Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

After a series of questions over two days and an excellent contribution from Senator Back it is very sad to see that those on the other side just do not get it. I have a list of the CRCs before me. There are 55 of them. They are very, very important. We have cotton catchment, dairy products, industry innovation, weeds management, sustainable tourism, smart services and automotive technology, but I would put it to you, Mr Deputy President, that there are five that are fundamentally important to human beings on this planet. They are, of course, the CRCs for Aboriginal Health, Asthma and Airways, and Cancer Therapeutics, the Bushfire CRC and the Australian Biosecurity CRC for Emerging Infectious Disease. The last is the one we are talking about.

We all know of, and we have spoken often about the history of, the hendra virus. The hendra virus is part of the Henipavirus family. We know, because they are ‘zootic’ in nature—that is, they are communicable from animals to humans—