Nickolas Varvaris (Barton, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure to speak on the Medical Research Future Fund Bill 2015. As the federal member    for Barton, I thoroughly welcome the prospect of the Medical Research Future Fund as I know it will have an enormous, positive impact on the St George community. This bill is very much needed in this nation. Should the bill be passed, it will provide an enormous boost to our nation's medical research institutes and allow the best and brightest of our medical researchers to find the needed cures for diseases. Not only will it boost research in Australia but also it will foster growth in this area that is desperately needed not only for our citizens but also for millions of others around the world.

As a nation, we may be an island the furthest away from other First World nations, but we have proven time and again that we have the capacity to achieve amazing milestones that is the envy of the world. We are the nation that invented Wi-Fi, Aerogard, polymer banknotes, extended-wear soft contact lenses, and Relenza—a broad-spectrum flu drug that is the best in the world. Innovation and knowledge is what drives research and development in Australia and we believe nothing is off limits. That is why this side of the House is absolutely committed to ensuring our research foundations and institutes are provided the resources to enrich our communities' health care.

We have reached a critical time in society where our rapidly ageing population is living longer but not always healthier. Many diseases such as cancer, dementia and heart disease are on the rise, often causing a deterioration of the quality of life for those affected. Without mentioning the sheer cost this means to our health services and sector, essentially it means that people are often spending the better part of their lives riddled with disease, suffering and in pain, where they should be enjoying life with family or doing activities they enjoy. While it is important that we have a robust healthcare system to look after those who need it, it must also be met with research so that we can put a stop to diseases and ailments, particularly those which may be preventable.

This side of the House is ensuring the best and brightest of Australian medical researchers remain at the forefront of developing cures which will actively improve the lives of Australians. I know that in Barton this is a priority concern for my residents, many of whom are ageing and want to live out their retirement doing the things they love, whether spending time with family, catching up with friends, playing lawn bowels or social group activities, as opposed to stays in hospital and never-ending visits to doctors. Establishing the Medical Research Future Fund, starting on 1August this year, will create the biggest endowment fund of this type in the world. It will allow for a systematic funding model that will ensure we continue to foster renowned medical research and development projects and attract and retain the best and brightest in the medical field, so that we can provide Australians with the treatments and cures needed.

This bill will ensure the fund can receive an initial contribution of $1billion from the Health and Hospitals Fund. From 2015-16, the net earnings from the fund will provide a permanent revenue stream, mainly to the National Health and Medical Research Council. In addition, the estimated value of savings from the Health portfolio will be contributed until the fund reaches a target capital level of $20 billion, projected to be in 2019-20. The fund will distribute around $1 billion a year into medical research from 2022-23. This is an extraordinary achievement for our medical research sector, and I would hope that both sides of the House join together in ensuring this can pass so it can commence on 1 August this year.

As I mentioned earlier, in my electorate of Barton medical research and health care is a top priority for many of my constituents. Whilst we have excellent facilities in the St George region—including St George Hospital, St George Private Hospital and Calvary Hospital, which actively service those in the southern suburbs of Sydney, and provide vital health care in the aftermath of injury, disease or ailment—the St George & Sutherland Medical Research Foundation cannot be overlooked with regard to their vital contributions. I have had the pleasure of having met Peter Christopher, the chief executive officer, many times in the past to discuss how we can work together to deliver the needs of the community. Peter oversees the operations of the research foundation to raise funds and increase awareness of the vital work of medical researchers at the St George and Sutherland hospitals.

Recently, Peter and I had the great pleasure of meeting with the Minister for Health, the Hon. Sussan Ley, in my Barton office, who listened to the key members of the foundation tell what they have achieved and what plans they have to accomplish even more in the area of medical research. Of course, their visions cannot be turned into reality without funding.

One of those visions includes a plan for a national centre for research into ageing and chronic care in the St George and Sutherland shire. This will be the first of its kind in Australia, and, importantly, this is the right place for integrated care, because the region has an ageing population, and 30 per cent of those at St George Hospital receiving treatment are in the ageing category, and the core focus of this centre would be research into healthy ageing. Furthermore, this aligns with the federal government's release of its Intergenerational report, which addresses the issue of an ageing population and the implications for the cost of health care.

The chair of the foundation, Professor John Edmonds, has also indicated that he wants the St George region to be at the forefront of research into integrated health care, which works towards keeping people out of hospital and cared for in their homes. Currently, an integrated care program exists in the shire and has achieved outstanding results. Whilst the centre is based locally, it will have national benefits. I support the foundation because research will raise the bar at our hospitals. It will increase national benchmarks that affect all Australians. The region should have the best medical care and facilities available to it, and the plans for the centre are vital for this to happen.

The foundation was created in 2007 after an active group of senior doctors at St George Hospital decided to establish an independent body for the purposes of funding and promoting the medical research community. After both the local community and St George Bank pitched in to assist, the body transformed from a dream to a reality.

The St George & Sutherland Medical Research Foundation consists of a board with senior medical staff and business leaders, and the Scientific Advisory Committee, and nurtures active collaboration between the St George and Sutherland hospitals. I want to draw attention to this collaboration, which is unique and vital to the achievements of the foundation. The collaboration between the research institute and the hospitals has actively fostered a growing research culture that contributes consistently to improved clinical outcomes.

With such positive research and results, the foundation itself was able to provide grants for research between 2007 and 2013, something that community partnerships with St George Bank and Ramsay Health Care have allowed. Some of the research areas include immunology, infectious disease and sexual health, colonic motility, appendicitis and intestinal inflammation, gastrointestinal cancer and so forth. These are just some of the studies the foundation has undertaken, through its specialists, as part of their vision for a healthier future for all Australians.

The Medical Research Future Fund is a solid investment into facilities such as the foundation which will be managed by the Future Fund Board of Guardians, so that there can be maximised returns over the long term. This is important, as the future of our medical researchers is about ensuring funding is available to support their work.

Today's bill ensures that the Medical Research Future Fund will be established as a dedicated investment channel that provides a secure revenue stream to be used for medical research and medical innovation. By allowing for a secure revenue stream, institutes like the medical research foundation will have opportunities to secure additional funding for current and future projects, and this means that they will be one step closer to finding the cures and treatments for diseases that affect so many Australians.

The establishment of the research future fund provides a much-needed gateway for other research institutes and foundations to plan for medical research and development—foundations like the Gynaecological Cancer Foundation, whose launch I attended last week. This reaffirms why this bill today is so vital. Every two hours in Australia, a woman is diagnosed with gynaecological cancer. Statistics of this kind are unacceptable, given that we have progressed so much in our nation. Yet we have been unable to find a definitive cure to date, with many women being made aware of the cancer spreading through their body only once it is too late. Again, funding for medical research is what is needed for key breakthroughs, so that women have the opportunity to detect warning signs early on. Currently, women often mistake symptoms of gynaecological cancer for something thought to be less significant, or symptoms evade current forms of blood testing. The foundation, which normally relies on private and corporate donations, now has an opportunity through the fund to allow for increased levels of medical research.

Today's bill is an important turning point in our nation. The bill is about providing for constructive methods and strategies by which money can be raised and distributed for this vital sector that helps save lives through treatments and cures. Without a secure revenue stream, we cannot continue the calibre of medical research taking place in Australia, and the health of our citizens will worsen.

We must ensure that the best and brightest talents in medical research will continue to remain in Australia. We must reward innovation and knowledge with appropriate allocation of resources so that the vital role they play in our health sector continues.

Medical research underpins the health system of our future, and without an appropriate revenue stream we cannot fund new research or add to existing research. The Medical Research Future Fund will ensure that we keep our promise when it comes to maintaining health investment while delivering a sustainable health scheme into the future.

We want to ensure that people who are living for longer are doing so with good quality of life, not spending their later years in hospitals or housebound. The Medical Research Future Fund Bill is a measured step in providing for the future of medical research in Australia. It will ensure we retain the best talent in the industry and find key breakthroughs in diseases and ailments that affect so many Australians. I commend this bill to the House.

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