Zoe McKenzie (Flinders, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Last week, I had the honour of officially opening the new comprehensive cancer centre at the Bays Hospital on Main Street, Mornington. It was built with funds provided by the coalition government back in 2019. This new facility will provide radiation oncology, a day infusion centre, a 20-30 bed inpatient facility, a consultation and education space for both breast and prostate cancer support nurses, and education and meeting spaces for community and general practitioners. It will change the lives of local cancer patients. It's a one-stop-shop for all cancer related services that's much closer to home, avoiding the daily, weekly or, in some cases, fortnightly commute to Frankston or, in the cases of many families, including my own, to Melbourne to obtain specialist oncology care.

The wellness centre was completed with a generous $600,000 donation from Community Bank Mount Martha, a branch of the Bendigo Bank. It provides a space for support groups and things like yoga and other bits and pieces. I thank Bruce Ranken, board chair and now a local councillor, for everything this extraordinary bank/branch does for our community. From health care to sporting facilities to local events and festivals, the peninsula would not be paradise without this little bank.

The Bays has partnered with Icon Cancer Care to bring the very latest in radiation oncology services to the peninsula, giving us access to this top-tier treatment. David Blakey gave me a tour of the facility. He showed me the extraordinary equipment, including the HyperArc, which will make diagnosis and treatment safe, comfortable, precise and quick. The HyperArc delivers radiation therapy and, through its devices, it can accurately target multiple tumours while ensuring limited doses of radiation go to surrounding healthy brain tissue, reducing the impact of side effects compared to traditional radiation on the brain, including headaches and hair loss, therefore contributing to general wellbeing and confidence in one's treatment. The CEO of Icon, Mark Middleton, joined us as the opening, together with the patron saint of this project and my dear good friend Professor the Hon. Greg Hunt, the former Minister for Health and former member for Flinders.

Cancer care is vital to my community. Twenty-five per cent of all Australian cancer diagnoses occur in Victoria, and the risk of developing cancer doubles between the ages of 50 and 60 and 60 and 70. Almost 90,000 people in my electorate have private health care. We also hold the record of having the highest private health insurance benefits per member. This important facility will be used and valued by our community in this much loved, community based, not-for-profit hospital, where generations of peninsula families have gone through births, breaks, bouts of disease, cancer and end-of-life care. I congratulate the Bays CEO, Jade Phelan, and chair of the board, Brett Gallagher, for continuing exceptional care and leadership of this enduring local institution. This investment, together with the $2.6 million investment into Alexandra Park Pavilion, which I opened last August, and the Rosebud Cancer and Clinical Trials Hub, the opening of which I attended with Greg Hunt in December 2021, is hard-won by the community of Flinders—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 09:44 to 09:54

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