Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health Administration) Share this | Hansard source

The opposition supports the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Bill 2008. We look forward to the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority making a significant contribution in helping to lift donation rates across Australia. We are confident that the new authority and the advisory council will build on the significant work that was done by the previous government in lifting organ donation rates across Australia.

In Australia we are very good at performing the surgical procedures transplanting organs or tissue. We are not so good when it comes to our rates of organ donation. Demand for organ and tissue donations across Australia significantly exceeds supply and, in the context of our ageing population and an increasing prevalence of chronic disease, demand for organ and tissue donations is expected to increase further. This is a very sensitive issue. It is sensitive for the families of those who become organ donors, families who are dealing with the personal distress of having lost a loved one, and for those waiting for the promise of a better life that comes from a successful organ transplant.

As the Prime Minister mentioned in the House when introducing this bill, at any one point in time there are about 1,800 Australians on a waiting list for an organ donation. About 120 to 130 of those are from my home state of Western Australia. That includes about 100 Western Australians waiting for a kidney transplant. About five years ago, John Gleeson, a very special bloke from Carlisle in Western Australia, was among the lucky ones. After seven to eight years of dialysis three times a week for six hours at a time, he received a kidney transplant. It changed his life. As he says, it was like winning the lottery. Towards the end of his seven to eight years of dialysis, he could hardly walk two steps because he was exhausted and in pain. The effects were immediate. His quality of life improved almost instantly and today, five years later, at 70 years of age, he walks, he goes swimming and he goes out and has fun. He enjoys life again. It has truly changed his life.

All those Australians who are waiting for an organ or tissue donation are waiting for something that could save or transform their life the way it has for John. Unmet demand means the suffering continues for the many who have to wait. There is a desperate need to continue to lift organ and tissue donation rates. We are very hopeful that this bill will help address this challenge so that we can ensure that those Australians who desperately need access to this help are able to get it.