Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Money raised during Connor's Run 2019 will count towards a $1.25 million pledge to fund new research projects—a combination of preclinical studies and trials based studies. Depending on your fitness level, there is an 18.8 kilometre run from Hampton or a 9.6 kilometre run or walk from St Kilda if you like the softer option. Both finish on the banks of the Yarra River just outside the central business district of the great city of Melbourne. The run starts with a warm-up, coffee, yoga stretching and some dance aerobics. And I know the member for Hunter will want to do some of those dance aerobics. He hides it, but it's innate in who he is. To help offset the muscle soreness, the afterparty barbecue on the Yarra includes DJs, bands, fun activities at the finish line and even, occasionally, a couple of celebrities. Every dollar raised helps fund the innovation that will lead to better outcomes for paediatric brain cancer patients and support existing patients in the interim.

Thanks to the level of community support across the last three Connor's Runs—and, as I have reminded the member for Hunter, I was there and I finished them—the AIM BRAIN Project is now fully funded. This means world-class molecular diagnostic testing is available to every child in Australia and New Zealand. This world-leading technology helps doctors better understand and classify individual tumours. With a clearer understanding of each tumour, specialists can create better, more personalised treatments based on both the placement of a tumour and its molecular build. The RCD Foundation has also joined forces with the Financial Markets Foundation for Children, the incredible work of the federal government—because when you deliver a budget surplus, you can support important health outcomes, particularly under the leadership of the current health minister—and Carrie's Beanies 4 Brain Cancer to pledge a total of $10 million over five years for paediatric brain cancer clinical trials. Now that the AIM BRAIN Project is firmly in place, it can determine the best clinical trials available for each child.

Of course, these projects don't come about by accident; they come about because people take initiative and do the right thing. In memory of Connor, his parents, Liz and Scott Dawes, set up the RCD Foundation to set an example not just for our community—though it has—but of course for every parent who wants to support the memory of their lost child.

House adjourned at 20:00

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