Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) nine men a day die from prostate cancer;

(b) September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month;

(c) Members of Parliament and members of the community are encouraged to host their own Big Aussie Barbie to raise awareness for the prevention of prostate cancer in Australia; and

(d) the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) encourages all men to:

  (i) be aware of the importance of early detection;

  (ii) consult with their general practitioner about prostate cancer; and

  (iii) if they have a family history of prostate cancer and are aged 40 to 50 years, arrange with their general practitioner to be tested; and

(2) acknowledges the important work done by the PCFA through promoting research, raising awareness and supporting the families of prostate cancer sufferers and survivors.

In my first speech in parliament I told the story of my grandfather Athol Neate. He was a garbageman, he was a soldier and he was a prisoner of war. He was captured by the Nazis in Crete in 1941 and he spent the next few years as a prisoner of war until he was released in 1943 as part of a prisoner transfer. He lived an extraordinary life and he died an excruciating death. He died from prostate cancer. I will never forget how the drugs that he had to take made his face, his feet and his hands puff up. I will never forget visiting him at the nursing home just before he died and seeing how he had so withered away. I will never forget the pained look on his face, his courage in the face of all of this or how much he loved my grandmother and my whole family. He deserved better. He deserved better than an awful death. He deserved better than to be taken by this terrible disease.

So many Australian families have a story like this. Every day, nine Australian men die from prostate cancer, more than 3,000 every year. More Australians die from prostate cancer than breast cancer, but awareness of this disease and funding for research are tiny by comparison. Today, another 54 Australians will be told that that they have prostate cancer. Twenty thousand will get this news this year. For some, it will be too late; the cancer will be too advanced to stop. But for others, those who find out early—this is important information; it is information that could just save their lives—early detection is the key. In the early stages of prostate cancer you might have no symptoms at all. That is why, if you are a bloke in your 40s or 50s, it is important to talk to your doctor and ask their advice about getting tested. If you have a family history of prostate cancer, it is recommended that you talk to your doctor about getting checked from the age of 40. If you do not have a family history of prostate cancer, then it is recommended that you should start talking to your doctor about this when you turn 50. The most important thing is to go to the doctor, and men, as we know, are terrible at this. We tend to put off going to the doctor. We do not like getting a check-up, and we do not like asking questions about all of these things, but we have to—it is too important not to. If you are listening to this and you are not a bloke in your 40s or 50s but know somebody who is, then encourage them to go to the doctor to ask these questions, get information and ask if they should get a check-up.

That is what this month is all about. This month is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month and as part of that the Prostate Cancer Awareness Foundation is encouraging all of us— members of parliament and all members of the community—to organise a Big Aussie Barbie to raise awareness of prostate cancer and to raise funds to help the 120,000 Australian men and their families who are currently living with prostate cancer. I am running my own Big Aussie Barbie this Saturday morning at Bass Hill Plaza in my electorate. If you live in Bankstown, Bass Hill, Georges Hall, Yagoona or anywhere in Western Sydney and you have some spare time this Saturday morning, come down to Bass Hill Plaza, buy a snag and get some information.

This Wednesday, with my colleague Karen McNamara, the member for Dobell, we are hosting a Big Aussie Barbie here at Parliament House. I can think of no better way to get a bunch of politicians, their staff and journalists together than the smell of steak, sausages and onions cooking. So that is what we will be doing this Wednesday at midday in the House of Representatives courtyard. I encourage everybody here at Parliament House to come along, get a snag, get a steak, get a brochure with some information, read it and then give it to someone you love and tell them to read it and to have a talk to their doctor. If you are watching this or listening to this and you want to run your own barbie or just get more information, then go to www.prostate.org.au—you might just save your life.

Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Karen McNamara (Dobell, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and I thank the member for Blaxland for bringing it before the House. I also thank the member for joining with me as the co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Prostate Cancer Awareness Group and for his efforts in raising awareness of prostate cancer. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare provides startling statistics on how this cancer continues to be so devastating. Almost 25 per cent of all new male cancer cases are prostate cancer, and it is forecast that there will be approximately 17,250 new cases of prostate cancer diagnosed in 2015.

While there are approximately 120,000 men nationwide living with prostate cancer, there is a 93 per cent chance of surviving for five years or more. Unfortunately, it is estimated that more than 3,000 men will tragically lose their battle with prostate cancer this year. Thirteen per cent of all male deaths from cancer are attributed to prostate cancer. Studies of prostate cancer continue to indicate a strong correlation between age and this particular type of cancer. This year it is estimated that the risk of a male being diagnosed with prostate cancer by their 85th birthday will be one in seven. It is anticipated that this year the incidence of prostate cancer will increase for all age groups up to 65 years of age. Latest statistics on the New South Wales Central Coast indicate that prostate cancer accounts for almost 16 per cent of all cancer diagnoses.

With nine men dying every day from prostate cancer, it is clear that there is still a lot of work to be done. In acknowledging the unfortunately high number of men suffering from prostate cancer, it is important that we as parliamentarians raise awareness in our communities of this deadly disease, particularly in September, it being Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Every year, in an effort to raise awareness of the devastation caused by prostate cancer, the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, the PCFA, host a number of events. A highlight event is the Big Aussie Barbie, which is held in many communities across Australia. In my electorate of Dobell, community groups such as the Bateau Bay Men's Shed have already held a barbie for this worthy cause, and many more organisations, such as our local bowling clubs, will be hosting Big Aussie Barbies pretty soon.

Not only will there be Big Aussie Barbies held in Dobell and in the seat of Blaxland to help raise awareness but, later this week here at Parliament House, the PCFA will be hosting the Parliamentary Big Aussie Barbie. I encourage all members to drop by and lend their support. We will also see the arrival of the Big Aussie Barbie semitrailer here at Parliament House, driven from Queensland to Canberra by Mr John West, a prostate cancer survivor. I would also like to take this opportunity to encourage any individuals in the community who may be interested in organising their own Big Aussie Barbie to do so.

I join with the member for Blaxland in thanking the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia for the work they do and their tireless efforts to promote awareness. In raising awareness of prostate cancer, early detection and advances in treatment, hopefully the success rate with this type of cancer will increase. An early prognosis is important to successful treatment, so the PCFA encourage all men over the age of 50—or, in the case of men with a family history of prostate cancer, over the age of 40—to talk to their GP about testing for this disease.

As I have mentioned, prostate cancer is a devastating cancer. It is common, it is a rapid cancer and a large number of men will be affected. A strong advocate for awareness of prostate cancer is a former member for Robertson, the Hon. Jim Lloyd. In his own words, Jim said:

I know from personal experience just how important early diagnosis is in the successful treatment of prostate cancer.

In acknowledging Jim's tireless work, I would also like to acknowledge the many other advocates for the positive stories from prostate cancer, and I am sure many people would agree with Jim's sentiments on early detection.

I comment also on the impacts this cancer, as well as other types of cancer, has on the families of those diagnosed. As a mother, wife, daughter and sister, I acknowledge this cancer could affect my family. All of the awareness and support I have referred to relies on many supportive women in our communities. It was my interactions with the women bowlers of my community that led me to approaching the bowling clubs of Dobell to host a Big Aussie Barbie after the women shared with me their personal stories of their partner's battle with prostate cancer. In closing, I thank the member for Blaxland for bringing this motion to the House and for working with me as co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Prostate Cancer Awareness group.

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to thank the members for Blaxland and Dobell for moving this motion on prostate cancer awareness. It is true that early detection is always the best protection, and the screening of men is now seen as something that is entirely normal and something that has the universal support of the medical profession. It was not always so. Back in the days when Jim Lloyd and I moved the first motion in this parliament about raising awareness of prostate cancer, that advice of early detection and universal screening as the best protection was opposed by substantial elements of the medical profession. So it is great to see how far we have come.

I pay tribute to the work of the Prostate Cancer Foundation and in particular its former chairman, Graeme Johnson, who was honoured in the Australia Day awards for his very substantial work over many years in raising awareness about prostate cancer. There have of course been many other tireless advocates in our community—Jim Lloyd is one—who have saved lives through raising awareness.

I come to this debate and discussion with a great deal of personal experience. I can stand here and say that I am one of the lucky ones. Had things been different, if I had not had a switched-on GP, I would not be here today. That might of course have been pleasing to one or two around the place; nevertheless, I was the beneficiary of a switched-on GP who, for no reason other than the fact that she was acutely aware of how dangerous this disease is, gave me a PSA test without me having asked for it specifically—because there were no symptoms. There are so many who have no symptoms who are not detected and who, as a consequence of not being detected, die a very painful and excruciating death. Early detection is the best protection and I am an example of someone who was detected early and has gone on to live a life unaffected by my prostate cancer, its diagnosis or its subsequent treatment.

What my case says is something really powerful about what needs to be done. Whilst I was diagnosed in 2001, my father, a digger from World War II, survived the war but did not survive prostate cancer. In 1989 he died from prostate cancer—an agonising death—aged 67. I was only 35 when he passed away and, like most men of my age, I was entirely unware that as a consequence of his prostate cancer I was at a much higher degree of risk of contracting prostate cancer. I was entirely unaware of that. I did not think about my vulnerability until I was diagnosed 12 years after his death, in a sudden call from my GP telling me I had had an adverse test. As I said before, the test was not taken because I had gone to the doctor complaining about any symptoms—because for many prostate cancer is a silent killer. That is why it is so dangerous.

Having watched my father die a painful death from prostate cancer, I was blissfully unaware at that stage that I had any higher degree of risk. In fact, at that stage there was a lot of advice floating around from shonks in the medical profession to the effect of, 'You don't die from it, you die with prostate cancer.' That was used by many to argue the case against universal testing, whatever the age of the patient—40-plus, 50-plus and so on. What most men still do not know—and this is where there is a huge communication exercise yet to take place—is that, if they have a first-degree relative who has suffered from prostate cancer, the risk of having cancer is not one in 10 or one in seven but one in three. That number is not really known. There are still many people who are highly at risk of prostate cancer but who are blissfully unaware of the need to be tested. Of course, testing does not come easily to many men, who do not necessarily want to have the challenge, in their terms, of a choice between their long term health or some particular impact—for example, on their sex life.

There are still many more lives yet to be saved, with 17,000 new cases each year and over 3,000 men dying. There is so much more work to be done. The good news is that survival rates are going up dramatically. That is largely a result of the great work of people like Professor Tony Costello, Phil Stricker and others, and the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia. They have been so successful not only in raising awareness but also in the technological advances that have come through robotics and many other achievements. I will finish by saying that in government we established the prostate centres as part of our comprehensive approach to making sure that men survive prostate cancer. (Time expired)

Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Blaxland for this very important motion. Concerns about prostate cancer strike a chord with many of us and many families across Australia. I note the statistic that nine men die from prostate cancer per day, and in regional areas like mine the statistics are particularly dire. In 2011 there were nearly 20,000 new cases of prostate cancer in Australia, accounting for 30 per cent of all new cases of cancer in males, making it the most common cancer diagnosis in Australia—excluding non-melanoma skin cancer—and the most common cancer diagnosed in Australian men. It is estimated that, by 2020, this figure will have grown to over 25,000 new cases.

With substantial funding support from the federal government, the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, PCFA, is doing very important work to promote and fund research, implement awareness campaigns, education campaigns and programs, and provide support to men and their families through information and resources, support groups and prostate cancer specialist nurses.

Breaking the stigma about men's health check-ups is an issue I am very aware of. My predecessor, the late Albie Shultz, fought for prostate cancer support to the very end. In fact, as I have already indicated in this place, a prostate cancer nurse for the Riverina was the last thing I spoke to him about before he died. Over the last 12 months, my colleague Michael McCormack, the member for Riverina, and I have heard a great deal of community concern about the urgent need to address this gap in healthcare support for men and families in Riverina. We took the issue repeatedly to the minister, Sussan Ley, and it was a tremendous feeling last month to find that a workable solution had been found for the region.

A partnership between the    PCFA, the Murrumbidgee Local Health District and the local community has allowed for a prostate cancer coordinator position to be created for the region. This new role will provide a specialist nurse coordinator to work with patients and their families to offer support, assist with access to services, source information about diagnosis and treatment, coordinate care, and help with education and training of other healthcare workers. The coordinator will be based in the Wagga Wagga Health Service and will coordinate support for prostate cancer patients in surrounding towns, including Cootamundra and Young in my electorate, through regular education and training sessions and so on. They will also be making use of technology, such as videoconferencing, to enhance support.

The specialist nurse will see patients outside of Wagga Wagga and will provide guidance and expertise to up-skill local cancer care coordinators. That is a very important part of this, because it is very different dealing with prostrate cancer versus other sorts of cancer. We know there is, of course, magnificent support for breast cancer, but it is very different. Jill Ludford, Chief Executive of the Murrumbidgee Local Health District, said the prostate cancer nurse was an:

… important priority for our region and this outcome is a great example of community partnerships. The Murrumbidgee Local Health District is keen to work with support groups and continue to meet regularly with them on the back of this good news story.

After hearing news of the support that we now have, I jumped straight on the phone to the president of the Cootamundra Prostate Cancer Support Group, Eddy Williams. Eddy said:

We are absolutely delighted the Federal Government has made the funds available. The Cootamundra Prostate Cancer Support Group advocated strongly with many letters going to various people. We are so happy; this will make a difference and it will save lives. It is a very, very important role the prostate nurse has, as they are there to follow-up with the patient and their family right through the journey.

It is wonderful seeing Eddy getting that support he has fought for for so long. I would also like to note the key role Sherrie McCaffery and Bob Bowcher of the Cootamundra Prostate Cancer Support Group have played in lobbying stakeholders on this issue, and I note the keen interest of the newly formed Young Prostate Cancer Support Group.

This is an outstanding result from an active community campaign, and I am delighted to announce this news to the House    during Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

Debate adjourned.