Celia Hammond (Curtin, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to talk about some initiatives that are happening in Western Australia that, in my first term, I've been proud to deliver as part of the Liberal team of WA. My electorate of Curtin is the most beautiful part of Western Australia; that's a known fact. There are kilometres of white beach and beautiful living conditions. It's also home to a lot of medical research and health innovation. In the course of the last three years, I've had the opportunity to engage with many of the medical institutes, medical researchers, hospitals and healthcare providers in my electorate. They are incredible people. Over the last two years of the pandemic, we've all been amazed by the work of healthcare workers generally.

From engaging with our medical researchers and the various medical research institutes that are based in my electorate, I see the dedication they bring to their task. Sometimes they research and develop things which start with a kernel of an idea, and they don't know where it's going to end up. Basic science research can sometimes be a gamble that takes ages to pay off, or it can be something that pays off very quickly. But all of these dedicated researchers living in Western Australia—and this is an issue for a much longer term project—are cut off from the rest of Australia and don't get a sufficient level of funding under competitive grants from the NHMRC and the Medical Research Future Fund because of their isolation and the way the system operates. That's something I want to tackle, should I be re-elected to this place, alongside my WA colleagues, in the next term.

I want to pick up on two things that have been delivered recently in the health and research area. The first initiative is the establishment of a children's hospice, which the federal government is part funding along with the state government of Western Australia and philanthropists. A commitment was made at the end of last year to build a children's hospice in Swanbourne in my electorate. We don't have one in WA at the moment, and this is going to provide welcome relief and respite for families with kids who have life-limiting conditions.

The other initiative, which we announced on the weekend and was part of a team WA initiative, is the establishment of a comprehensive cancer centre. It's going to be based in Nedlands in my electorate. The federal government is committing well in excess of $300 million to establish this comprehensive cancer centre, which will service all Western Australians who are going through cancer treatment. Health care and medical research are vital parts of my electorate.