E&OE.
It’s always a hard act to follow – as bad as that joke is each year, people still laugh – so that’s the main thing.
Can I firstly say thank you very much to everyone from the Foundation; the paid staff, but the volunteers and people around the country who are doing wonderful fundraising events and providing support to researchers and to nurses, to every stage of the journey that people go through.
The awareness, obviously, that we’re a part of today is an incredibly important element, and none of that is possible without the funding from government and the bipartisan approach that all of us have taken to this cancer, to creating awareness, to supporting the research and to improving the outcomes, is something that we should all be very proud of. So, to all of my colleagues here today, I just want to say thank you very much.
Acknowledge, of course, the Health Minister for the work and the passion that he brings to this particular cause and his support of the Prostate Foundation. So Mark, thank you very much for the work that you and your staff and the Department as well. There are many passionate people within the Department of Health who are really dedicated to making a much better outcome for the lives of Australians and in this case, the lives of men.
Early detection is something that is critical, and as was pointed out before, men are bloody hopeless at getting the motivation, or the urgency in their lives to go and have regular check-ups with their GP, and to undertake those tests, it can save lives.
On that note, can I just say thank you very much to Jim Lloyd, who has been in this place and out of it, and now back in it in this iteration, to continue the work, the passion that he’s had, the personal experience, the way in which he’s conveyed his story, it’s been an inspiration to many of us in this place for a long period of time. So Jim, thank you for still giving back to your community and the passion that you have is a wonderful thing. So thank you very much, mate. I really acknowledge that.
Then of course, to Jason and to Warren as well. They’ve literally saved lives through their advocacy and through the way in which they’ve worked together, delivered a message in perfect unison, and that is a wonderful thing that we should recognise today as well. As Jason pointed out, it is Warren’s last event here – maybe he’ll be back in a volunteer form next year, or the years after, and hopefully it’s not just the free barbecue that he comes to, but a re-engagement and a catch up with his old colleagues as well, because, as was pointed out, he’s got a big heart. It’s not just this cause, when you see what he’s done in the Indigenous communities in Far North Queensland, in remote areas, the groups that he’s helped, endless causes and people in his own electorate and you can sense it when you’re on the ground, the respect that people have for him in his local community. He’s going to be missed by all of his colleagues. But the work that he’s done here for the Foundation and for the awareness around prostate is something that we’re right to acknowledge today.
So, thank you all very much. To the media partners and others who provide support in boosting this message, it’s a necessary thing, but there are lots of causes and issues that you can take up, but thank you so much for being here today.
I’m really happy to continue the bipartisan nature of it and to be here with the Government Members and all of our colleagues today. But most importantly, thank you to all of those people from the Foundation.
Thank you very much.
[ends]