Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—Over the past year the committee heard almost 500 written submissions and conducted 15 public hearings across Australia, heading from advocacy groups, international renowned health experts and many people who live with diabetes every day. To those who shared their stories with us, I say thank you.

Even before becoming a member of this committee, I knew something of the experience of people living with diabetes and their families. In my electorate, there's an active group of children and families living with type 1 diabetes who support the JDRF who've some to see me, and I've watched the progress of a number of those children, and many of their families have become friends. Because of my constituents, I've been an advocate for research into diabetes and, in particular, greater access to CGMs. And I want to put on record my thanks to Greg Hunt, the health minister in the Morrison government, for extending access and supporting research.

At the outset, I would like to acknowledge and thank the chair of the committee, the member for Macarthur, Dr Mike Freelander. It's been an absolute pleasure to work with him. The member for Macarthur's professionalism in conducting the inquiry, his deep passion on the issue of diabetes, his expertise developed over many decades as a paediatrician and his collegiate approach are very much appreciated by all members of the committee, particularly on our side of the House.

I also want to mention the former deputy chair of the committee, the member for Lindsay. The member for Lindsay was the deputy chair for most of this inquiry and contributed much. She's the mother of Byron, who I understand is in the parliament today, and he lives with type 1 diabetes. She brought the perspective of a parent dealing with type 1 diabetes to the inquiry, and I'm grateful to her for all of her assistance, including in the final stages of the inquiry.

With one exception, the recommendations of the final report into diabetes enjoy bipartisan support. For instance, the report contains recommendations about the need for greater analysis; increased screening; the development of a best practice framework to tackle obesogenic environments in coordination with state and territory governments; and broader public awareness information about healthy lifestyle choices. These are steps that would build on the work of many previous governments.

All members of the committee were struck by evidence that most Australians are not meeting their required levels of physical activity and of the need to participate in sport throughout the school years to develop a foundation for lifelong healthy living. We agree with the recommendations about better and simpler food labelling to make consumer choices of healthy food easier. Coalition members of the committee agreed with recommendations to expand subsidies for access to CGMs. The CGM scheme was established in 2017 by the coalition and, once established, further enhancements and investments were made to the scheme. And we agree that equitable access to health care for people living with all forms of diabetes is crucial to effective management.

Over the course of the inquiry, the committee heard from groups in regional, rural and remote communities, and their evidence about the difficulties they face in managing diabetes. A person's ability to manage diabetes should not be determined by postcode. Coalition members of the committee also agreed with the need to investigate mechanisms for priority access to GLP1 receptor agonists for disadvantaged and remote communities of high need, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We strongly support a review into the limits for accessing juvenile mental health and diabetes services, with a view to enabling young people to continue receiving support for longer. And coalition members agreed with the need to investigate measures to lower the cost of treatment.

As I said, while there are many areas of agreement, coalition members dissent from recommendation 4, which recommends a sugar tax. We believe that the case for a levy on sugar-sweetened beverages has not been made. Australia is in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis which shows no sign of abating. People are doing it tough, struggling to pay bills and put food on the table. We believe this new tax proposal would cause financial harm disproportionately to those who can least afford it. There's also a real issue about whether a sugar tax would change behaviour. Finally, it's worth noting that an existing tax is applied to discretionary foods, such as confectionary and sugary drinks, and that's by way of the goods and services tax. But the GST does not apply to a range of healthy foods like fresh fruit, vegetables, fish and bottled water.

As I said, with the exception of this recommendation, coalition members support all other recommendations in the report, and we encourage the government to give those recommendations serious consideration and implementation. Once again, I thank the chair, my parliamentary colleagues and the committee staff for their efforts in the inquiry. I hope those living with diabetes recognise the genuine goodwill and deep thinking about diabetes management and prevention that have gone into the report. I commend the report to the House.

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