Lyn Allison (Victoria, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

I am also very pleased having seen this response to our report. I cannot recall seeing a government response which has been so accepting of recommendations. I congratulate the government on its response and, again, say how pleased I am. It was a great honour for me to be a part of this process. A great deal has already been said about the women who were involved both in the parliament and beyond. This response sends an important message to people that signing a petition can make a difference. It has often bothered me, in fact, that so many petitions do not go on to be investigated and looked at in detail, but this one did and I thank the Senate for its indulgence in doing that and the committee itself for accepting that petition and for taking action on it.

This is a huge step forward for women’s health. As I said, it is a great credit to the many women who have been involved in the process. This is a hidden and very life-threatening set of cancers. It is a very important step forward. Of course, the first recommendation—the most important, in my view—was to set up a centre for gynaecological cancers within the auspices of Cancer Australia. That centre will give a national focus to these diseases; it will improve the coordination of existing health, medical and support services, and community projects. What we are really asking is for this very serious condition to have a national focus, to have attention paid to it, in much the same way as breast cancer does. Throughout this inquiry we were constantly made aware of the great success in the testing and treatment of breast cancer and the terrific work that has been done in the past on that. This will hopefully save lives. This will make the lives of many women much better and allow them to cope with their disease more adequately. As I said, the most important thing is that it will save lives. We can be proud of that. Of course, we cannot know how many lives will be saved—we will never know that, but that is what we are here for.

I also pay great respect to Senator Jeannie Ferris, whose role in this inquiry was inspiring for us all. We were touched by what she was going through at the time. Her role in the inquiry process was a brave and difficult one—we all understood that at various times—but, nonetheless, I do not think we could have done it without Senator Ferris. I thank her for those efforts.

The government should be on notice that we will not put this away and forget about it. We will be following up all of the recommendations and will ask the questions. Has it happened? When are we going to see some results from this? So our work is not yet done. Senator Moore, Senator Ferris and others, we need to press on. As has been said, there are some areas where recommendations have perhaps been shifted to the states, and we might need to add some pressure to the states and the federal government to coordinate those efforts. One of those areas concerns women who travel great distances to have cancer treatments and often have very long periods of time when lymphedema very significantly affects their lives. That is a bit of unfinished business, and I make a commitment here and now that we will still be on that case. I thank the government for their response. We really look forward to watching how Cancer Australia handles this and, hopefully, we will have a vibrant and effective centre of excellence for gynaecological cancers as a result. I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.