Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges that:

(a) Australia has the highest incidence of melanoma in the world and that melanoma is the most common cancer in young Australians aged 15 to 39; and

(b) LEGO is a world-renowned brand with a philosophy to foster imaginative and creative learning and development through play;

(2) congratulates Mr Damien MacRae and his seven year old son Aiden on creating an Australian sun smart beach themed LEGO project entitled 'LEGO Surf Rescue', which has reached the required 10,000 supporters for the LEGO Ideas review;

(3) recognises that:

(a) Mr MacRae and his family have shown remarkable resilience and positivity, in spite of his terminal melanoma diagnosis, in highlighting the dangers of skin cancer and the importance of sun safety; and

(b) the 'LEGO Surf Rescue' project:

(i) demonstrates not only the importance of sun safety to reduce the risks of melanoma, but also highlights the importance of surf lifesaving and promotes healthy and active lifestyles for children; and

(ii) would be the first set in LEGO history to feature figures wearing sunscreen; and

(4) calls on LEGO to support 'LEGO Surf Rescue', and to approve the project to become an official LEGO set.

I rise today to support an innovative LEGO project designed by my constituent, Damien MacRae, and his son, Aiden. In 2016, without warning and still in his early 40s, Damien was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma. This turned Damien's and his family's world upside down. Despite the tremendous weight put upon his shoulders, Damien set his mind to making a difference. This has given rise to a project built on hope and courage. I was fortunate to meet Damien this year and hear his story firsthand. Following his diagnosis, Damien and Aiden set themselves a mission: to devise a LEGO set which promotes sun safety to children. Damien, through his own personal trials, began to design a sun-safe LEGO set with his son Aiden entitled 'LEGO Surf Rescue'. They drew inspiration from their own experiences of Australia's beaches to design the LEGO set, as well as spending hours online together finding elements they wanted to include in the project. Their goal was for this LEGO set to feature sun-smart Australian heroes wearing hats, sunglasses and sunscreen. Together they designed a LEGO set featuring an Australian beach with waves, surfboards and a sand castle, complete with surf lifesavers and a shark. The concept is iconically Australian.

They submitted the project to the LEGO Ideas program. This program reviews LEGO set ideas that are supported by 10,000 members of the public, with approved designs becoming official products. Their project started small in the later months of 2016. By October, they passed their first milestone—100 people online had seen their project and supported it. Just over five weeks later, their support had grown tenfold to over 1,000 supporters. The support from LEGO fans across the globe continued to grow as more people learned about Damien and Aiden's story and joined in supporting their mission.

On 19 April this year, Damien and Aiden received the message they had been waiting for from LEGO—'Congratulations on 10,000 supporters'. They had reached the benchmark for official review, and the project that started in their own home is now being reviewed by LEGO engineers. In acknowledging this project, LEGO sent Damien the following message:

The entire Lego Ideas team is honoured you and Aiden have chosen to express your important message about surf and sun safety through Lego bricks …

Our warmest thoughts go out to you, your family, and friends. You and your son’s tribute and message have reached tens of thousands worldwide.

Damien and Aiden should be very proud of their achievements. Even whilst the project is still in review, they have touched thousands of people across the globe with their message about sun safety. If this project is approved by LEGO, it will be the first LEGO set in history to feature figurines wearing sunscreen. LEGO is world renowned for its quality toys and its emphasis on learning through play. It is no surprise that Damien and Aiden chose LEGO as the foundation for their idea. I'm reliably told that Aiden loves it. 'LEGO Surf Rescue' provides a new avenue for parents to engage with kids about the importance of beach and sun safety.

In Australia we are blessed with some of the best weather, but unfortunately Australia also has the highest incidence of melanoma in the world. Melanoma is the most common cancer in young Australians aged 15 to 39. Even today, when the facts about melanoma are widespread and well known, too many people are still being diagnosed. Australians spend a lot of time in the sun, from playing sports to going to weekend barbecues and, of course, the beach. Wherever we can, we must spread the important message about sun safety and reduce the tragically high incidence of melanoma.

Damien's resilience and his message are inspiring. The comments online from supporters worldwide are a testament to that. The LEGO philosophy is grounded in the knowledge that creativity and inspiration are grown through good, quality play. Without a doubt, this project embodies the creative mission of LEGO, and 'LEGO Surf Rescue' would stand proudly alongside other LEGO products in stores around the world. I would like to thank Damien and his family, who are watching along at home, for allowing me to share their story with the parliament. Damien and Aiden set out to make a difference, and it's clear beyond doubt that they are achieving precisely that. Aiden, you should be very proud of yourself and this wonderful project, and I'm sure you're very proud of your dad. Damien's resilience and optimism truly inspire, and this story rightly deserves its place in the people's house here in Canberra. I will also be writing to LEGO's headquarters in Denmark expressing the Australian parliament's support for this project and encouraging them to approve 'LEGO Surf Rescue' to become an official LEGO product. I commend this motion to the House.

Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and, in doing so, I congratulate and thank the member for Greenway for bringing this inspirational story to the parliament but also, importantly, through this motion highlighting the incidence of melanoma in our community and the great work and research that's being done to combat it.

As the member for Greenway pointed out, Australia and New Zealand have the largest incidence of melanoma in the world. Twelve thousand people are diagnosed in our country each year. It's the third most common cancer amongst Australians. For a nation that lives by the water and spends a lot of time in the sun—and we're about to enter the warmer months in this part of the world again—it's very important that we're raising awareness on the importance of being safe when you go out in the sun. I can recall as a kid in the late 1970s and early 1980s going to the beach and spending the whole day in the sun with no sun protection at all and very little sunscreen. You were lucky if you wore a hat. Thankfully, we now know that that is dangerous. Health experts and governments have worked together on campaigns such as Slip-Slop-Slap to raise awareness, and it's working. When we go to the beach now, particularly with our children, we cover them up with sunscreen, hats, rash vests and the like to ensure that they're protected. But we also make sure that we're doing more in terms of research to combat what is a terrible, terrible disease.

I wish to pay tribute to Damien MacRae and his son, Aiden. Unfortunately Damien has been diagnosed with stage IV melanoma. But he hasn't sat on his heels and done nothing about it. He's gone out into the community and worked with Aiden to raise awareness, and what a fine job they've done. We all know that children love LEGO. They love playing with LEGO, and it's a very effective way to get a message across for young children. I have kids in the same age bracket as Aiden, and they love their LEGO and can spend literally hours—days on end—playing with LEGO and building things.

When they were first interested in LEGO, Damien discovered that despite their efforts to try to find a beach theme, a beach setting, they couldn't find one. LEGO simply didn't make it. They set about working on having this developed into a particular LEGO product that could be sold throughout the world. To do that you need 10,000 supporters, and that's exactly what they did: they set about getting those 10,000 supporters, and they did. The prototype for their LEGO set has already been developed, and you can see it there. They've done an excellent job. It include a set of surf heroes—surf lifesavers—being sun safe, wearing hats, covering up and putting on sunscreen. It includes a patrol tower; sunscreen, of course; the iconic surf reel, surf skis; the red and yellow flags; and an inflatable rescue boat. Some of the surf team include Bob, named in honour of Bob Marley, who unfortunately passed away from melanoma at the age of 36; Keats, who's named in honour of Diane Keaton, who's been a longtime campaigner for melanoma research; Hugh, in honour of Hugh Jackman, who himself has fought melanoma; and Nic, in honour Nicole Kidman, who's also a very solid campaigner for Slip-Slop-Slap and melanoma research.

They've got the 10,000 votes. The proposal is now being considered by LEGO. Damien tells of being blown away by the fact that he received a message from Kirk Christiansen, the head of the LEGO dynasty, who was so overwhelmed by the application Damien and Aiden put in. It's now being revised, and we're hoping that this wonderful project gets up. It would be the first time ever, as the member for Greenway said, that LEGO figures are being sun smart and wearing sunscreen! What a very effective way of teaching that message to young kids, not only in Australia but throughout the world. They've also indicated that if their project is successful then some of the funds—a percentage, I understand—from sales will go to the originators of the idea. Some of the funds that they get from this proposal will go into melanoma research and sun safety in Australia. Congratulations to Damien and Aiden MacRae on this wonderful proposal, and thank you for the work you're doing in supporting Slip-Slop-Slap and sun safety and melanoma research in this country.

Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wasn't going to speak on this motion regarding the melanoma and LEGO surf rescue project, but congratulations to the member for Greenway and a thankyou to the member for Kingsford Smith for drawing this to our attention. What a fantastic, amazing story. I hate melanoma, for good reason. These scars on my face don't come naturally. And I love LEGO. I hate melanoma; I love LEGO. This is one of the best stories. You should be getting a double-page spread in The Herald Sun on this issue on what Damien and Aiden MacRae have done.

I think the biggest thing in one of our households at the moment is PAW Patrol. Everything happens around PAW Patrol. Now, we're just moving into that place of LEGO. I'm told the LEGO I have in my household, which we've had for more than 40 years, is now retro, which I was very disappointed about—it happened very quickly. My twin boys are nearly 40 and we still have the LEGO, we still have the train sets and we still have all the bits and pieces that go with it.

This innovation is probably one of the best stories I've heard in all the times since 1990 I've been in and out of this parliament. It's just a fantastic story. No-one can get the message. I still like being out in the sun without a hat on. I don't like hats. I'm of a generation that didn't like hats, yet my father was of the generation where they didn't go anywhere without a hat. The whole generation wore hats. They wore hats to the races. I went to the races with a hat on. It was a hot, sunny day and I was glad I had the hat. The photo went in the local paper and they said, 'Lose the hat. You look like a goose.' I thought it looked pretty good, actually. The trouble is that the message is not there. This is one of the most treasured ways I've ever heard. Congratulations Damien and Aiden MacRae and all who have been part of this project. What an amazing project. I hope you get really good coverage from this. I'd like to think I could support you in some way. But what a fantastic story. With a lot of the things we do in this place, you often wonder what your grandkids will say in 15 or 20 years' time and they ask, 'Pop, you were in parliament then. What did you say about the issue? What did you do about the issue?' For both members, the member for Greenway and the member for Kingsford Smith, it is a great story you are telling. I wish every story told in this parliament was like the one you've told today. I congratulate you both.

Debate adjourned.