Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy Affordability) Share this | Hansard source

In Australia, 1.5 million people live with diabetes. This is one of our country's most serious and important health issues for governments to address. The health committee's diabetes report, The state of diabetes mellitus in Australiain 2024, was tabled a few months ago in parliament. The report uncovered the growing prevalence of diabetes right across the country. It is a public health imperative that we take immediate action on every form of diabetes that impacts the lives of Australians.

I note the report acknowledges that type 1 diabetes can be triggered by COVID-19. It reads:

As part of the inquiry, the Committee heard evidence discussing the possibility of a COVID-19 infection being an environmental trigger that could influence the development of Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. Multiple submitters, including the Department of Health and Aged Care, referenced emerging evidence suggesting that there may be a link between COVID-19 and new-onset Type 1 and/or Type 2 diabetes.

I think the research is now clear that this is the case. As the mother of a son who developed type 1 diabetes shortly after having COVID-19 in 2022, it is heartening to know that this is being taken seriously by the committee. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the work of the incredible medical researchers who continue to investigate the triggers of autoimmune diseases and how we can best prevent, diagnose and manage these occurrences.

As the deputy chair of the committee at the time of the inquiry, it was my strong desire that we maintain a tight focus on type 1 diabetes and, in particular, its impact on young people. Regarding type 1 diabetes, I support all the recommendations that we handed down in the report. The report recommends further research funding into diabetes within the Australian context. This is needed for those with type 1, where research is the only way to a cure.

The report also calls for more diabetes educators. The public health system is extremely stretched. As parliamentarians, we all know this from the many stories we hear weekly from constituents. With my son's type 1 diagnosis, I experienced firsthand the need for more diabetes educators. Nepean Hospital, in my electorate, had only one type 1 diabetes educator for new patients. The story is the same right across Western Sydney for those with type 1. The daily work of diabetes educators is so important for those who have just been diagnosed, as it will be throughout their life.

In terms of medical technology, there is a recommendation to extend constant glucose monitoring, CGM, devices to all. Regarding insulin pumps, we've seen the Albanese Labor government cut choices available to those with type 1 to one product. This must change now, and we acknowledge this need in the report. For those with type 1, choice is pivotal in ensuring they have access to the devices that work for them. I've strongly advocated for those with type 1 diabetes to have access to fully subsidised devices, given that those who are now aged 21 and above must make co-payments for these life-saving and needed daily products.

Choice in devices and ongoing advances in medical technology is life saving for those managing type 1 diabetes, and this cannot be understated. We need such ideas to be taken up by government so that the lives of those with this chronic illness are made easier. Every kid with type 1 deserves a device that works for them so they can play sport with their friends in the playground and not worry and can participate as an athlete at even the most elite levels of sport.

There is no doubt that Australia has an epidemic in relation to type 2 diabetes. Some of the highest rates of type 2 diabetes are in Western Sydney, including in my own electorate of Lindsay, spanning from Penrith to St Marys. Urgent action needs to be taken to change this. This action spans all three levels of government, as well as academia and community stakeholders. In terms of type 2 diabetes, I strongly support early intervention, especially the promotion of physical activity and healthy eating habits, which should be ingrained in the primary school curriculum. Type 2 diabetes is on the rise in our kids, and we need to counter this immediately. If we do not act now to stop the growth of type 2 for the next generation, we are going to see poorer life outcomes for many kids in low socioeconomic areas and, in particular, more pressure applied to our public health system.

It is time for a new public health campaign to encourage healthy, active lifestyles with a focus on the prevention of type 2 diabetes. As the member for Lindsay, I started a healthy active living network in my community when I was first elected in 2019. It is a passion of mine to ensure that every child and adult has a sport they want to play that is accessible to them or that they even get out and about and do the river walk along the Nepean River.

We need every policy lever pulling in the same direction in order to combat type 2. We need governments to step up and tackle this issue head on. Other factors like diet and education are critical in all age groups to stop more diagnoses of type 2. Low carbohydrate diets need more attention in this respect. As a former shadow assistant minister for mental health and suicide prevention, I fully support the recommendation for the government to review access to juvenile mental health services for those with diabetes. Kids with type 1 often feel disengaged and feel they can't participate in so much. This is the same, of course, for children with type 2. There is a psychological element of diabetes that our young people must combat every day. The report noted that diabetes patients make more than 180 diabetes related decisions a day. That is extraordinary.

I thank my fellow committee members for their work on this report and for their expertise—many are doctors, including the chair and my good friend the member for Macarthur—and I thank others like the members for Higgins, Kooyong, Mackellar and Robertson. I also want to thank the member for Berowra for taking on the deputy chair position of the committee, as I became a shadow minister and was made a supplementary member for the remainder of the inquiry. I want to especially thank the members of the committee from Western Sydney, including the members for Hughes, Macarthur and Werriwa. You all have an acute understanding of how type 2 impacts our communities and our health systems. I also want to acknowledge the late member for Dunkley Peta Murphy for her contribution to the committee's work.

Finally, I would like to give a shout-out to a clinician on the frontline in Western Sydney, Dr Kathryn Williams, whose work on obesity in its most severe forms is extraordinary. I thank her for her ongoing advocacy in type 2 and obesity research as well.

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