Mark Coulton (Parkes, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

I'd be very happy to second the motion. I'd like to thank the member for Macarthur for bringing this to the House. It's a subject very close to my heart. As someone who represents a western New South Wales electorate with great exposure to the sun, I'm well aware of the complications. As a matter of fact, I could be exhibit A. Tomorrow, I won't be here; I'll be in Tamworth having a melanoma and two basal cell carcinomas removed from my face. That's a low-grade melanoma so it should be fine. I've grown those in the last 12 months after I had the last melanoma. The doctor told me that once you've had a melanoma you're 20 times more likely to get another one.

There have been great advances made. With immunotherapy, particularly for the stage 4s and once it's metastasised, they've had great results—however, not with everyone. I understand about 65 per cent of people will respond very positively to immunotherapy. As a matter of fact, I have a cousin who had a melanoma in his bowel, and he's had great results through immunotherapy. Why in his bowel? Some would say that's where he thinks the sun shines from, but that's another matter!

As the previous speaker said, they can come under the arches of your feet, under your fingernails and all sorts of places. Indeed, the one I'm having removed tomorrow has been under a hat. As a younger person, all through summer, I would work out in the paddocks with a pair of shorts, a hat and a pair of boots. That was what everyone did in those days. Indeed, I was 50 when I made my first speech in this place, and up until then all my work had been outside under the sun.

So I think we need to do more. I do have some concerns from during the pandemic. A lot of the services to the bush are delivered by FIFO—fly-in fly-out—specialists. Thankfully, we have ones that will come out from the city and run a clinic in Dubbo and places like that. But, with the closures and the clamping down of travel during the pandemic, I am concerned that we are going to see possibly some undiagnosed skin cancer issues, because people haven't been having those regular check-ups. I can see some people in the chamber here who have issues connected to drug companies, and there have been some great advances in treatments in that space.

Following on from the member for Macarthur's opening statement, I think we do need to be more aware. I wholeheartedly agree with getting a Medicare item number for this. My procedure tomorrow will cost $1,600 out of pocket to get done. For some people that would be a big imposition on their budget. I would certainly think it would be a tragedy if people chose not to get these things dealt with because they were concerned about the financial implications.

I was a member of the Apex Club of Warialda for 20 years before I came here. The Apex Club of Moree started a campaign about melanoma and skin cancer. That was back in the early eighties. They'd lost a member of their club at a young age through melanoma. So we started putting skin protective creams at local swimming pools and awareness campaigns in local media, because there really was no understanding of the connection between exposure to the sun and the ongoing effects later in life. If you look at my grandkids now, they wear rashies, hats and SP50 before they even go outside, so the message has got through. Hopefully, we might be the last generation that rides this wave of high incidences of melanoma, BCCs and, as the member for Macarthur said, squamous cells, which can be quite dangerous. So slip, slop, slap, but get an annual check-up at least, because it could save your life.

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