Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to commend the government for its initiative to invest in the world's largest medical research endowment fund—a $20 billion fund that will increase and secure medical research funding for decades to come.

We recognise that Australia is facing an ageing population, where between 2010 and 2050 the number of people aged 65 to 84 is expected to more than double, and those aged 85 and over are expected to more than quadruple. As Benjamin Franklin's age-old axiom goes, 'An ounce of cure is worth a pound of prevention'. While this probably needs to be updated to metric measurements, the meaning remains as true today as it did in the 18th century. This is exactly what the coalition government is doing. The $1 billion annual distribution of the fund for medical research will mean that we can develop more efficient, cost-effective or even entirely new treatments and cures for diseases, ensuring that Australians continue to enjoy a world-class health system into the future. This endowment fund will ensure world-class medical research is done for Australians by Australians for years to come, safeguarding Australia from a brain drain of medical researchers. I am excited by the potential of this new fund and what it means for medical research in Australia. Who knows, this fund could mean the cure for Alzheimer's—or even cancer.