James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's a great pleasure to contribute on this motion on polio. It's not been enjoyable, but it's been lovely to see everyone on all sides of politics come together over an issue like this. We often spend a lot of time in this Chamber and others arguing with each other, but obviously this is a topic that we've got complete unity and bipartisanship over.

I start by commending my good friend and colleague the member for Higgins for bringing this issue forward for debate. We are really lucky to have people like the member for Higgins with a background in a particular area like hers, in paediatric gastroenterology, now sitting in this parliament representing her community but also representing the vocation that she comes from, having spent decades dedicated to public health both as a doctor and a medical researcher. I thank her very much for bringing this forward.

It was an honour to have her a few weeks ago in my electorate in Adelaide. We went to the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute to do a tour of that building and look at the sorts of things that they're working on there and what they will be doing in the proton therapy unit next door, which is currently under construction. It is hopefully going to be up and running in two years time, which will create a capacity in this country that we don't currently have—to undertake small localised radiation treatment, nuclear medicine on tumours. This will be particularly helpful for young children, as polio of course is a disease that affects young children. I just wanted to reflect on that and the value of having her there.

There's never been a more important time to talk about vaccination. A lot of the speakers have talked about coronavirus, and I will make a few brief remarks about that in a moment. With the success of vaccines almost wiping out polio and other diseases, there's never been a more important time to talk about this. We need to remind people how important and sensible it is to be vaccinated. The member for Moncrieff talked about the excellent record that we have in this country of people embracing vaccines. It's disappointing, to be frank, to see some people seeking attention—even over the last week—from an antivaccination point of view, but hopefully if we all work together as a united parliament we can give people confidence in being vaccinated, particularly against the coronavirus.

It amazes me that my father was born at a time when the polio vaccine wasn't available. It's something that you tend to take for granted. He grew up at a time when he was at a high risk of potentially contracting polio. We're so lucky that we live in an era now where that's just not the case. It's even more impressive that, in parts of the world like Africa, which has so many public health challenges, organisations that have been reflected on, like Rotary in particular, who are just sensational, in the work they do—and we all have Rotary clubs in our electorates. They're the most selfless, dedicated volunteers. The fact that they, with so many other organisations under the WHO's leadership, have contributed towards the eradication of polio in Africa is a testament to the work that they do and the fact that when you put your mind to something, when you're committed and dedicated to it, and when you've got the strength of numbers behind you, you can achieve these kinds of outcomes. There are two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan, where we haven't finished the job. I am very proud of the contribution that our government is making towards that objective, of complete eradication, and very hopeful that that can be achieved in those final two countries as quickly as possible. The fact that we've been able to eradicate it everywhere else shows that it's definitely achievable.

Finally on vaccinations, the coronavirus vaccination program commences today. What a perfect time it is to be talking about this in this chamber. I am certainly taking the opportunity as a member of parliament—and as I'm sure my colleagues are—to make sure we're spreading the word in our communities about the importance of people participating in this vaccination program. I had the opportunity to speak to one of my RSLs on Friday. It was a group of older people. It's not just about us all getting vaccinated; it's about telling everyone we know that they have to do it too. We can't risk younger people in particular not taking it as seriously as they need to. For the protection of all of our loved ones, I urge every Australian to participate in the coronavirus vaccination program over the coming months.

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