WEHI Response to Victorian Government Healthy Futures Announcement

Tuesday, April 4th 2006

The $230 million Healthy Futures announcement by the Victorian government is a most welcome confirmation of our state’s determination to maintain its worldwide pre-eminence in medical research and biotechnology.   

The long-term future prosperity of communities will be based on new knowledge and its application to create high value added products and benefits. New knowledge is an infinite resource, but one that requires far-sighted investment by governments and the private sector.

For many decades on the world scene, Victoria has been a strong performer in biotechnology in general and medical research in particular. To the credit of our scientists over those past decades, much was achieved with relatively modest funding. In more recent times, foreign governments and their private sectors have been investing massively in biotechnology, threatening to leave Victoria in the second division of technologically advanced communities.

From the perspective of The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, the Victorian government’s allocation of $50 million dollars to greatly expand our facilities, recently matched by the Commonwealth government and supplemented by $30 million of philanthropic funds, demonstrates our collective intention to remain a major player in the big league. Such investments will hugely increase our capacity to make world-leading scientific discoveries and to bring new life-enhancing therapies to the clinic.

Professor Nick Nicola AO
Acting Director
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Parkville, Victoria.

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Further information:

Mr. Brad Allan

WEHI Communications Manager
Phone: (03) 9345 2345
Mobile: 0403 036 116
Email: allan@wehi.edu.au