E&OE....................
Well, thank you very much, Janet; to my colleague, Senator Jocelyn Newman;
to Kerry Chikarovski, the Leader of the New South Wales Opposition, Mr and
Mrs Paul Batchelor, Sara O'Hare, other distinguished guests, ladies and
gentlemen.
Can I say, I'm sure on behalf of everybody, how impressive is this gathering
and it's an opportunity for me to congratulate all of those responsible
for organising this breakfast. Janet McDonald brings an indefatigable degree
of energy to any of the activities in which she's involved and her commitment
to the cause of raising support for and greater awareness of the threat
posed to women's health by breast cancer is well known and widely appreciated.
I just want to say two things to you this morning. Firstly, to emphasise
to all of you how the Federal Government shares the concern of the many
organisations represented here today in the fight against breast cancer
within the Australian community. It is the biggest single threat to women's
health in the area of cancer. It is the leading cause of cancer related
deaths amongst Australian women and one in twelve Australian women will
develop breast cancer at some stage in their lifetime. And by promoting
awareness of it and by speaking openly of the ways in which it can be guarded
against and detected and successfully treated all of us are engaged in a
very commendable community service.
There are many things that I would like the Government to be seen to be
doing in a positive light. And one of the most important is our commitment
to health and medical research. In the last budget the Treasurer announced
that over the next four years we will double the amount of Federal Government
money going into health and medical research throughout Australia. And it
followed the recommendations of the committee chaired by Peter Wills, a
well known Sydney businessman, and virtually all of his recommendations
were adopted so that over the next four years it will be an exact doubling
of the amount of Federal Government money going to all forms of health and
medical research.
Coming a little closer to home many will be aware that I announced some
seven or eight months ago the Federal Government would contribute $3 million
to the integrated cancer programme which is a joint initiative between the
Sydney Cancer Centre and the Centenary Institute. And when it became apparent
recently that the New South Wales Government was unable to match that $3
million I indicated to the centre that the Federal Government would provide
the entire amount of $6 million.
We have honoured our election commitment to provide a $4.1 million initiative
to specialised health care for women diagnosed with breast cancer. And this
initiative will provide support services for women diagnosed with breast
cancer including specialised health care. And it will be focussed particularly
on women living in regional and rural areas.
And, of course, Professor Redman's already referred to the Commonwealth
and State programme of breast screening, breast cancer screening throughout
Australia. And this is a breast cancer screening programme providing free
screening mammograms at two year intervals targeted at women aged 50 to
69 through a network of dedicated accredited screening and assessment services.
The other thing I wanted to say, and it brings me very much to the point
of an announcement, and that is that I have in the time that I've been Prime
Minister endeavoured to foster within the Australian community the notion
of a social coalition to tackle the challenges and the problems of our community.
And that's built on the belief that the Government can't do everything acting
alone. Individuals acting alone can't do everything. Business acting alone
can't do everything and nor can the great volunteer organisations for which
Australia is renowned acting alone can they do everything. And what we need
is to harness the resources of those four sections of our community - the
Government, individuals, the business community and volunteer organisations
each contributing those resources and talents they can best contribute towards
tackling social and other problems.
And I have been very keen to promote a greater level of philanthropy within
the Australian community. It's not a question so much of business giving
more but it's really a question of more businesses giving. There are some
wonderful examples and many of them are represented here today. The sponsorship
of this breakfast, the wonderful examples of companies such as Estee Lauder
and many others that are so supportive of great causes within our community.
So I am not suggesting for a moment that many businesses don't already give
and give very generously but we'd naturally like more of them to do so.
And it's in that spirit that I am absolutely delighted to announce this
morning that an important partnership in relation to breast cancer has been
facilitated by a generous donation of $1.1 million by the AMP Society. And
the AMP foundation has confirmed a $1.1 million partnership with the National
Health and Medical Research National Breast Cancer Centre. So I want to
congratulate Mr Batchelor. And this partnership reflects the very spirit
of a social coalition of which I spoke. And the partnership will fund key
projects of direct and lasting benefits to the community. The projects comprise
a public information program about breast cancer symptoms, a communications
skills training program, a breast health survey for 2000, and partial funding
for printing costs of consumer resources.
May I just conclude, ladies and gentlemen, by saying that at a personal
level and at a Government level I am very committed to the cause which is
being supported here this morning. The cause of tackling and identifying
the fundamental health challenges for women within the Australian community
is now widely recognised and supported within our community. It has the
total support of the Government, it had the support might I acknowledge,
of the former government because it is one of those things which is above
party politics. And I think it is very important at a gathering such as
this we acknowledge the need for an open assessment of the particular health
risks that women face, the need for open and informed dialogue and discussion
and information within our community. A willingness of governments at both
the State and federal level to support a community involvement, active screening
programmes to identify women at risk and, of course, a determined commitment
of resources to the cause of research.
The last 25 years have seen astonishing advances in the area of health and
medical research as there have been astonishing advances in the area of
information technology. As we throw towards the first part of the next millennium
we can all hope, and I think with a degree of confidence, to predict that
one of the distinguishing features of the first 25 years of the new millennium
will be a further inroad into the great health challenges that beset the
modern world. And tackling through dedicated and committed resources to
research the scourge of cancer within our community, whether it be breast
cancer or any other form of cancer, will be at the forefront of that effort.
And the focus on that this morning is therefore very appropriate, very timely
and very well targeted and I thank you all particularly the AMP who is represented
here this morning by its new Managing Director, Mr Batchelor. I particularly
thank the AMP and many others for their great generosity towards this very
worthy cause.
[ends]