Page 2448 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 18 August 1993
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MR DE DOMENICO: Well done, ACT Government, and well done, Federal Labor Government, for spending so much money on a pap smear register, on screening for breast cancer and on all those things. Well done. This is a non-political, bipartisan issue, one would hope. We agree with the Government that governments have to deal with very important privacy issues. You have to consult widely with the community, make sure that you get it right and make sure that the approach is up to date. We agree with all those statements. You have to consult, you have to make sure that you are getting value for money and you have to make sure that you are doing it right. When you are talking about something like cancer and cancer deaths you cannot make mistakes. We agree with all those things.
Madam Speaker, Mr Berry and also Mrs Grassby made comments about ageing population and cancer. Let me say, as someone who has had cancer - and most people know about that now - that not only old people get cancer. Younger people - I will not say young people because I will not refer to myself as young - get cancer as well. Mrs Grassby said, "It is something we have to look at in the future because of our ageing population". More than the ageing population get cancer, let me assure you. Madam Speaker, for Mr Berry and Mrs Grassby to start talking about scare campaigning and all that sort of thing is just utter nonsense. We are all concerned - or we all should be concerned, notwithstanding our political allegiances - that we have for the people of the ACT the best facilities and services that are enjoyed elsewhere.
Let me mention the good things that the Government has done because, if I do not, I will be accused of missing out on one thing. The Community Nursing Service, we are aware, has specialist oncology nurses; the palliative care program provides a nursing service for patients with terminal malignancies; and the Alcohol and Drug Service runs programs which emphasise the Government's commitment to discourage tobacco smoking.
Mr Berry: There will be a hospice on Acton Peninsula soon.
MR DE DOMENICO: Mr Berry, I will take that interjection, if you like. The hospice on Acton Peninsula that nobody but Mr Berry and the left wing of the Labor Party wants is, in Mr Berry's opinion, also a good thing. I am happy to hit every interjection that you have made this morning for six, as Mrs Carnell did previously. Mr Berry went on to say about a registry:
As has been said, it is an important tool in the treatment of cancer ...
We agree with him. He also said:
but by itself it cannot cure one person.
Mr Berry once again is wrong. Mr Berry should talk to some experts before he opens his mouth in this place. As I understand it, prevention, detection and cure is the way it goes. Mr Berry quite rightly said that he spent $3.9m for some new equipment at Woden Valley Hospital to cure cancer. That is fantastic. But why not spend an extra, say, $50,000 - and that is all it takes - so that we can get some very good statistics that may one day prevent one person or two people or more people from getting cancer? That is what it is all about - $50,000 for preventive measures. In modern times that is what is done all over the world. But, no, we have to wait.
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