Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Deep in the heart of my electorate of Braddon is the town of Ridgley. It's a gem of a town about 15 minutes drive south of Burnie. It's a place where you can count the population in the hundreds rather than the thousands. But being small doesn't stop the great people of Ridgley doing magnificent things with their community and making sure that they bring communities in the region along with them. It's the home of the mighty Saints Football Club. They play in the Darwin Football Association against other great teams from Somerset, Natone, Queenstown, Cuprona, Yolla, South Burnie and Yeoman, which draws players from the greater Burnie area.

The senior and reserves teams from Ridgley Saints Football Club have had a cracking year this year. They've got new blood on the player list, and they're attracting fresh and passionate supporters to the game. The vibe around the club is fantastic. But it's not all about winning premierships at Ridgley—the Saints also spend a lot of time giving back to their community. This was demonstrated recently when they held their second Big Freeze fundraiser for motor neurone disease, supporting club stalwart Michele McCulloch, who has MND, and her family. It gets pretty cold down home and the back of Burnie is no stranger to this, so you might say that every day is a big freeze, but this didn't stop representatives from every club in the Darwin Football Association, administrators and umpires from putting up their hand and sliding down into the icy waters to help the Ridgley footy club raise funds for this great cause.

The federal government is doing its part for MND. Recently we announced a further $5 million in funding, which will be invested into world's best practice research, including more technical and clinical trials, drug development and other research projects. That's on top of our rock solid commitment to list drugs on the PBS, including recent editions for MND. Since 2013 the Morrison government has listed over 2,000 new or amended items to the PBS. It should be called the 'PB-yes'. This represents an average of around 31 listings per month or one each day at an overall cost of around $10.6 billion. So next time you're in Tassie, why not drop into Ridgley one Saturday afternoon during the footy season? Say 'g'day' to the president, Glenn Waters, Michele and Graeme McCulloch, and Shelley and Paul Russell; get a sav from the helpful hands at the canteen; and honk your horn for the volunteers and supporters who keep this great club and this great community rocking.