Hansard debates

Mr McGUIRE (Broadmeadows) (09:52): Vaccines are one of humanity’s defining discoveries. Such elegant science saves lives and livelihoods. On behalf of the Victorian government I was privileged to launch the first human trials in the Southern Hemisphere in the search for a vaccine against the coronavirus. An American company has come to Victoria, the beating heart of Australia’s internationally acclaimed medical research, to collaborate with Melbourne’s Alfred hospital and the Burnet Institute. Collaboration is critical in the quest to discover a vaccine against the worst pandemic in more than a century. America and Australia have already established a unity ticket for the Cancer Moonshot. When President Barack Obama challenged America to be the country to cure cancers, I proposed that Australia offer to partner. Harking back to the original moonshot, American exceptionalism landed Neil Armstrong on the moon in 1969 and Australian ingenuity transmitted the iconic vision internationally. This collaboration was forged not in war but in the Sea of Tranquillity, through science. The Premier and the then health minister sealed the deal. Internationalising the Cancer Moonshot has led to numerous countries joining the quest and forging a unity ticket between Australia and the administrations of President Barack Obama and President Donald J. Trump.

We do not know whether our coronavirus trials will deliver one small step or a giant leap in discovering a vaccine. We do know they will advance our knowledge. For this cause, it is in Australia’s DNA to have a go. We have also been able to forge another unity ticket with the University of Queensland, who say it is a fantastic idea to have a centre for disease control in Melbourne.