Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Mental Health) Share this | Hansard source

At 9.30 this morning for something that is so significant, that is so important, that is your signature policy that you only told the Department of Health about two weeks before the budget, by the way—but that is another matter; why is this such a mess?

You would think that for something that is so significant and so important that someone would have done the work needed. Well, Minister Cormann, it has not happened. Whether it is the Department of Finance, whether it is the Department of Health, someone has not done the proper consultation work that has been needed to be done. It is obvious now to everyone that that work has not been completed.

The Labor Party, in good faith, have drafted a number of amendments and the purpose of those amendments is to strengthen the role of the advisory board so that decisions cannot simply be made on the whim of the minister of the day, potentially based on whoever has had his or her ear at the time or to fund pet projects that are potentially of a political nature. Medical research dollars are hard to find; they are hotly contested.

As many have described, and I did in my own speech, we can be extremely proud of Australia's contribution to medical research in the world. We can be, but let us use those dollars very wisely. That is why most of the submitters—I think all—talked to our committee about some sort of peer review. We have to make sure we apply our funds in the most efficient and the most effective way. That does not discount the comment that Senator Xenophon made. There are good cases and they can be made for providing funds to diseases or medical events that relate to small cohorts of the population. You can make that argument. It has been done in the past and it should be done.

We need to make sure that the money that is applied to medical research in our country is given to the right projects so that we will get the best outcomes. In fact, it was Senator O'Sullivan's contribution this morning that actually makes my case right. Senator O'Sullivan talked about the value of—I am not sure how to pronounce the word; it is the cannabis oils.