Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Community Housing, Homelessness and Community Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We get to meet extraordinary some people in our roles as federal members of parliament, but some people leave you profoundly affected and inspired to achieve more. I'd like to share a story of courage and bravery, not from a soldier or an extreme sports person, but from someone in my electorate who is a single mother of two boys from North Lakes.

Imagine that one minute you're working as a lawyer, worrying about packing lunches and driving your children to and from school; and now you're learning to navigate around the furniture in your house with a cane. This was Jenny Kramaric's reality in 2014. Her optic nerve was dying and the world around her was getting darker. I met Jenny at the annual Guide Dogs Queensland graduation ceremony last week. She was kind enough to allow me to share her story with you today, from feeling scared and alone, too anxious to walk out her door some days, to now regularly volunteering at her boys' schools.

Her life and the life of her sons was changed when she was perfectly matched to her seeing eye dog Layla six months ago. Jenny told me that Layla has taken away barriers for her. It has given her a second chance at living her best life. She feels unstoppable and better as a mum for it. She helps at the sports carnivals and volunteers with children learning to read at The Lakes College and Grace College. She says everyone wants to learn to read with the blind mum. Thanks to the NDIS and an incredible Israeli device that attaches a microcamera to her glasses and speaks the pages to her through an earpiece, she knows exactly when the child gets a word wrong. She said Layla has given her boys, Sebastian and Nicholas, breathing space to enjoy life. They were constantly worrying about their mum, but now they see her overcoming adversity and being positive.

The work that Guide Dogs does at its Bald Hills facility and around Australia is life-saving. It costs roughly $50,000 to breed, raise and train a seeing eye dog like Layla. Each dog is expertly matched to its handler, with consideration given to the speed of the dog and its temperament for the household it is needed in. It's an exhausting but hugely rewarding process.

People like Jenny are living brave and courageous lives amongst us. I'm grateful for the opportunity to meet her and others. They say courage is contagious, and I challenge anyone who meets Jenny not to be inspired.