Chris Crewther (Dunkley, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As a proud member of the Australian parliament tuberculosis caucus, I want to raise my voice as well in support of this motion. Tomorrow morning, my parliamentary colleagues and I will join together at the World TB Day breakfast to throw our renewed support behind the efforts to eradicate tuberculosis worldwide.

TB is a serious infectious disease and, despite many people having little to no awareness about TB in Australia, the disease has an incredible reach worldwide and especially so in our own region. TB is recognised as a major obstacle in our quest to raise the base level of health in the Indo-Pacific region, which boasts the unfortunate status of having more than half of the TB cases and also the majority of the multidrug-resistant TB cases worldwide. If that is not enough of a reason to act on TB, the sheer proximity of tuberculosis to our borders, four kilometres away in Papua New Guinea, should prompt concern in those who may have found themselves unaware of this conversation.

We find many parts of our society blissfully unaware of the continued existence and threat of TB, with it relegated to being a thing of the past, a historical killer, seemingly eradicated, along with many of the other diseases or illnesses that characterised our past. The reality is that, in 2016, 10.4 million people fell ill with TB, and 1.7 million people died from it. People with HIV are at even more risk, with TB being the leading killer for those living with HIV. TB is very much still out there, and many Australians are somewhat sheltered from the devastation that it can leave behind. I am proud, though, of Australia's support in addressing the threat of TB, and I urge the support of my colleagues for continuing to do so.

Last year, in 2017, I had the opportunity to travel with the Pacific Friends of the Global Fund, to look at our work in tackling TB, malaria and HIV in Myanmar and Thailand. I saw firsthand the benefit of our funding to tackle TB. Despite achieving and maintaining one of the lowest rates of TB incidence in the world, it is important for Australia to support research and development into better tools to fight TB in Australia, our region and abroad. Since 2011, Australia has committed $60 million to comprehensively support TB control in PNG alone. We are partnering with PNG and the World Bank to address drug-resistant TB. Just last year, we pledged $220 million for the fifth replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.

To examine the funding and support to end TB from another perspective, there are additional reasons for action on TB globally, and for our involvement. To allay the concerns of those who urge lower aid funding overseas, it is in our own interest to act on the threat of TB. Growing immigration levels, for example, have seen a recent rise in new cases of TB from higher burden countries. With Australia's population predicted to rise by over 10 million people by 2056, it is important that future immigration policies can adequately detect and control TB in new arrivals and allow for ongoing monitoring. These risks can be responded to with a pre-emptive approach as well. By working to lessen the spread of TB worldwide, we address and reinforce our own health security in Australia.

It can always be argued that there should be more done to address global health risks, but I am proud that Australia continues to advocate for increased global attention to TB, especially in the Indo-Pacific region, and I am proud that, in response to my esteemed colleague's motion, Australia will be strongly represented at the high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly on ending TB. Continuation of Australia's high standard of diagnosis and treatment relies on current TB control infrastructure being continued and improved, including new diagnostics, treatment and vaccinations. I join with the member for Leichhardt on this in calling for increased Australian action and leadership on research and development, prevention, testing and treatment. Saturday may have marked the 136th anniversary of the discovery of the bacterium that causes TB, but we are undoubtedly closer to its eradication than we were 136 years ago.

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