ADJOURNMENT
Mr THOMPSON (Herbert) (11:31): I rise today to acknowledge the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia's specialist nurses who are here in Canberra and Parliament House this week. They have travelled here because they are fighting for their patients, their profession and the future of specialist prostate cancer care in Australia. They should not have been forced to come to Parliament House to defend their service, which saves lives, yet that is why they are here.
On 31 August, the government announced it would end Commonwealth funding for prostate cancer speciality services, for our nurses, when the current agreement expires on 30 June 2027 and redirect that funding into a broader all-cancer nursing and navigation program. The decision affects 96 Commonwealth funded specialist nurses working with the PCFA's nationally recognised model of care.
Let us call this decision what it is. It's a decision that risks dismantling a proven specialist service. Replacing it with a generalist model and cannot offer the same depth of expertise.
A nurse supporting every type of cancer patient is not the same as those that have specialities. This isn't a criticism of any other specialist nurses or generalist nurses, but it is not the same. Prostate cancer nursing is a specialist discipline.
These nurses understand diagnosis, surgery, radiation therapy, hormone treatment, survivorship, advanced disease, continuous sexual health and mental health. They guide men and their families through some of the toughest decisions of their lives. They understand the questions men are often too embarrassed, frightened or overwhelmed to ask.
They provide support and expertise long after treatment is finished. That expertise cannot be simply transferred with a contract, it cannot be replaced by a rebranding exercise, and it cannot be replaced overnight. This service has been built over 15 years through specialist training, clinical leadership, mentoring, governance and professional networks.
The PCFA argues that this model of care is unique and cannot simply be handed to another provider. What is equally concerning is the apparent lack of consultation. According to the PCFA, 96 per cent of affected specialist nurses opposed this change.
That should concern every member of parliament. When 96 per cent of the specialist workforce says the government has it wrong, surely the responsible minister must agree. Instead, this government appears determined to press ahead regardless.
The minister needs to explain why the people who know the service best were not properly consulted before such a significant decision was made. The government will argue that an all-cancer model improves coordination and navigation, but that is creating a false choice. Australians should not be forced to choose between broader cancer support and specialist cancer care.
We should be delivering both. Professor Damien Bolton, President of the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand, has made the point clearly: … investment in cancer nursing … should not come at the expense of a proven specialist service. This is not an argument about bureaucracy, contracts or organisational structures.
It's about patients. The PCFA reports that one patient from a regional centre said his specialist nurse helped him through the health system and was the main reason he was alive today. How many more stories like this does the minister need to hear?
How many more patients must speak out before the government realises what is at stake? Nearly 29,000 Australian men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year. Almost 4,000 die from the disease annually.
Nearly 310,000 Australians are living after a prostate cancer diagnosis. These are not statistics. They are fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, mates and veterans.
For regional Australians, the stakes are even higher. Men living in regional and remote communities face poorer outcomes and significantly greater risk of dying from prostate cancer than those living in major cities. We should be supporting these specialist nurses.
They provide care and support and they change and save lives.