Tuesday, 20 June 2023

 Mary-Anne THOMAS (Macedon – Leader of the House, Minister for Health, Minister for Health Infrastructure, Minister for Medical Research) (14:13): I rise today to update the house on the Andrews Labor government’s continued investment in state-of-the-art medical research infrastructure here in Victoria. As this house well knows, Melbourne is one of the world’s leading medical research centres. Our government is working to grow that reputation further by attracting the world’s best and brightest researchers and clinicians. This morning the Premier and I had the great opportunity to join with the vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne and Professor Sharon Lewin and Professor Margaret Hellard, respectively from the Doherty Institute and the Burnet Institute, to see the great plans that are ready to go for the Australian Institute for Infectious Disease. Our government is investing $400 million into this $650 million project. It will ensure that what is already one of the world’s greatest precincts becomes even bigger and better. It will continue Victoria’s reputation as a global leader when it comes to understanding and fighting infectious diseases, not just COVID. Let us remember the other prevalent diseases that still cause great challenges here in our community: HIV, mpox of course, other mosquito-borne viruses like malaria and indeed many others. It is important that we continue to stay hepatitis and so on. This revolutionary institute will enable us to respond quickly to future pandemics and to fight infectious disease. We are investing right across our medical research space, be it in partnership for the coming global centre for pandemic therapeutics – the Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery – and the $35 million that I was delighted to announce on Sunday being invested in the Victorian Paediatric Cancer Consortium out of the Children’s Hospital here in Victoria.