Arthur Sinodinos (NSW, Liberal Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

The Australian government clearly recognises the importance of intellectual property. We have some of the world's leading minds and we need to ensure that their ideas are protected and promoted where possible. Australia has been the source of inventions such as spray-on skin, the cochlear implant and the cervical cancer vaccine, and this is why Australia has ensured that the Trans-Pacific Partnership recognised the importance of new and innovative biologic medicines. And, thanks to our tenacious and hardworking Minister for Trade and Investment, the government has protected our existing patents system and copyright regime. In fact, the defence minister and I were present at a discussion over the phone between the Prime Minister and the President of the United States over this very issue of biologics, where the US were seeking to push us further in this space. But what we did was to protect the existing five years of data protection on biologic medicines, which will help to ensure Australian innovators have appropriate protection for their intellectual property. It will incentivise Australians to develop new ideas. (Time expired)