Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

One Nation will be supporting Senator Di Natale's bill and supporting the thousands of the Australians who have called for the change of attitude and, more importantly, the change in legislation that allows those people under category A facing terminal illness, imminent death, access to this miracle drug. One Nation federally and our Queensland state leader, Steve Dickson, have worked tirelessly to decriminalise this medicinal cannabis. I will say it again: this is a miracle drug, and this monumental change will be remembered long into the future.

I cannot understand why the government is so against fighting for this and is against this change. It is important that we do it, and this is why we support it. It's known that a lot of Australians want this and want to see this drug used. I have spoken to a patient who came back from America and who had the use of medicinal cannabis there. She had a brain tumour. After using it, there was clearly a shrinking of the tumour. Yet she got no help in Australia. Under this bill, licensed importers will be permitted to import and supply to category A patients. We are now on the precipice of real change in the way that category A patients can access much-needed pain relief.

I know a young lady by the name of Caitlin who suffers from 19 medical conditions, including cerebral palsy, epilepsy, chronic lung disease, obstructive sleep apnoea and hyperventilation and autoimmune disease, to mention just a few. She is just nine years old. Her mother is forced to produce illegal medical cannabis oil to keep her daughter alive; failing to give her the six daily doses would lead to endless seizures and permanent hospitalisation, with her connected to oxygen.

What we are doing here today will lift the legal hurdles and, if you like, stop making criminals out of caring mums and dads, family members and a raft of people in our community who are simply trying to ease the suffering of loved ones during their final months of life. Who are we to deny these people that choice? The denial, I hope, will stop today.

I welcome the future of Queensland company Medifarm in bringing proven genetic plant strains, extraction and manufacturing processes to Australia from their Israeli partners, who have over 20 years experience in producing medical cannabis oils that work. In a recent survey of over 1,540 responsibilities, 95 per cent of Australians from all states and territories supported the use of medical cannabis oil. Of that 95 per cent, 75 per cent of respondents called for whole-plant medical cannabis oil, not synthetic pharmaceutical rip-offs.

Our next step is to lift the numbers of doctors throughout the country willing to prescribe medical cannabis oil. It's not good enough that my own home state of Queensland has just 20 doctors registered to prescribe the drug. Worse still, current legislation prevents the medical board from revealing those registered GPs' names. This is just another barrier between the patient and true care. I can hear the frustration from my constituents in Queensland from here in Canberra. My Queensland state leader, Steve Dickson, and future elected Queensland One Nation members of parliament will do everything in their power to broaden those GP numbers and to make their names accessible. In the meantime, my One Nation colleagues and I commend the bill to the Senate.