Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Fowler. He is very well aware of the importance of investment in health, particularly in health and medical research. We were out there just last year with the Prime Minister opening the new Ingham research institute in the member's electorate—a substantial investment from the Commonwealth but also a substantial investment from the Ingham family and others. We will continue to invest as a government in health and medical research because it pays off. You only need to look at the fine results we have had with our Gardasil vaccination program for girls and now boys, and the miracle of sound being brought to millions of children around the world with Cochlear implants.

We are also looking at how we can better embed health and medical research right across our health sector as recommended by the McKeon review. We will continue to invest but also change the way we do research. In this last budget we have invested in better support for clinical trials, and our funding for the Health and Medical Research Council continues to increase, from $771 million next year to $815 million in 2016-17—continued investment.

I am asked about obstacles and, I guess, the only obstacle is the opposition. We have heard from the opposition that they will quarantine health and medical research funding from budget cuts—flat-lining, quarantining, not cutting. Should we be really grateful that they are not taking the axe to it? Flat-lining would cost health and medical research—

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