Ann Sudmalis (Gilmore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a more positive note, because I am definitely a glass-half-full person rather than a glass-half-empty person—in fact completely empty!—on Saturday, 25 March 2017, I officially cut the ribbon to begin the Shoalhaven Nowra Relay For Life. The relay is held every year at the Nowra showground, and according to the New South Wales Cancer Council over 74 teams registered, with more than 756 participants in total. A recent check of the Shoalhaven Nowra 2017 Relay For Life website showed that our local community had raised over $124,000 and is still going strong to reach our relay goal of $200,000. In fact, in the last 14 years, they have raised over $2½ million.

In Australia there are now over 200 relays hosted every year. Many Australians participate in memory of a loved one who was lost to cancer, and that is reflected unbelievably in the small paper bags with the candles in just at sunset. There are others who want to show support for those affected by cancer, and then those that are walking to celebrate our friends and family who have survived cancer.

In the Shoalhaven we were surrounded by rain and wind—nothing like that which they are experiencing in Queensland, and God bless them; I hope they are all right up there—but we did have a very wet period and we could not actually walk on the showground. We had to convert it to going up and down Junction Street. But we kept the relay going ahead, and our local community members persevered through these conditions as only we do in our region. Food stalls run by community groups and craft and book stalls—anything they could sell to raise money, it was there.

The wonderful Lions Club was there to provide sustenance for everyone, the band that evening, Don't Change The INXS Story, as well as local performers, provided everyone with entertainment, and the rain stopped long enough to let us all dance. We got up and danced and we watched the children dance during the performances during the day between different processes and between rain showers—it was all really good.

I would like to say thank you to IJED Electrical Data, Pearce and Percy Constructions and TLE Nowra, who all worked together to put the amazing 'HOPE' sign together; the Turfco Cows, who were dressed up to raise awareness; and South Coast Security, who have been long term sponsors of the Shoalhaven Relay for Life. Team Sudmalis was out in force, and it is something we do every year. I am proud to be a part of this wonderful local event, and I congratulate everyone in the Shoalhaven for coming together and raising awareness and support for the fight against cancer, which is something that affects almost all of us—if not directly, then we know someone who has suffered. Thank you to Shoalhaven Relay for Life Committee, including Ron Hawthorne, Cathy Lucas, Max Wooley, Kimberley McMahon-Coleman, Ross Portener, Leanne Davey, Sue Dickie, Jacquie Ney, Sharon Jacobs and survivors Katherine and Les Bryant, Mel Day, Keith Lierz, Janet Hughes, Bob Wright, Sarah Ketlehohn and John Morrisey.

Another way of raising awareness of other forms of cancer, because prostate cancer is the one nobody ever talks about—on Friday, 7 April, along with Bayer Pharmaceuticals, we will be launching a prostate awareness event in Nowra to make sure that people in our region are well aware that early diagnosis, disease awareness and understanding can actually help prevent this illness. Efforts are being made to ensure an advanced prostate cancer treatment will be available. In 2016, we announced $20.5 million in funding for McGrath Breast Care Nurses in 55 locations including Nowra. In October 2016, the breast cancer drug tamoxifen was added to the PBS. This drug aims to reduce breast cancer from occurring in women who are highly at risk. According to the Breast Cancer Institute of Australia, it is estimated over 250,000 women will benefit from this listing. We also announced $60 million to list—I cannot pronounce the actual name for it, but the other name is 'Avastin'—on the PBS for the treatment of persistent, recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer. In February this year, olaparib, another treatment for ovarian cancer, was listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. And I note that the previous minister for health is actually here in the room, and it was her work that did that. This listing was one of the most significant we have had in 30 years. Last week, Adcetris was also one of several medicines to be available on the PBS. This drug is used to treat a rare type of Hodgkin's lymphoma, something that often affects young people. I am proud of our government's achievements to assist those affected by cancer, their friends and families.

I also need to say something about Dick Manwarring, who has done an amazing amount of fundraising for a bus to get cancer patients from Sanctuary Point to the cancer treatment centre, which is now located in Nowra, and also Wilga Crehan and all the girls at Sussex Inlet, who hold fundraising evenings to raise money for breast cancer in Sussex—thank you to everyone involved.