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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
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Grievance Debate

ROYAL FLYING DOCTOR MEDICAL PIT STOP

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (15:02): Today at lunchtime, I and other members of both houses of this parliament had the opportunity to visit the Royal Flying Doctor men's health pit stop on the first floor. There were a number of stations in this pit stop where you could have various aspects of your health checked, and I went around the pit stop and, at the end of it, I got my registration sticker—not a defect sticker, as was issued to some unnamed members of this place. I went through the stations which were manned by young volunteers who were very helpful in giving great advice on aspects of health—not just men's health but there were some women members of parliament who visited the pit stop stations as well.

I went to the skin lesions stop and we discussed various types of skin lesions. You need to monitor your skin, particularly in our hot summertime, and the slip, slop, slap message was still being put out there. It is extremely important for all of us to be well aware of not only our internal health but our external health and checking our skin. The next stop in the journey around was at the blood pressure station, and I had my blood pressure taken. I tried to use the excuse that I was about to come down for question time as to why my blood pressure would be up and, unfortunately it was up. I can tell all members of this place that you have your diastolic and systolic blood pressure.

Systolic blood pressure is when your heart is contracting and pushing the blood around. Then, when your heart is relaxing and filling with blood again, that is your diastolic blood pressure, and that is when it should drop down. So, you hear that 120/80; 120 milligrams of mercury is your systolic blood pressure, full pressure, and blood is pumping out of your heart, and then your heart relaxes, fills with blood, and your blood pressure should drop down to about 80. I am not going to tell you what mine was, but it was significantly above normal for a person of my age. I will be taking some measures to ensure that I get back down to within the acceptable range.

It is a very salutary reminder that you do need to look after your health, because it is your diastolic blood pressure that determines whether you are going to have a stroke, a heart attack, or whether there are going to be kidney problems. It is something that does remind you that you are mortal and you could drop off this perch in a heartbeat; so watch your blood pressure.

The next station was the alcohol intake station, and I am pleased to say that I scored 5/10, which is a terrific score. I was able to go through with flying colours. I do drink a moderate amount of alcohol on a daily basis. A glass of red is good for your health, all sorts of health; in fact, it increases your life longevity, I just read the other day. I am happy to stick with that, so I am having it for medicinal purposes as well. I would encourage teetotals out there to just have a bit of a sniff for medicinal purposes.

I have never smoked other than in grade 3 at Elizabeth South Primary School when I won a packet of Craven 'A' 10s at the school fete. My three brothers and I smoked them on the way home and made ourselves so sick that we never ever touched the things again. I was able to pass through that station. They did not weigh you; they measured your girth, your stomach circumference, and 94 was the magic number. Mine was a little bit bigger than that. As I say to people, I have not put on weight, I have just developed a thicker skin, and that is what you have to do in politics—this is some solid respectability I have developed here. In all seriousness I do have to lose a bit of weight as most members—many members—in this place may have to consider doing at some stage in the future.

I did enjoy the flexibility test, where we had to sit on the floor with our legs extended. There was a slab of beer at the end, which was not an enticement; it was just a weight that you could put your feet against. There was a ruler on it, and you had to basically sit up and stretch your hands out past your feet, and they measured how far past your feet you could extend your hands. I set the record for that. They did not give me an actual number, but the young girl there said that I was the best she had seen all day; so my back is quite flexible and my stomach is not that big that it gets in the way of me flexing like that.

At the end of the pit stop we were given a bit of a summation of what we should be doing. I certainly will be making sure that I do a bit more exercise, lose some weight, check my blood pressure and go to my doctor to have a thorough check-up. I encourage everybody in this place very, very strongly—

Mr Venning: Bring back the gym.

Dr McFETRIDGE: Yes; as the member for Schubert says, we should have a gym in this place because we are on limited time; but we do need to make sure that we maintain our health. Go to your doctor and get checked out because health is the most important thing in your life.

The SPEAKER: Before I call the member for Florey, it has been brought to my attention that when I called the minister for higher education and employment to order she was, in fact, entirely innocent. And the guilty person—

The Hon. C.C. Fox interjecting:

The SPEAKER: No, no; he was called to order also. The guilty person was the Minister for Education and, accordingly, I call her to order. The member for Florey.

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