Cancer Screening

Mr BUTLER (Hindmarsh—Minister for Disability and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Minister for Health and Ageing and Deputy Leader of the House) (14:30): Thanks to the member for Braddon. Yesterday I talked about how Australia's PBS gives us all access to the world's best medicines at affordable prices—medicines that have helped to dramatically drive up survival rates for diseases like cancer in recent years and medicines that we're determined to make even cheaper.

But great medicines are only effective with good and timely diagnosis, and this is why survival rates for lung cancer have not improved as much as for other cancers. Although it's only the fifth most common cancer in Australia, it is by far the biggest killer among cancers, largely because it's picked up too late. When symptoms first emerge, treatments like surgery and medicines are basically ineffective. That's why in the 2023 budget the Treasurer announced $260 million to introduce one of the world's first lung cancer screening programs, the first new program for cancer in 20 years, to pick up more cancers early, when they're able to be treated. From the beginning of this month, Australians aged 50 to 70 with a significant history of smoking can access a fully bulk-billed lung scan. Thousands of Australians have already lined up for their free scan, and, already, lives are being saved.

For example, Patrick from Melbourne, who's 65 years of age, happened to get referred after he had a consultation about sleep apnoea. His scan found a stage 1 lung tumour the size of a grape instead of the size of a grapefruit. He's already had surgery, and his prospects are excellent. A thoracic radiologist, Catherine, told me earlier this week, at a lung cancer screening event, that she picked up, in the first two days of the program, a stage 2 lung tumour that within as little as three months would have grown to a stage 4 tumour and almost certainly would have killed that patient.

We're taking this program to rural and remote areas, like the member for Braddon's electorate, as well—areas that don't have radiology clinics in their towns, like many parts of communities that members opposite and on this side represent. Mobile screening trucks that are built right here in Australia, run by Heart of Australia, are going to be rolling out to rural and remote communities right around Australia to ensure that every Australian, no matter where they live, has this new chance of survival. This world-leading program, which is being watched right around the world, is going to save hundreds and hundreds of Australian lives every single year—because we're utterly determined to make sure that no-one is left behind as we go about the work of strengthening Medicare.