Andrew Broad (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

You know, as a backbencher, you can achieve quite a lot. I look back over my last few years in the parliament and think of Australia-wide intervention orders—an idea that came out of our office and has now been implemented—to protect victims of family violence. I look at Safe Haven Enterprise visas, which provide a pathway for residency for some of those 30,000 people on the legacy visas.

One of the things I have pushed for, which came out of a conversation with a young man called Blair Gould, was continuous glucose monitors for children with type 1 diabetes. I was very pleased to see that, nine months ago, we made an election commitment worth $54 million that we would roll this out for children under 21 across Australia. It saddens me that, nine months later, we still have not delivered on this election commitment. We are on our second health minister, and it is time that we delivered continuous glucose monitors, subsidised for children with type 1 diabetes.

I met with a 10-year-old girl called Alexa Cameron who explained to me what that monitor was doing for her. She put it in a really succinct way: 'It allows me to be a child. And I get to eat one more scone.' And this is really what it is about. Blair said to me the other day that he had pricked his finger 7,000 times since being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

To the credit of the local Lions club, they have actually come in—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 10:28 to 10:42

Before the suspension I was talking about continuous glucose monitors for children with type 1 diabetes. This issue was raised with me by a young man called Blair Gould, who I met in Birchip. He explained to me that he had had his finger pricked 7,000 times. I also came across another very impressive young lady called Alexa Cameron, who showed me a continuous glucose monitor. She said that it meant that she could manage her blood sugars. What she really said was that it meant that she could actually have another scone.

In the election campaign in July, the federal government committed $54 million to subsidise continuous glucose monitors for children under 21 years of age with type 1 diabetes. It saddens me that, nine months in, we still have not delivered on this election commitment. This is a commitment that should be honoured—that must be honoured. My understanding is that the minister is working on it, but it is time that we deliver this for the children of Australia. This is certainly a very worthwhile project. It was only because it was raised with me, that people came and saw me, that I became aware of this. At its very core, it is about children having the opportunity to be children—to grow up—and so that we can ensure not only that they can manage their disease but also that their lives are better. It is time to deliver this. Let us deliver it now.

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