STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Ms KARA COOK (Bonner) (13:31): Today I want to share the story of Farren, a young woman from my electorate of Bonner. In April last year, at just 24 years of age, Farren was diagnosed with a grade 3 anaplastic astrocytoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. Only days before her diagnosis, Farren had run her first half-marathon.

That weekend, she says, was the last time she felt like a normal person in her 20s. Since then, she's endured an eight-hour craniotomy, 33 rounds of radiation, 12 rounds of chemotherapy and countless holistic treatments. I met Farren and her mum at the Head to the Hill event hosted by Brain Tumour Alliance Australia yesterday right here at Parliament House.

In a powerful display, shoes were placed throughout the Parliament House courtyard to represent the lives touched by brain cancer—including Farren's own running shoes from the weekend before her diagnosis. Brain cancer has also touched my own family, with my uncle, Terry George, passing away at just 36 years of age, leaving his young family behind. I'm proud the Albanese Labor government is investing in medical research through the $24.5 billion Medical Research Future Fund, including $50 million for the Australian Brain Cancer Mission, to support vital research and clinical trials to improve the lives of Australians living with brain cancer.

To Farren and every person facing brain cancer: we see you, we stand with you and we will keep fighting for you.