Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

Fighting and beating back TB is not only good because it is helping our neighbouring countries but also vital for economic stability and health security in the Indo-Pacific region. Helping to strengthen the health systems of our neighbours will strengthen our regional preparedness and the capacity to deal with emerging health threats not just of TB but of other existing diseases, and of course diseases do not know boundaries. With an increasing number of Australians travelling in our region, we are seeing an increasing number of cases, and for that reason we do need a strong, resilient and healthy region. For this reason, we are establishing a regional health security initiative, where we are going to meet our election commitment of $100 million over five years. We want our region to be healthy, because it is in Australia's national security interests. (Time expired)