Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to note that as Australians we should all feel proud of our government's handling of the coronavirus outbreak thus far. Our swift and proportionate response has resulted in speedy containment of the virus. Clear communication has been key, but as the world gets closer these events will become more frequent, not less.

Global public health emergencies are a part of the globalised world that we live in. Last week, one of my constituents showcased for me work being done by two companies he is the director of. MicroBio is an Australian diagnostics company that has developed and validated a process that creates a test which homes in on a pathogen's DNA fingerprint. The process is fast, inexpensive and highly sensitive, and can be adapted to address different target pathogens—including coronavirus. The test could dramatically improve the time to diagnosis in a fast-moving global epidemic.

Sementis is an Australian unlisted public biotechnology vaccine company that is using platform technology to generate a portfolio of innovative vaccine candidates for the prevention of infectious diseases, which include coronavirus. The platform technology has the potential to produce large-scale and rapid production of vaccine in response to global threats. These are just two new and innovative biotech start-up companies that build on our world-class medical research sector. I'm proud of our Australia medical research and development community, and the impact we're having on the global stage.