Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker Kelly, thank you very much for your ruling that I am not disorderly! Today I am dressed in a suit that I brought into this chamber some 40 years or more ago. I was challenged by some to do so today—and I will outline the reason—and I was told by the member for Werriwa and by my daughter that I should not. Many colleagues on this side of the House and on that side of the House—Mr Deputy Speaker included—have sponsored me because, by wearing this suit, I am raising money for sufferers of motor neurone disease. We are raising money for Macquarie University, which conducts research into the disease. We have been able to raise in excess of $1,500 already and I am sure there will be more.

Motor neurone disease is a progressive terminal neurological disease for which there is no known cure. Each day, two people die from it; each day in Australia, two people are diagnosed with it. People with it progressively lose the use of their limbs and their ability to speak, swallow and breathe, and their life expectancy is 27 months. An estimated 1,900 people have it in Australia today. This is an important cause and I hope people will contribute generously.