Bill
Medical Research Future Fund (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2015
passed, as at 2015-08-26. Finance portfolio.
- Sponsor
- Not recorded
- Portfolio
- Finance
Recorded stages
- introduced — 2015-05-27
- second reading — 2015-05-27
- second reading — 2015-06-04
- second reading — 2015-06-22
- second reading — 2015-06-22
- committee — 2015-06-22
- third reading — 2015-06-22
- introduced — 2015-08-10
- second reading — 2015-08-10
- second reading — 2015-08-11
- second reading — 2015-08-12
- second reading — 2015-08-12
- committee — 2015-08-12
- third reading — 2015-08-12
- other — 2015-08-12
- other — 2015-08-13
- passed — 2015-08-13
- royal assent — 2015-08-26
Divisions
- Long debate text truncated. — 2015-06-04, House of Representatives: affirmative, ayes 74, noes 46
- Jan McLucas Without going to specific amendments, I want to speak in generalities to start with. At the outset, I want to restate Labor's strong and absolute support for health and medical research in our country and for the establishment of a Medical Research Future Fund. But there are a number of issues in the bills that I outlined in my contribution on the second reading, when I outlined the concerns that Labor has had with these bills. I indicated in my speech on the second reading that Labor will be moving amendments. Those amendments were circulated a long time ago. At the first opportunity we had to circulate those amendments, we did, because Labor is interested in transparency. During Senator Di Natale's speech, he said that the Greens will vote for good ideas. I invite the Greens to have a look at the substance of our amendments and I invite them to be good to their word. In my speech on the second reading, I used the word 'messy' and said that this had been a messy process, that the gestation of these bills had been long and that the birth was going to be short and sharp. Well, it just got messier. We turn up today and we have another supplementary explanatory memorandum—tabled today We have 21 more amendments that were tabled at 9.30 this morning. They are complex amendments. We will go through the substance of those amendments. I talked about chaos and dysfunction in my second reading speech. Well, it has a 'C' and a 'D' as of this morning. As we know, the first bill had 20 amendments in the House of Representatives. They were passed in that place and we then got the bill and the consequential amendments bill. We had an inquiry just last Thursday. Who is running the show here? Just last Thursday we had an inquiry and then we had the bill appearing on the _Notice Paper_ on Monday morning. The report of that inquiry said: The committee recommends the bills be passed. It did not recommend that we need 21 more amendments, that we need another explanatory mem — 2015-08-12, Senate: negative, ayes 22, noes 43
Plain-language summary
Written by a model from the explanatory memorandum; not the record, as at 2015-05-27.
This bill is part of a package that would establish the Medical Research Future Fund as an endowment to support medical research and innovation.
The package would create an independent Australian Medical Research Advisory Board to develop a five-year strategy and two-year priorities for fund disbursement.
The amendments also include a contingent amendment to the Medical Research Future Fund (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2015 regarding the Acts and Instruments (Framework Reform) Act 2015.
- Establishes the Medical Research Future Fund as a dedicated financial asset.
- Creates an independent Australian Medical Research Advisory Board.
- Requires a five-year Australian Medical Research and Innovation Strategy.
- Requires two-year Australian Medical Research and Innovation Priorities.
- Specifies that fund disbursement decisions must consider the Strategy and Priorities.
- Clarifies the role of the National Health and Medical Research Council in fund disbursement.
The package would affect medical researchers, health institutions, and all Australians who stand to benefit from additional medical research funding.
Sources
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em supp
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billhome
frl act