Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today, on the front page of the Advertiser, we can read the story of young Holly Zerk, a seven-year-old from Balaklava, and her parents Lee-Anne and Travis. Last year, Holly was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a cancer which affects the nervous system, which had already spread to her spine and lymph nodes. She's currently undergoing traditional treatment, if you like.

There is a new drug available in the US, called DFMO, and the family is contemplating the half a million dollars it would take to go the US to seek this treatment, including having to relocate one of the family members there for that period of time. It is every parent's worst nightmare, of course. As her mother said, 'You would try anything you could to stop a relapse; you'd regret not trying.' So they're doing everything they possibly can.

But of course DFMO is not available in Australia. It's currently with the TGA for approval, and the next step would be to get it onto the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. I know that ministers are at arms length from the TGA, but I'm just asking Mark Butler and the team in his department to lean on the TGA to get this approval done as quickly as possible so that Holly Zerk and her parents don't have to relocate to the US—or the other 39 children a year who are diagnosed with this condition in Australia.