Trevor Evans (Brisbane, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I wish to rise in support of this motion by the member for Leichhardt and I also acknowledge the words just then from the member for Kingsford Smith. I have spoken previously in this House about tuberculosis. I mentioned how Australia is a sanctuary in more ways than one, considering the diseases and illnesses wreaking havoc on people and societies much closer than you would think—a mere three-hour flight from my constituency in Brisbane. This motion marks World Tuberculosis Day, which notes the anniversary of German Nobel Laureate Dr Robert Koch's 1882 discovery of the bacterium that causes TB. World TB Day is an opportunity for people to continue to raise awareness of the plight of those suffering. It is an opportunity for us to refocus our efforts and initiatives and to educate others about TB, because, as the member for Leichhardt said in his speech, many Australians would be surprised to hear that tuberculosis is still a major problem in the world, and indeed, right on our doorstep.

Despite generally declining worldwide rates of infections and deaths because of TB, it does remain a stubborn and deadly challenge locally, especially in the Asia-Pacific region right on our doorstep. The previous speaker, the member for Kingsford Smith, mentioned the link between TB and HIV/AIDS. In fact, TB today kills more people than HIV/AIDS and malaria combined, because those are diseases on which more significant progress has been made in both prevention and treatment. Worldwide, TB is today taking about 1.5 million lives every year, with a further 10 million new cases of infection every year. Almost all of these are in developing countries, and about half—in fact, probably more than half—are occurring in countries in our region.

Last week, as the member for Kingsford Smith mentioned, members of this parliament met with stakeholders including the executive director of the research group Policy Cures, Dr Mary Moran, to talk about policies addressing TB. She stressed that the best approach requires four equally important aspects: research, development, procurement and on-the-ground delivery.

Over my short time as a member of parliament, I have had a number of meetings with a great organisation called RESULTS International Australia to discuss these very important issues. I have a deep affinity for the people in the Asia-Pacific region as someone who has been fortunate enough to visit most of its countries and most of our nearest neighbours. I have seen the very big difference that targeted Australian aid is making for the benefit of humanity in our region. It is why I am proud to have become a member of the Global TB Caucus. I want to congratulate the member for Leichhardt, Warren Entsch, for his longstanding leadership in this area, and for helping and encouraging me to become involved. Not only have I joined the Global TB Caucus, I have also signed the Barcelona Declaration. It is the founding document of the Global TB Caucus, designed to raise the profile of this issue amongst world leaders and advocate for action.

I am also very happy to reiterate this government's commitment of $220 million in aid to the global fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. I thank the previous speaker, the member for Kingsford Smith, for his acknowledgement of our 10 per cent increase in funding in that area. More Australians deserve to know how Australia's funding is one of the global cornerstones in the fight to eradicate TB. It is on top of the approximately $64 million that Australia has contributed specifically in bilateral support to some of our close neighbours in this area, in countries like Papua New Guinea and Kiribati. Australia is playing a leadership role here, and I want to congratulate our foreign minister, Julie Bishop, for delivering compassionate and meaningful foreign aid leadership. Australia has a strong legacy of aid in the Asia-Pacific region and we are continuing to build on that legacy and history today.

But more needs to be done. A greater investment in diagnostics, better drugs and vaccines are our only true hope for eradicating TB. I look forward to working with groups like RESULTS International Australia, the TB Caucus and my colleagues in the chamber today to continue to advocate for more support in this area. I commend the motion to the House.

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