our other parliamentary colleagues and the member for Leichhardt, Hon. Warren Entsch, have been tireless in pursuing this issue on behalf of his constituents in Far North Queensland and in consideration of the welfare of our nearest neighbours in Papua New Guinea.

As I informed the House on 20 March last year, TB is not a distant problem for Australia. None of us should be complacent and think that TB is a disease of the last century and that it not relevant to us here in Australia, particularly in Queensland and to Queenslanders. Australia is committed to supporting our neighbours combat tuberculosis and to strengthening critical health systems that get more than half of the world's TB cases that occur in the Indo-Pacific region. The importance of this is underlined by the fact that a country right on our doorstep, Papua New Guinea, has the highest rate of TB infection in the Pacific.

I am on record in this House as saying that in the 21st century we should be aiming for zero TB deaths throughout the world and throughout the Indo-Pacific region. On World TB Day, today, we should reflect on the need to show our commitment to properly funding the global fund in this fight to ensure that TB becomes a disease consigned to history.

That is why I am really proud to acknowledge the efforts of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Julie Bishop MP, in securing the Australian government's pledge of $200 million to the global fund Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria's fourth replenishment for 2014-16. The global fund provides around 75 per cent of the global funding for TB. In the Asia-Pacific region, the global fund has supported treatment of more eight million cases of TB. On 18 June 2014, when launching the government's aid policy, the foreign minister announced a commitment of up to $30 million per annum from 2014-15 for health research for development, including medical research. It is this focus and the emphasis on medical research that is particularly important. For far too long, our approach to tackling the scourge of TB has been based on diagnostic tests that are almost 100 years old and are tragically outdated, and some of those treatment regimes are outdated as well. This is why Minister Bishop's announcement included further support for product development partnerships to develop new drugs, vaccines and diagnostic tests for high-burden diseases in our region.

In February 2015, the Australian government also announced a $15 million package for the support of TB control in PNG's National Capital District and Western provinces. That was made up of $10 million for the TB response in the NCD from that 2014-15 period to 2016-17 for case funding, early diagnosis, effective treatment and care and support; and $5 million from 2014-2017 towards drug-resistant TB control initiatives in Western Province. This support will focus on effective management of drug-resistant TB in hospital and community settings. When you look at it, Australia's commitment for TB control to Papua New Guinea has amounted to some $59.7 million from 2011 to 2017.

I want to thank the member for Leichhardt, who was here earlier, for his constant vigilance in this area. Australia has refurbished the Daru General Hospital TB ward and outpatient service blocks, and constructed a purpose-built 22-bed TB ward. I want to thank him very much for his constant work in this area.

I have no doubt that our refocused efforts in combating TB in our region and the increased priority on medical research is the correct approach. In this regard, I want to thank the member for Ryan for this motion. I want to thank the member for Leichhardt, for his relentless advocacy on this issue, and Minister Bishop and all of the members who have spoken today on World Tuberculosis Day. Hopefully we will make these initiatives a reality.

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