Michael Johnson (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It has often been said in this country that we should be the food bowl, or the supermarket, of Asia. I strongly commend that sentiment but I also want to put forward today the proposition that we should also try to become the chemist, or the pharmacy, of the Asia-Pacific region. Medical research and development is a fundamental aspect of our national economic life and I want to see it grow and evolve into something Australia can take advantage of economically. Two-thirds of the world’s population live some eight- to 10-hours plane ride from Australia. In ASEAN countries alone, there are some 550 million people, and we all know that China and India have populations in excess of one billion people. Twenty million people inhabit our wonderful country of Australia. We produce some two per cent of the world’s basic research. Our challenge and our current difficulty is that we need to translate this into meaningful research. We must try and expand this basic research into what might be termed ‘translated research’.

More than half the world’s population lives geographically near us, and we must try to take advantage of that. We do not want to become net consumers of drugs and pharmaceutical products. If we are not careful, China and India, in particular, will end up being pioneers and becoming the economic beneficiaries of their drug and pharmaceutical industries. We have an enormous challenge on our hands and now is the time to act so that this country can lead the way in drug and pharmaceutical research. Make no mistake about it: this country will pay the price immensely if we allow countries like China and India to expand their drug investments so that we have a marketplace scenario where Australians are buying drugs produced and developed by them.

What do we need to do? We need to invest in a world-class facility. We need to invest in world-class infrastructure that will allow product development and clinical trials in this country. Phase 2 clinical trials need to be conducted in Australia. The best way forward for that is to have infrastructure in place. We need to have a significant hub in this country where the best minds and the best talents of this country can come together to put their skills and their experiences into developing medicines that will go to the shelves of chemists and pharmacies around the country and that will make a difference to the health and the lives of our fellow Australians.

This will be an investment in our nation’s health. This will be an investment in our country’s future. Also, as I said, this will be an economic benefit to our country. I want to stress again that this country will pay a very significant price if we allow China and India to take the lead in the research on drugs that can benefit our people. I want to refer to the Fred Hutchinson research institute in Seattle as well as to global institutions such as MIT and Harvard. They are fine examples for Australia to try and emulate. They are one-stop medical research centres, and their global reputations have no peer.

One of the key benefits, of course, for our country is that the royalties that will come to Australia will be enormous. At the moment, products that are developed in this country have to go offshore. There is no better example of that than the research that was done by one of my constituents, Ian Frazer, of St Lucia in the Ryan electorate. He is of course this year’s Australian of the Year. I had the pleasure of meeting with him some little time ago in my office. Indeed he is still in the parliament today as he hears this address by his local member. He is an Australian of immense talent, and we should look up to him as an example of what Australians can do to achieve groundbreaking and world-class research. The cervical cancer research that he was able to do is going to benefit this country’s people. It could, moreover, also benefit this country’s economy.

Where is the source for these funds? Of course, when you ask the government for money they are always reluctant to spend taxpayers’ money where there is an element of risk. Clearly research into drugs does involve risk. I want to put on record in the parliament today that I think the super funds of Australia—the major super funds that have billions of dollars under investment—should come to the party immediately. They should invest in research that will benefit the people of Australia and our national economy. I will continue to speak on this in the parliament in the days and weeks ahead. (Time expired)

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