Book 8 - Parliament of Victoria

ADJOURNMENT
1664 COUNCIL Wednesday, 1 June 2011
Sadly it is a reality that at some stage in every person’s
life they will feel the effects of cancer, whether it be
suffering it themselves or supporting a close family
member or friend through the hardship of fighting
cancer. Cancer Council Victoria works extremely hard
and is very effective in reducing cancer mortality rates.
One of the most effective ways that it does this is
through prevention.
I want to quickly touch on the campaigns, advocacy
and achievements of Cancer Council Victoria. During
the reporting period the cancer council has run some
very effective campaigns on the dangers of smoking
and obesity. Partly due to the cancer council’s advocacy
and constant public information campaigns, 2010
proved to be a very positive year in terms of reducing
the number of people smoking, with the move towards
plain packaging, the increased tax on tobacco, the
subsidisation of nicotine replacement therapy and the
mounting pressure for smoke-free public spaces.
There have been other prevention activities, including
Cut Your Cancer Risk, a website that helps people to
identify lifestyle changes that will cut their cancer risk;
Peace of Mind, a campaign to encourage all women to
have regular pap tests; and Never Give Up Giving Up,
another antismoking campaign.
In terms of the position of obesity on the agenda, it is
recognised that obesity causes a significant number of
other health issues, and the council has been effective in
promoting that. One of the other campaigns I
particularly like is the one we have been able to
promulgate through schools — that is, Go for Your
Life. At every primary school that I have attended
where we have promoted that particular campaign it has
been an exciting event for all involved, so I applaud the
cancer council’s involvement in that.
I also make special mention of the advocacy role of the
council. The council takes a very sophisticated
approach in lobbying all political parties, which we
have seen in the way the council has effectively
engaged with all the political parties leading up to the
last federal election, in particular the council’s
advocacy in relation to bowel cancer tests.
In terms of its achievements, over 20 years the Cancer
Council Victoria has provided assistance to over
750 000 Victorians, and it has also attracted a record
number of cancer clinicians to participate in the
Victorian cancer clinicians communication program
and workshops. In the reporting period the council has
also welcomed an additional 12 new face-to-face
cancer support groups, which added to the already
existing 170 cancer support groups. I commend the
report to the house and the very effective work that it is
doing in fighting cancer in this state.
ADJOURNMENT
Hon. P. R. HALL (Minister for Higher Education
and Skills) — I move:
That the house do now adjourn.
Energy: Latrobe Valley
Mr LENDERS (Southern Metropolitan) — I raise a
matter for the attention of the Minister for Energy and
Resources, Michael O’Brien. The issue I raise is about
the future of brown coal mining in the Latrobe Valley.
On four occasions this year I have been down to the
valley and have had the privilege in that time of visiting
Loy Yang A, Loy Yang B, Hazelwood and Yallourn,
generally in the company of Mr Viney, Mr Scheffer
and my lower house colleague Lily D’Ambrosio, the
Labor spokesperson on energy. The future of brown
coal and the future of resources is a complex issue —
complex partly because of the federal debate on the
emissions trading scheme and carbon tax, and complex
because of where the resource is generally going
forward.
What has been obvious to me when I have been to the
Latrobe Valley and spoken to people about this issue is
that the industry and the community are looking for a
degree of certainty going forward. While I can
understand that the minister resorts, as much as any
government would, to finger-pointing at the federal
government over a carbon tax — it is the government’s
political prerogative to do so, so I do not have any
particular issue with that — I guess what the industry
has an issue with, and probably people in the Latrobe
Valley have an issue with, goes beyond that to what the
vision of the state government is going forward on the
coal industry.
The industry going forward needs more from the state
government than criticism of the federal government’s
views on carbon tax. As I said, that is a legitimate
position for a state government to have a view on, so I
am not having a go about that; however, I am saying
that it is the next step which industry is looking for. For
energy supplies in the Latrobe Valley to be continuous
there needs to be new investment, including investment
in maintenance. If we do not deal with that as a state,
then we will have security of supply issues coming
forward. A number of turbines across the four stations
have been down for routine and cyclical maintenance,
but this issue will become a bigger and bigger issue
unless we start getting investment in the sector.