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Home > Ministers > The Hon Tanya Plibersek MP - Minister for Health > Media Hub > Transcript of Doorstop, Sydney University, $652 Million for Medical Research Grants, 19 October 2012

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PDF printable version of Transcript of Doorstop, Sydney University, $652 Million for Medical Research Grants, 19 October 2012 (PDF 195 KB)

19 October 2012

E&OE Only

Tanya Plibersek: Well it's a terrific thrill to be here today. Today we're announcing $652 million for 1141 grants through the National Health and Medical Research Council. The grants range right across the body of scientific knowledge.

Today we're meeting with a researcher who looks at sleep disorders in children, but we've got grants in cancer, HIV, Indigenous health - all sorts of areas.

Each one of these grants is important in its own right because it contributes to the sum of human knowledge. Each little bit that we find out about how the human body functions, how disease is transmitted, how we can identify and better treat and cure particular illnesses helps us build a healthier community. Not just here in Australia but around the world.

Australian scientists have routinely punched above their weight on the national stage. And today by investing $652 million in these 1141 grants, we continue that great work of Australian researchers - medical researchers and scientists.

Questions?

Question: Should we speak to the [indistinct] and then come back to you? Or…

Tanya Plibersek: I'm happy to do it any way you like.

Question: Okay.

Tanya Plibersek: I'm here, so why don't you ask me and then we'll hand over.

Question: Was there not a funding freeze imposed, announced by Penny Wong?

Tanya Plibersek: Well right across Government we had of course, to look for savings in the lead-up to the mid-year economic forecast. But we announced in August that we would give scientists certainty by announcing this next round of grants in October. And of course we've kept to that promise.

There's been no reduction in funding for the National Health and Medical Research Council grants. I'm very pleased to say that, and I'm very pleased that we were able to keep to the original timeline to announce the grants.

It's very important to give researchers certainty that they'll have a job from January next year, and so the way that universities plan, we know that by announcing in October we've given scientists and researcher certainty for next year.

Question: So what funds have they frozen?

Tanya Plibersek: Well none in this area, and if you want further comment on the mid-year economic forecast you're going to have to ask the Finance Minister or the Treasurer.

Question: Okay. And Victoria is the highest recipient of funding. Does that illustrate it has the biggest presence in this sort of medical research area?

Tanya Plibersek: Well it's a very competitive funding process for grants. And it's done at arm's length from government, independently by the NHMRC. The NHMRC has scientists and medical researchers who peer review all of the grant applications, and consideration isn't given to which institution people are from. It's given to the strength of the research proposition before the NHMRC.

Question: What's the biggest health concern? I notice that cancer's received the biggest amount of funding.

Tanya Plibersek: Well cancer continues to be an area that gets a lot of research funding because it's an illness that affects so very many Australians. I think it's a terrific investment, and we have had great results from our investment in cancer research in recent years.

We've seen the life expectancy of many types of cancers increase very substantially because of the research that has been done by our medical researcher here in Australia. That's good news for Australian patients.

Question: There was a report that 4000 of Australia's top medical researchers are in limbo, potentially some choosing whether to go overseas to chase some funding over there, scared that they might not get any here as a result I believe of Penny Wong's announcement of a funding freeze. Is that not the case that any of that was at risk?

Tanya Plibersek: Well we're here today as originally scheduled. In August I would said - I said that we would announce these grants in October, and I'm thrilled to be able to do it.

When you look through this list of 1141 research proposals that will be funded, you see every single one of them contributes to the body of human knowledge. And it's so thrilling to be a health minister, able to invest in better understanding the human body, better understanding the way that our community works, and working out how we can identify, treat and cure all sorts of illnesses in Australia.

Question: Is there no fear that with the mini-budget coming, is there no fear that there did in fact need to be a freeze to keep the budget in shape?

Tanya Plibersek: No. We're very pleased to be able to stick to the original timeline of announcement and to announce today the full amount of funding that we expected to announce in health and medical research grants.

Question: Minister, sorry, last night Australia got a seat on the UN Council; how much credit goes to Kevin Rudd for starting the ball rolling on it?

Tanya Plibersek: I'm very pleased that Australia has got a seat on the UN Security Council. This is something that many people have put a great amount of effort into over many years. Of course, credit should go to Kevin Rudd for starting the ball rolling, but the Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been working very hard on convincing our friends and neighbours to vote for us.

Our Foreign Minister of course, Bob Carr has not rested. He's been traversing the globe, convincing other nations that as Australia is a large contributor to international security missions, and also aid and other areas, that we should have a say at the table.

This is a team effort, and I think all of those who have been involved in working on the Security Council bid should be congratulated.

Question: Could I ask a question about the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme…

Tanya Plibersek: Sure.

Question: …which was scrapped initially because it was subject to extensive rorting largely?

Tanya Plibersek: Yes.

Question: I think overnight it was revealed the Government is not pursuing the money from those who allegedly rorted it. Why is that?

Tanya Plibersek: No that's not right. Anyone who has rorted the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme will be pursued for the recovery of money. And if there's been particularly bad behaviour - intentional bad behaviour, the full force of the law. What we will be relaxing a little, are people who have done the work that they said they did, but have not done the appropriate paperwork fully.

The paperwork that was introduced by Tony Abbott was complicated in some ways. Dentists weren't used to filling it in. So we'll be a little bit more relaxed about purely administrative errors.

As far as people who have rorted this, they will continue to be pursued. We have examples of dentists who have done hundreds of thousands of dollars of work that they can't account for at all. We've got dentists who have charged the full $4000 for one check up. We've got dentists who have done unnecessary work or indeed admitted that many patients that they've charged for they've got no record of doing work on at all.

If there are - if there is actual rorting, those dentists will be pursued to the full force of the law. The ones that we won't be going so hard on are the ones who've done the work, done it well but not done the paperwork fully.

Question: Won't it all come down to paperwork?

Tanya Plibersek: No it won't because we talk to patients. We've got patients - we've got patients who - most of the people who've been picked up by this scheme as rorting the scheme have been picked up in two ways: they've been picked up for high or unusual billing, or they've been picked up through complaints. We've had around 1000 complaints; work not properly done; work charged for not done. And there is no question that those people who have rorted the scheme will be pursued.

Okay. Everyone right?

Question: Maybe just one more.

Are you confident the budget will be in good shape next week?

Tanya Plibersek: Well the Treasurer and the Finance Minister and the Prime Minister have been working very hard on getting

The mid-year economic forecast ready to go and in line, and I'm very confident that they've been doing a great job and that it'll be a strong mid-year economic forecast whenever it's released.
Thanks.

Oh sorry, you had one more. Yeah, okay.

Question: Just [indistinct] that Kevin Rudd's getting ready to make another comeback. And I just wondered if, you have anything to say to that?

Tanya Plibersek: Oh, [indistinct] no evidence of that. Thanks

Ends