Politician's emotive speech about her cancer diagnosis will move you to tears
An Australian politician gave a powerful speech on Wednesday after learning that her cancer had returned, and it's truly personal and moving.
"A week after being sworn in as a member for Dunkley I received the unexpected news that my cancer had returned," Peta Murphy, Labor Member for Dunkley, told the Australian House of Representatives.
"You might say Murphy's Law strikes again," she added. "But my mother Jan — who is a Murphy by marriage not birth and therefore able to adopt a less pessimistic personal motto — would say 'everything happens for a reason.'"
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Murphy went on to say that she is "neither unique nor alone in the fight that I am about to take on," citing statistics from Cancer Australia, which estimates that in 2019 over 19,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 145,000 Australians will be diagnosed with a form of cancer.
Murphy offered up some advice to people listening to her speech.
"I'm going to start by saying this today: Ladies, check your breasts. Men, stop ignoring what your body's telling you," she said.
Strong words. Take note — and action.
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
