Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Would the minister advise the House how this year’s budget will boost Australia’s medical research effort?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to 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.

Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Vocational and Technical Education. Is the minister aware of the Australian Industry Group’s comment on last night’s budget:

... it is disappointing that more progress has not been made on the big nation-building goals of skills and innovation. ... investments in skills, innovation and infrastructure these areas are required to build the competitiveness of Australian business and to assist in rebalancing the economy as the current minerals boom begins to fade.

Why has the Howard government ignored the calls of Australian industry to invest in Australia’s future and focus on skills development and training as the primary drivers of productivity and competitiveness on the world stage?

Gary Hardgrave (Moreton, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Jagajaga is wrong again in her assertion and her assumptions. Whilst those opposite spent all of last year talking down and in fact trying to deny Australians tax cuts, they took their eye off the fact that we put a record $1 billion extra in last year’s budget towards skills and skills development—in fact, over four years, over the current quadrennium, $10.1 billion. And last night we continued it: the Treasurer put $181.6 million into a range of new programs to meet Australia’s continuing change in skills demands—that is, an extra $106 million over four years for new apprenticeships centres, an extra $6 million to fund the coordination of national skills shortages strategies, and on and on and on it goes. What the Labor Party has not focused on is the effort of last year which produced a record amount, a record investment and the challenge to Australian businesses to take full advantage of those circumstances.

Alby Schultz (Hume, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. What plan does the government have in the budget to continue the battle against terrorism and protect Australians?

Alexander Downer (Mayo, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Firstly, can I thank the honourable member for Hume for his question and for his interest. The government has given a very high priority to not just protecting Australia against terrorists but making sure we work with our regional neighbours in order to enhance the capacities of the region as a whole to deal with the problem of terrorism. Under this budget, the government will provide an additional $92.6 million to boost the capacity of countries in our region to fight terrorism. South-East Asian countries are front-line countries in the fight against terrorism and we have been collaborating with our neighbours to a very substantial extent. Counter-terrorism initiatives in the region are now worth something like $400 million since 2004. The fact is that our robust approach to counter-terrorism in the region is saving lives and is helping our regional neighbours to deal with the problem of terrorism. Terrorist networks have been disrupted and over 300 terrorists in South-East Asia have been tracked down and brought to justice. For example, as recently as 29 April the Indonesian police raided a house in Central Java, arresting two associates of Noordin Top and killing two other terrorists and seizing explosives. A number of terrorist trials are under way in Indonesia, including four which commenced yesterday, relating to the October 2005 Bali bombings.

The fact is that a number of Australian agencies are helping particularly Indonesia but also other countries in the region to fight terrorism. In the budget, the AFP and the intelligence agencies will get $34 million to continue this work; Customs, $7 million; the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, $10.9 million; nuclear safety agencies, $5 million; and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, $35 million. I think that, apart from the United States, there is no other country that makes a greater contribution to the counter-terrorism effort in the region. It is an important theme of and component of our budget that, in the task of securing Australia and continuing to deal with the international security threats we face, we give such a high priority to assisting our regional neighbours to counter terrorism.