Page 926 - Week 03 - Thursday, 10 March 2005

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .


Without the fundraising efforts of the facility’s original group, particularly Professor Chris Goodnow, who leveraged an initial $2 million investment from the Canberra Cancerians Committee into $40 million for the Medical Genome Centre, we would not have such a world-class facility in Canberra. Because of this group’s ability to leverage funding and the ACT government’s commitment to biotechnology, the ACT government was pleased to support the facility’s conquering immunological diseases program with an injection of $50,000 as seed funds for the program.

This is a one-of-its-kind research program and world-leading research that will remove barriers to developing cures for leukaemia and other cancers, autoimmune diseases, allergies, asthma, chronic infections and other inflammatory disorders. As a former registered nurse, I am extremely pleased about this drive to advance biotechnology and public health. As I speak, a person I spoke about in this place only recently is lying semi-conscious in a hospital in the ACT after collapsing on the weekend. Unfortunately, there appear to be serious problems with his transplanted heart. A few years ago, I lost a nephew after such a transplant.

MR SPEAKER: Order! The time for this debate has expired.

The Assembly adjourned at 6.04 pm until Tuesday, 15 March 2005, at 10.30 am.


Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .