Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Bonner for his question. I can point out to him and to other members that the Howard government does not just talk about Medicare but invests the money necessary to make a good system even better—$48 billion in the coming financial year, as the Treasurer said last night with, I thought, a note of justifiable pride in his voice. But it is not just the quantity of the spending; it is the quality of the outcomes which count. That is why medical research is so important, because it is today’s research which produces tomorrow’s medicines and technologies which will keep millions of Australians happier and healthier.

Australia has always punched above its weight in health and medical research. We have produced no fewer than six Nobel prize winners in this area. Aspro, penicillin, the heart pacemaker, the ultrasound scanner and the bionic ear were all developed by Australians or in Australia. And last night’s budget reinforces this great tradition: there is $905 million in new money for medical research. That means that national health and medical research funding will increase fivefold, from $127 million in 1996 to $700 million a year at the end of this quadrennium. It means new infrastructure for Australia’s great medical research institutes like the Walter and Eliza Hall, the Garvin, the Florey and the millennium institute at Westmead Hospital. I want to say that last night’s budget substantially delivered on the major recommendations of the Grant and Wills review, and I want to congratulate John Grant and Peter Wills on their consistent vision and commitment in this area.

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