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

My speech follows on from the contribution from the member for Moreton. I was reflecting on that visit by JDRF. On that day, I met with Maggie, a young girl from Enoggera in Brisbane who has type 1 diabetes. It was wonderful to meet with her and her mother, Leah, and her brother, Max, to discuss the work of JDRF and to hear more about how type 1 diabetes impacts so many aspects of Maggie's everyday life. She drew me a beautiful picture with coloured pencils, which is still displayed in my office today. I was looking at it just last week, thinking about Maggie and reflecting on the recent announcement that our government is expanding funding for free glucose-monitoring devices. The additional $100 million in funding from the government will help more kids like Maggie, as well as pregnant women and more adults with type 1 diabetes. Given people with type 1 diabetes have to be able to monitor their glucose levels day and night, this new funding reduces their stress, it improves the quality of life for both them and their families and, of course, it reduces emergency visits to hospital. In concluding, I want to make the very strong point that investments in new medicines and new devices are only able to be afforded if there is strong economic management of the budget, which is why it's so vital that this government's strong economic management continues.

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