MOTIONS

Mr SMALL (Forrest—Opposition Whip) (10:40): Cardiovascular disease is a silent killer in Australia, and I commend the member for Bonner for moving this important motion so that, in this place, we can give voice to the importance of understanding the issue. As a very young 21-year-old volunteer ambulance officer, I went to my very first sudden cardiac arrest in the streets of Dalyellup.

The reason it stayed with me is that the patient was just 40 and had experienced a cardiac arrest while out jogging. Now, a 40-year-old seemed a lot older to 21-year-old ambo Ben than to 38-year-old MP Ben, I might venture. We can't consider this to be an affliction of only the elderly.

Cardiovascular disease is a serious issue for many of us, and the stats speak for themselves, with some 1.3 million Australians aged over the age of 18—which is six and a bit per cent of the adult population—living with one or more of the conditions related to heart, stroke or vascular disease. It's a pretty staggering number when you think about it, because what that means is that every single Australian knows someone or is related to someone who is suffering, or may be suffering themselves, from these sorts of conditions.

I have to confess that, until today, I wasn't aware of the imbalance when it comes to sex in the prevalence of this disease. The fact that there are aspects of cardiovascular health that are unique to women was news to me until today. So I think this is an important debate, and I do welcome the member for Bonner's motion and the work of the government in raising that awareness.

The fact that, in 2023—the most recent numbers that are in front of me—almost 20,000 women had an acute coronary event and some 19,000 women had a stroke is actually staggering because what it represents is unawareness, I guess, on the part of so many in the population, me included. It's too easy to trivialise these sorts of debates and these sorts of days for the awareness of something.

So I personally, and certainly the coalition, support this initiative and the fact that World Heart Day is raising awareness of and highlighting the prevention, early detection and treatment of these sorts of diseases. When last in government we introduced a number of initiatives to support heart health in Australia, and specifically women's health. That included a 10-year, $220 million commitment through the Medical Research Future Fund, establishing the dedicated Medicare heart health check to support GPs and their patients in assessing cardiovascular risk, and supporting the organisation Her Heart, a group dedicated to supporting cardiovascular health in women through a $500,000 grant.

In total, the coalition invested $662 million for research into cardiovascular disease and almost $8 billion in medication subsidies through the PBS. To see that, in the spirit of true bipartisanship, the Albanese government is building off that foundation and making important further announcements, as the previous speakers have touched on today, is something that I think this House can be really proud of, and we certainly welcome the work of the government in that.

We stand ready to work with the government and, indeed, all parties across the parliament to improve cardiovascular outcomes. Those sorts of numbers speak for themselves. Less than one in 10 people who suffer a sudden cardiac arrest out of hospital survive.

My experience as an ambulance officer certainly speaks to the validity of those numbers, unfortunately, and gives us pause for thought, I think. When we can attack the early onset of these diseases, and where we can treat symptoms before they present in an acute setting, the outcomes are so much better. And the cost to a person who suffers a cardiovascular event in an acute setting shouldn't be underestimated.

Even where they have reasonable outcomes through the prehospital—and, indeed, the hospital—setting, the reality is that their lives are seldom the same again. There are lingering deficits and adverse impacts that those people suffer, which speaks to these initiatives and the importance of conversations with your GP to make sure you're on top of your heart health.