Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Science and Research) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator McEwen for her question and note her ongoing interest in the science and research sector. Last Saturday I joined Prime Minister Julia Gillard, South Australian Premier, Jay Weatherill, Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Penny Wong, and Senator McEwen in Adelaide. We announced $100 million in federal funding for world-class education and health science research facilities. The facilities will be part of the new South Australian health and biomedical precinct at the brand-spanking-new Royal Adelaide Hospital site. The amount of $60 million will go to the University of Adelaide's new medical school, which is next door to the new hospital, and the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute.

The facility, which is modelled on leading international university hospital precincts, will represent a new frontier in Australian medical education. Also, $40 million will go to the University of South Australia's Centre for Cancer Biology to house 250 researchers investigating blood cancers such as leukaemia and lymphoma. The precinct will be a world leader in the provision of modern education, health and medical research, commercialisation and clinical service delivery.

The projects are part of ongoing support for world-class science research and tertiary education, and complement infrastructure such as the South Australian nodes of the Australian Phenomics Network and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory of Australia. Integrating medical institutions with research communities promotes a smarter way of approaching the future of medical research and education.