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

I thank the House for the opportunity to speak on this important motion against the backdrop of this month, Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. I also would like to begin by thanking the member for Perth for the opportunity to speak on this motion and to speak about its importance. It is a motion that touches the hearts of many of the constituents in the Goldstein electorate and, of course, of people across Australia—men over the age of 50 who are mindful of their health, or who are not mindful and therefore get left undiagnosed—because the scourge of prostate cancer is real. In Australia, prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men. Approximately 3,500 Australian men die of prostate cancer each year, and many of those cases are preventable simply through people getting checked early enough.

The member for Groom made the point earlier that more men die of prostate cancer than women die of breast cancer. That is not to take anything away from the risks of breast cancer in women—we know very well those risks and many of the people it affects. But it highlights the awareness and the publicity that breast cancer receives and how silent many people often are about prostate cancer and why we need to stand up and voice our concern today. Of course, for many men who go and seek assistance to check a diagnosis of prostate cancer, it can often be, like many medical checks, one based on fear. That is partly an overconfidence of men who don't feel they need to go and get health checks, because, as the member for Hasluck reminded us, we're all invincible, but the reality is human frailty and health frailty comes in. Many men who go off and seek a diagnosis to make sure that they are healthy and well come out with good news, and on that basis we should be happy and relieved for them. But, when it comes down to it, if your fear is the basis on which you're not seeking a diagnosis one way or the other, it is the worst approach to take, because we know that those people who seek a diagnosis early are in a situation where they're in the best position to be able to soften the impacts and to seek assistance.

While there are many challenges that men will face as they age, prostate cancer is a very real one. Of course, if people receive a diagnosis then very quickly they will face concerns of anguish, fear, fallen pride and the need for conversations with family, with their loved ones and with their friends. And we know that there are two major factors that ultimately inform people's risk profiles: their age and their relatives having had prostate cancer in the past. That's why having those conversations and raising awareness is so critical: it is so people will take action early and so they're in the best position to put themselves forward. And one of the things that we all have to be mindful of is that, when people go and get these diagnoses, they don't face them alone.

I was just looking up the various support groups for the Goldstein electorate and the community surrounding it so that, if you've recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer, you know you can seek assistance from your peers and from people going through similar challenges and, of course, to secure medical support. And there are a number of support groups within our area. There's the Bayside-Kingston support group, one based just to the north of the Goldstein electorate, in St Kilda; one to the east at Monash University; and the South Eastern Prostate Cancer Support Group. But, also critically, there are support groups for those people who come from CALD backgrounds or those where English is a second language. There are a number of support groups—for the Greek community in particular in Melbourne—to make sure that, if you come from a cultural background, you needn't be in a position of silence or a lack of support. Similarly, there are groups for the LGBTI community, particularly the Gay Men's Prostate Cancer Support Group, which, of course, are for seeking support and assistance around others of like mind or experience. And that's the basis on which we raise the profile of prostate cancer today.

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