John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the week before the budget, I was hit with the affliction which puts fear into the hearts of men, a condition that brings the powerful to their knees and lays all men low at some point. I am, of course, talking about the scourge of humanity, the dreaded man flu. While I was lying there on what I thought was my deathbed, there were a number of events I had to cancel—curiously, all of the same type. So I thought they deserved a mention today now that I have recovered. It seems, indeed, that I will prove that only the good die young.

Firstly, I was forced to cancel my attendance at the opening of the refurbished offices of the pharmaceutical company Sanofi, a real shame as they have long been manufacturers of flu vaccines and probably could have helped me on the day. Sanofi have been in Bennelong for many years, employing a large number of local residents and contributing to the brilliant reputation for exciting innovation in our local medical hub known as Pill Hill. I'm glad that my colleague and co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Medicine, Dr Mike Freelander, was able to step up and fill the space. Thank you, Dr Mike.

Two days later, I was sad to cancel my attendance at the newly refurbished Lundbeck offices, also in Macquarie Park. Lundbeck specialises in the psychiatry and neurology therapy areas and has a number of approved and PBS listed medicines in Australia to treat mental illness, including schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder. I have had less occasion to meet with Lundbeck, so I was very disappointed not to be able to attend. I look forward to working with them in the future.

I was also due to open a third pharmaceutical company, Astellas, who have recently moved to the electorate, but that event was postponed by them to a date that I now can't make owing to the sitting calendar. Nevertheless, I wish them well in their new site and welcome their very wise decision to move to the medical capital of the country, Bennelong.

While I am sad that I could not make any of these events, I'm very glad to see, from this trend of office refurbishment, that it is clear that the death of the CBD is greatly exaggerated. The benefits that come from proximity to Macquarie University and to other innovative medical companies in Bennelong are clearly worth maintaining. With so many employees of these companies living locally, the shift from working from home to working on site will hopefully not be too strenuous. It's great to see our hubs coming back to life, and I look forward to seeing the next generations of innovations coming down the line now that I have recovered.