Page 3546 - Week 11 - Thursday, 24 September 2015
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nature reserve are sustainably managed to provide rich and diverse environments for current and future generations. If you visit Mulligans Flat you will see the work they are doing there.
I thank Alison Russel-French, the chair of the trust. I also take this opportunity to thank Jason Cummings, Kate Grarock and David Shorthouse of the Capital Woodland and Wetlands Conservation Trust for taking the time to take this group through a twilight tour of the reserve and provide their comprehensive knowledge to us. What it has done for the people that took in that tour, especially the children, is really instil in them knowledge about threatened species and the way in which we can help endangered animals. The children were really excited to see not just the bettongs but also sugar gliders, possums, kangaroos and wallabies and lizards. They listened to the frogs and tried to distinguish the various types of frogs that they could hear. For the children it was a really exciting time. I think it will make them really good advocates for the environment into the future.
Prostate Cancer Support Group
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (4.27): Yesterday evening, as part of the Speaker’s program of receptions for Canberra’s community organisations, I hosted a function for the Prostate Cancer Support Group—ACT Region. This organisation has an important role in supporting men with prostate cancer and their partners. It is also active in promoting awareness of prostate cancer in the community. Each year 20,000 men in Australia are diagnosed with prostate cancer and 3,300 of them die from it. Prostate cancer usually develops without immediately noticeable symptoms. The good news is that in many cases treatment of prostate cancer can result in long-term remission or cure, especially if detected early.
Early detection is helped if men have regular prostate checks, which is a simple procedure conducted by their local GP. However, this procedure is often feared by men, either because of its invasive nature or because the results may not be what they had hoped. But as the Prime Minister, Mr Turnbull, has recently said, men should “man up” and not put off the terrifying snap of rubber gloves—I think most women are all too familiar with that sound and got over it long ago.
Even if symptoms of prostate cancer are detected later, there are treatments which can control its advance to more serious conditions. When a man is diagnosed with prostate cancer, it normally comes as a shock to him and his family, and this is where the Prostate Cancer Support Group comes in. It holds informal meetings on the third Wednesday of each month with a guest speaker and plenty of people who can offer support. After the meetings, members can talk over a cup of tea or coffee and a slice of cake.
I thank Graham Erickson and his wife Robyn, Aiden Moore, Juris Jakoviks, Roger Allnut, Geoff Dorward, Peter Donellan, Mark Jardine and David Le Porte for attending the event last night. I particularly want to thank the Assembly’s education officer, Neal Baudinette, who welcomed the group and hosted them on a tour of the building, including a short time in the chamber, during which I had the pleasure of formally acknowledging the group in the Assembly. I also thank the members who attended: Mr Hanson, Mr Coe, Ms Lawder, Mr Wall and Mr Gentleman. Holding this
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