Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I, and also on behalf of Senators Di Natale, Xenophon and Seselja, move:

That the Senate notes that:

(a) 12 500 Australians are diagnosed with melanoma each year, and 1 650 of those are diagnosed with advanced melanoma;

(b) advanced melanoma kills more than 1 500 Australians each year – or one death every 6 hours;

(c) melanoma is the most common cancer in young Australians aged 15 to 39, and those diagnosed with advanced melanoma have a median survival of only 8 to 9 months;

(d) melanoma is estimated to be the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in 2014 in Australian:

(i) males, after prostate and colorectal cancer, with 7 440 cases, and

(ii) females, after breast and colorectal cancer, with 5 210 cases;

(e) advanced melanoma costs hundreds of millions of dollars each year, and has a devastating personal cost to individuals and families; and

(f) in March, Australians around the country will participate in the Melanoma March community walks to raise awareness of melanoma.

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Clearly melanoma is an issue that is increasingly confronting Australian families right across this country. Sadly, Australia is winning the race in terms of the amount of melanoma per capita. That is why what is happening with the Melanoma March right across this country is so important. The seaside city of Gosford on the Central Coast is looking forward to their third annual Melanoma March, from which funds will be raised to contribute to ongoing research with regard to melanoma. Funds raised, obviously, are vital for the research that will inform practice moving forward, and there are very heartening signs of new methodologies that elevate the immune system to help people overcome and fight melanoma from within their own bodies.

Small towns like Picton in rural New South Wales and right across the country, from Bathurst to Tweed Heads, Wagga Wagga and Bribie Island, will be participating, and I encourage senators and community members to participate fully.

Question agreed to.