Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm deeply honoured to stand here today and read a speech prepared by Will Cullen, a local Macarthur high school student, JDRF ambassador and patient of mine, as part of the Raise Our Voice campaign. Will states:

Hi, my name is Will, and I am 17 years old and am just about to complete my Higher School Certificate and enter the adult working world!

I have been living with Type 1 Diabetes since I was 2 years old and luckily for me, my family has been able to afford the many costs associated with living with Type 1.

My concern now is about how I am going to be able to afford to take over the costs of managing my diabetes along with all the extra costs I will now have as I leave school and start working.

The cost of fuel and tolls are going up constantly and I hope that they government will look at how they can help support young people like me, about to start an apprenticeship and begin the rest of our lives.

I don't ever want to be in a position where I have to choose between fuel and diabetes supplies.

Being a JDRF Advocate and involved in the Access for All campaign has been great and I am forever grateful to Dr Freelander and the Government for their support for type 1 diabetes, in particular the recent CGM access funding and hope this will continue into the future.

This is a great speech, Will, and I'm proud of you and everything that you've done and will continue to achieve. There is, you're right, much more to be done.

Our government is determined to continue providing the support and resources needed for those suffering from diabetes—type 1 and type 2—and I welcome Minister Butler's announcement in July this year that all 130,000 Australians with type 1 diabetes will gain access to subsidised CGM products under the National Diabetes Services Scheme. I thank the determined efforts of Diabetes Australia, JDRF and local advocates such as Sister Terri Anne O'Sullivan, our diabetes educator, and the paediatric diabetes team at Campbelltown Hospital.

There's much more to do in our campaign against diabetes and helping those living with it. I thank Will again for not only his speech but his determination not to be held back by type 1 diabetes—to get on with his life being a productive member of our community. I thank him so much.

I'd also like to wish all my Macarthur constituents, my parliamentary friends and all the staff in Parliament House a very, very happy Christmas and new year and a safe one as well. I thank everyone for their support.

I thank those in the opposition. We've been able to achieve a lot in a bipartisan manner in health care, and I'm very grateful for the opportunity that I've been given in this parliament. I thank all those involved. I thank my staff and I wish everyone a happy, prosperous and very safe new year.