Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for her question. The research around all of these issues certainly has been an area where the Commonwealth has done a significant amount of work. The research has dealt with H1N1—swine influenza—and of course the government continues to ensure that it has an emergency response to that. Through the Department of Health and Ageing, the government has been coordinating and working with the state and territory organisations to ensure that we do have a coordinated response to issues such as the Hendra virus outbreak in Queensland. The government takes seriously the issues around this because they are potentially significant and go to health and health related matters. They pose issues not only for human health but also, as in that instance, for animal health.

The Australian and Queensland governments have each provided $300,000 to the Australian Animal Health Laboratory for the development of a Hendra virus vaccine for horses because through that virus there is a vector to humans. The government remains at the forefront of ensuring, both in terms of the H1N1 outbreak and other examples such as the Hendra virus, that we do lead on key research issues. I will ensure that if the health minister has any additional information she wishes to bring forward to the Senate— (Time expired)