Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to inform the House that the Cancer Council's Relay for Life in my electorate of Wills in early April raised a grand total of $36,097.38. The event raised vital funds for the Cancer Council's research, prevention and support services. My team, aptly named 'Walk Like an Egyptian', walked through the night in recognition of the fact that, for cancer sufferers and their loved ones, the disease does not sleep. Staff, volunteers, friends and I walked laps of the Harold Stevens Athletics Track in Coburg from 3.30 pm on the Saturday to 9 am on the Sunday. Because it happened to be on the night daylight saving ended, we walked an extra hour, so it was 18½ hours of walking on behalf of cancer sufferers and patients.

Countless Australian lives have been saved over the last 20 years through improvements in cancer prevention and screening. The money raised at events such as this are critically important, and organisations like the Cancer Council and events like Relay for Life play a critical role in funding research that leads to these life-saving breakthroughs. Advances to cancer treatments allow cancer patients to spend more time with their loved ones. Relay for Life events are held all over the country at all times of the year. I encourage all members to get involved in their local event. It is a lot of fun, it benefits an incredibly important cause and it means a great deal to families of cancer patients. We all know it is difficult for families. With my own mum and my uncle going through lymphoma themselves, I know how important support from family members is to cancer patients.