Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Public Security and Policing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the member for La Trobe I have the opportunity to meet inspiring members of my local community. Last year I met eight-year-old Lavinia Martin who described to me her struggle with type 1 diabetes, otherwise known as juvenile diabetes. I was deeply moved by her story. Type 1 diabetes is unpreventable. It is often diagnosed in childhood or young adulthood, although the disease affects adults too. It affects one in 148 people. Lavinia is a fantastic ambassador for type 1 diabetes and together we organised an inaugural Teddy Bears Picnic and we raised nearly $8,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in Australia.

It was a fantastic day. Children with their teddy bears laughed their way through the afternoon enjoying train rides, competitions and kicking the footy with Western Bulldog star recruit Sam Reid all in the name of that fantastic cause. As I said, we raised $8,000. I would like to thank Jo Martin and Julie Levin who combined forces to organise the event and many thanks to Berwick Nissan and Benno’s Cafe Restaurant for being the major sponsors and also the wider community of Berwick.

My next goal is to push for a commitment from both the government and the opposition for $40 million to go towards a national clinical trial network in Australia. This is one of the diseases for which we all need to get behind finding a cure. It is very sad to see what is happening to young people in particular. I recommend that we find a cure. (Time expired)