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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-06-04 Daily Xml
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Great Cycle Challenge

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (15:44): I rise today to inform the house briefly about an upcoming charity event called to the 'Great Cycle Challenge, Riding to Fight Kids' Cancer', which is a fundraising initiative of the Children's Medical Research Institute. Having recently become a little obsessed with cycling myself—and, yes, I do now own lycra; I am one of those people—I was—

Mr Pederick interjecting:

Mr ODENWALDER: You haven't seen it. I was interested to read about the Great Cycle Challenge online. The Great Cycle Challenge encourages participants to get on their bikes as often as possible during October and to clock as many kilometres as they can to raise much needed funds for research into childhood cancer. I will be one of those riders this year, and as well as asking for sponsorship for a good cause, I plan to talk to members about recommended rides in their own electorates to get my kilometres up.

I have been in training, as well as riding around my own electorate. I have already explored parts of the electorates of the members for Kaurna, Mawson, Lee and Adelaide by bike, and I look forward to also donning the lycra around parts of Frome and Schubert and visiting some wineries along the way—and perhaps Newland. Participants are connected to their personal online challenge page, making it easy for them to track their progress against other riders from all across Australia.

Last year was the first year of the challenge, and participants rode 1,061,415 kilometres and raised $1,233,684 to fight kids' cancer. As I said, the challenge is an initiative of the Children's Medical Research Institute, who were behind the successful and well-known Jeans for Genes Day held in August each year. Over its 21 years, the campaign has raised more than $60 million for research into genetic diseases, birth defects and cancers.

The institute was founded in 1958 with funds raised by Australia's very first telethon, and for its time a very large public campaign. It is a world-leading independent research institute dedicated to discovering how to prevent or treat birth defects and diseases such as cancer, epilepsy and a range of genetic disorders, and of course, as I said, a major focus of the institute is childhood cancer. The cancer unit was formed at the CMRI in 1988 and already has an impressive list of major achievements, which can all be found on the institute's website. However, there is much more to discover.

While I was reading more about the challenge, I was touched to read the personal stories of kids like Freddy, Ella and Zoe, who have all been diagnosed with cancer. As a dad, I cannot imagine the impact that it has, not only on these little people, but also on their families and friends. Sadly, around 600 Aussie kids are diagnosed with cancer every year, and this is why the Children's Medical Research Institute and other research organisations like them are so important and why their research is so vital.

So, for the 31 days of October, I will be riding as far and as often as possible to raise money to fight childhood cancer, and I would urge all members of the house to get involved with this fantastic event. If they are not willing to ride, they will be able to sponsor me via my personal fundraising page, or they can at least recommend wineries along the way.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON: Deputy Speaker, I draw your attention to the state of the house.

A quorum having been formed:

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