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

What we are doing is keeping Australians safe and healthy. The World Health Organization has told us it is not a case of 'if' but 'when' there will be another major pandemic, when that pandemic will strike. Our health security is linked inextricably to the health security of our Indo-Pacific neighbours. In an interconnected world, diseases such as Ebola, Middle East respiratory syndrome, Zika and tuberculosis do not respect our borders. A major epidemic could potentially devastate communities; result in loss of life; disrupt tourism, trade, investment and people movement; and set back our region's economic growth and development considerably. Therefore, it's important that our investments are directly targeted towards mitigating this risk.