Thursday, 31 August 2023

Daffodil Day

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Water, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Equality) (10:13): Today is Daffodil Day. We are in a position on 31 August every year ‍– and I would hope every day of the year – to talk about the impact of cancer on the lives, the health, the wellbeing and the opportunities of those we love, those we care about, those we work with and those who may be among us who live with, and all too often die with, cancer.

In 2015 my brother Patrick died of prostate cancer. He was diagnosed at the age of 39, and he died at the age of 42. He was one of 3500 people every year in Australia who die of prostate cancer. If detected early, more than 95 per cent of people have a survival rate of greater than five years. Nobody ever died of embarrassment. So what I would say today, this Daffodil Day, is that if there is anything abnormal, anything unexpected or anything unfamiliar happening in your body, in yourself or in your sense of how you are going about your days, please get it checked out. Please get the test. It might be that you are able to see a prevention of bowel cancer, of colorectal cancer, of prostate cancer, of laryngeal cancer – the list goes on – simply by getting your symptoms checked. Please do it today for the ones that you love, if not for yourself.