Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Five years ago I spoke in this place to bring awareness to the plight of those suffering from mitochondrial disease. This is a disease which affects one in 200 Australians. It is commonly misdiagnosed, and it has no cure. Mitochondrial disease is a genetic disorder robbing the body of energy, causing multiple organ dysfunction or failure. Mitochondria provide our body with over 90 per cent of the energy it needs to sustain life. The disease reduces the ability of the mitochondria to function and to produce this energy, resulting in cells slowly dying until the organs fail. It is a life-threatening disease, and young Kara Crawley from Yowie Bay in my electorate was diagnosed with this disease at the age of eight after suffering a stroke. On Sunday evening, young Kara passed away three weeks after celebrating her 18th birthday. This is a terrible and horrible loss for her parents, Craig and Karen, her sister, Samantha, and her brother, Braden.

Kara touched our lives. She was a beautiful young women. She knew what all of us would hope to know, and that is to love and be loved, which she did in abundance. She was extremely bright. She loved playing the flute. She was at the top of the class. She loved playing with her friends and her brother and her sister. She wanted to study medicine at university and become a doctor like her mum. This is the way we wish to remember her. The funeral will be held tomorrow.

Kara suffered the symptoms of mito for many years prior to her formal diagnosis, which only came about through the sheer determination of her mother, Dr Karen Crawley, a general practitioner and an absolutely extraordinary individual. It was my privilege, a few years ago, to present Karen with our Cook Community Medal for her tremendous service to our community and to the community more broadly as part of the Australian Mitochondrial Disease Foundation, of which she has been a volunteer and leader, manning their helpline and assisting by holding fundraising events and, in so many ways, supporting many other families who suffer in this way.

Those of us who can be there tomorrow will gather together to remember Kara and remember her vivid and vivacious life and the way she was able to inspire all of us. She came along to our Cook Community Classic each year with her mum, where they would man a stall and talk to people about her condition. I know Karen and Craig would want us to remember Kara but, at the same time, remember all the families who suffer with this terribly debilitating disease. God bless young Kara. God bless her family. Our prayers are with them and with her brother and sister.