Your activities here today and - at the Conference - bring together the very new and the ancient lore of the human side of medicine. Bertha Kapeen thank you for the reminder of the Bundjalung heritage of this area, and Chancellor and Vice Chancellor, thank you for the commitment of the Southern Cross University to taking us into the academic challenges of the twenty-first century - the century of healing.

I know that my colleagues The Honourable Ian Causley and State MP, Thomas George, other Distinguished Guests, and Conference Delegates all share my excitement about being here.

I am certainly pleased to be here to officially Launch the Business Plan for Cellulose Valley Technology Park as part of this obviously very successful International Conference "Herbal Medicine Into the New Millenium".

It is good to see such a quality array of speakers and a conference program which captures the very latest information on herbal medicine research and the application of that research in a quest for better healthcare.

The international move towards complementary medicines based on herbs and herbal extracts continues to gain momentum with Australia certainly well placed through forums such as this to be a leader in the field.

The move is being driven by a number of important factors, but two principal ones are:

The need to minimise healthcare costs to governments and to consumers through better being access to effective complementary, therapeutic and preventative medicines; AND
The steadily increasing acceptance by governments, regulators, the community and the various professional groupings of the scientific and beneficial basis of the diverse range of complementary healthcare products available in Australia and abroad.

Today I would like to outline some of the important issues which confront government, industry, practitioners and consumers of complementary healthcare products as together we face the challenges.

People who use and rely on complementary and other medicines, demand from all governments a high degree of safety and confidence in the marketing approval and regulation of such products.
Consumers will not look favourably on any Government which deviates from a fundamental obligation to maintain optimal standards of public health and safety. And the Federal Government has promised that public health and safety will no way be compromised.

The challenge for governments and the healthcare industry is to balance, on the other hand, the need to improve market access for beneficial complementary healthcare products, while on the other hand the need to maintain consumer confidence in high regulatory standards.

Most of you will be aware of the regulatory reform process now well under way in the area of complementary medicines in Australia. Many of you will also be aware of my strong personal interest in, and commitment to, the healthy future of the complementary healthcare industry and in particular complementary medicines.

Late last year I announced a Regulatory Reform Agenda and established a Working Party to further review the regulation of complementary medicines. Its members were drawn from industry, consumer organisations and government and in January this year I announced the package of reforms developed by the Working Party - following Government agreement.

I would like to briefly outline the major policy reforms of the package which I believe have firmly given Complementary Healthcare CREDIBILITY and have sought to remove many of the IMPEDIMENTS previously in the way of Complementary Medicine.

One of the key reforms was a review of the advertising arrangements applying to all therapeutic goods including a review of the existing advertising controls for low risk complementary healthcare products.

The review came about in response to concerns raised by industry about restrictions on the use of claims and is being undertaken in close consultation with industry and other key stakeholders. It is being conducted by the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code Council (TGACC) with the assistance of the Complementary Medicines Evaluation Committee (CMEC) among other experts and stakeholders.

Another important emphasis of the reform package is a shift of focus from pre-market clearance to post-market vigilance. While certain administrative changes in the reforms package allow for early market access for low risk complementary healthcare, the current high levels of public health and safety will be ensured through a more targeted, transparent and rigorous post-market vigilance program. As a result, post-market vigilance will play an increasingly important role in the regulation of complementary medicines.

The reforms also make some strident improvements in the area of Advice and Consultation to Government.

I have established a Complementary Healthcare Consultative Forum that will meet for the first time early next month. This Forum has been established to facilitate consultation between government and the complementary healthcare sector in order or to exchange information on broad policy, regulatory performance and other related issues.

Importantly for this audience, the Forum will also examine complementary healthcare research, regulation and education as well as industry, consumer and practitioner issues. If you have studied the final arrangements for the Tax Reform initiatives you will have noted the inclusion of accreditation of naturopaths, acupuncturists, herbalists, and other provisions for the Minister's exercise discretion

I am now in a position to formally announce appointments to the Forum. They are people I hope are well known to many of you;

Practitioner sector
David Fitts
Assunta Hunter
Justin Lovelock
David McLeod
Robert Scott and
Dr Iggy Soosay
Consumers
Lila Notley of NT and
Janne Graham of the ACT
Research sector
Avni Sali
Complementary Healthcare Council
Marcus Blackmore and
Euan Murdoch
Proprietary Medicines Association of Australia(PMAA)
Juliet Seifert and
Kevin Darke
The Chair of Australian Pharmaceutical Advisory Council
Professor Lloyd Sansom
Australian Medical Association (who are joining the Forum enthusiastically)
Dr Stephen Phillips
Marketing and Advertising sector
Les Dell
State/Territory Governments will be represented by
Dr Vivien Lin
The Chair of CMEC
Professor David Roberts
Australia New Zealand Food Authority
Claire Pontin
Therapeutic Goods Administration CEO
Terry Slater
And finally
Representing the Department of Industry Science and Resources has nominated
Tricia Berman

I thank these people for their willingness to participate - with the diversity of expertise and knowledge that they possess I know they will contribute greatly to the Forum and we will be seeing some good outcomes.

The Office of Complementary Medicines (OCM) has been established within the Therapeutic Goods Administration to focus exclusively on regulation of complementary healthcare products. It is staffed by highly qualified and experienced personnel with an understanding of complementary healthcare products and related issues. It combines the evaluation process and listing application handling for complementary medicines under one roof. I am pleased to note that The Director of the Office, Dr Fiona Cumming, is presenting a paper to this conference.

The status and membership of the Complementary Medicines Evaluation Committee (CMEC) has been enhanced as part of the reform package to deal even more effectively with the evaluation and review of new complementary medicines and new substances for complementary healthcare products.

The committee is made up of eleven members and five expert advisers whose combined areas of expertise cover the breadth of complementary medicine. Dr Stephen Myers from the School of Natural and Complementary Medicine at this University is a member of CMEC. I should mention that CMEC will play a pivotal role in determining the level and quality of evidence needed to support labelling and advertising claims as part of the review of advertising arrangements which I mentioned earlier.

Other legislative changes which underpin the package of reforms assist with the identification and definition complementary medicine and, separately of food.

One important administrative reform, as part of a number of streamlining initiatives, is the enhancement of the electronic lodgement facility to enable faster and easier access for complementary medicine sponsors to the market and as a result improved access by consumers to them. Industry representatives have worked hard with TGA in the design phase of this facility and I welcome your ongoing involvement to see it successfully implemented later this year.

The introduction of the Complementary Medicines Reform Package further establishes Australia as a world leader in the regulation of complementary healthcare products. No other country has undertaken to provide such a comprehensive regulatory structure to ensure the safety, and quality of complementary healthcare products, thus maintaining the highest possible level of confidence for Australians who choose to use complementary medicines.

These new government initiatives underpin an important improvement in health care in Australia and at the same time recognise the commercial considerations and opportunities in Australia and for export overseas.

Similarly the Federal Government is embarking on associated reforms to the orthodox pharmaceutical sector, and medical practice, to ensure that in the future Quality Use of Medicines and a National Medicines Policy will recognise the proper place of Complementary Healthcare practice and products.

I am also currently inviting Aboriginal Health Organisations to share their experiences, in a series of fora, about Complementary Bush Tucker, Indigenous Traditional Medicines and Healing with the Government to advance improved Health delivery in remote communities.

This brings me back to the important task I have before me to launch the Business Plan for the Cellulose Valley Technology Park. The innovative concept embodied in the

Technology Park is, I believe, one of the most exciting developments I have seen in any business sector in recent times. I note with eagerness the vision of becoming a regional and international centre of excellence based on a compatible clustering of firms, institutions and activities which, mutually, will support the growth, and capitalise on the competitive advantage, of the emerging natural plant product industry.

I commend the people who have had the vision and the energy to make Cellulose Valley Technology Park a reality and I would strongly encourage prospective tenants of the Park to seriously consider the benefits that locating here will bring. I must say that from what I have seen of the environment and facilities on offer here in this lovely part of the world, the possibility of establishing any kind of operation here, but particularly one based around natural plant technologies, seems very appealing and logical.

As I understand, the main benefits of what is proposed are based on using the existing framework of well established competencies and credentials.

This has enabled the creation of "critical mass" in key areas for research and commercialisation. Such an environment will facilitate idea exchange and synergy through a focus on industry development and will provide ready access to a wealth of training, research, manufacturing, marketing, practitioner, communication and administrative infrastructure and expertise - much of this by virtue of co-location with the highly regarded facilities of Southern Cross University.

This will be of considerable value to all existing and prospective natural plant product enterprises, and not the least of which is the smaller manufacturer of these products.

The Park represents a strong and insightful industry development initiative and I believe it will attract attention from major participants and competitors around the country and indeed around the globe.
Professor Conyngham, I thank you again for the invitation to join with you on this significant occasion - particularly being able to include it as part of a leading edge conference with such distinguished delegates.

I am honoured to be able to officially launch the Business Plan for the Cellulose Valley Technology Park, and in so doing, I wish you the very best of future success - both scientifically and commercially for this exciting venture.

Thank you.