Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

The government appreciates the opposition's intention here, but we do not support these amendments because they would not achieve the objective of the bill to establish a fund which will address existing strategic gaps in Australian medical research investment which, incidentally, were identified in a review—the McEwan review—initiated by the previous Labor government.

The government will definitely use the NHMRC's robust funding distribution processes where those are the most appropriate means of implementing its MRRF disbursement decisions. Other existing Commonwealth bodies will also be enlisted to implement the rollout or to undertake MRRF-funded research where they have the most suitable administrative mechanisms or expertise. For instance, the CSIRO or the ARC.

The clear majority of witnesses who expressed views about the NHMRC in the Senate Community Affairs Committee inquiry concluded that the NHMRC is not suited to running the MRRF. The opposition's amendment would burden the NHMRC with significant additional administrative responsibilities that are not practical or, in our judgement, appropriate. When Labor was in government they commissioned the McEwan review, which found that Australia needs a more strategic model to get the best health results. Burdening the NHMRC with both a strategic and an operational role would be inconsistent with the intent of building proper coordination and specialisation into the system.

In contrast, the government's approach would help establish a new, strategically focused organisation while keeping the NHMRC doing what it does best, as an expert distributor of funding for investigator-led projects.