Prime Minister, Minister for Health, Minister for Medical Research
Sydney
Subject(s): Chris O’Brien Lifehouse; Health funding; ICAC; Asylum seekers
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Thank you everyone for gathering this morning. I want to start by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land that we’re meeting on today, the Cadigal people of the Eora nation, and I pay my respects to their elders past and present.
It’s wonderful of course to have the Prime Minister here today. With Gail O’Brien who has played such an integral role in the establishment of this beautiful facility. Tim Dugan, the CEO of the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse at RPA, Ian Breedon, the Chairman, Professor Michael Boyer, the Chief Clinical Officer, Dr Mary Foley, the Director General of New South Wales Health and Teresa Anderson, the Chief Executive of the Sydney Local Health District.
It’s delightful to be here to see the progress of the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse cancer centre at RPA.
Of course this is going to make a huge difference to the people of New South Wales, not just the people of Sydney but New South Wales and I think many Australians because of not just the clinical work that will happen here but also the research and the innovation that will happen here.
Cancer has been a focus for this government since 2007 with a number of cancer packages.
In fact, we’ve invested more than $4 billion in cancer because cancer being the number two killer in Australia is a number one priority for the Australian Government.
We’ve listed more than 36 new medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule and indeed, on the first of August tomorrow, we’ll see two very important new medicines listed, again for cancer.
We’ve invested not just in magnificent facilities like this but also in Sydney the King Horn Cancer Centre that I know works very cooperatively with Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, and in Melbourne, the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre, a half billion dollar comprehensive cancer centre there.
Of course, we know it’s not just people in cities who get sick and need these facilities, so we’ve also invested in 26 regional cancer centres, many of them open already, some of them in final stages of completion just like this.
I’m delighted to be here today because this centre really does represent Chris O’Brien’s philosophy on the treatment of cancer but also our government’s treatment on cancer.
We need to do better in prevention and that’s why we expanded our breast cancer screening programs and our bowel cancer screening programs.
We need to better with treatment and that’s why listed new medicines and opened new facilities.
We need to better with prevention so we’ve taken very important steps with plain packaging of tobacco to reduce our smoking rates, just as one example.
But we also need to remember to treat the whole person and I think Gail will talk to us a little bit, in a moment, about Chris O’Brien’s vision because of course we need to offer the finest detection, prevention and cure.
But cancer treatment is not fun. It’s never fun and making sure that we offer psychological supports and social supports to cancer sufferers and their families is very much part of a vision of this state of the art facility.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has been a supporter of this beautiful facility but more importantly Chris O’Brien vision for better cancer treatment since first meeting him many years ago and has been here, I think, I’m not sure how many times he’s been to this site now but since before it was even a hole in the ground.
I remember the first time we visited together was looking at the linear accelerators next door.
PM: Well thank you Tanya and Gail. Lovely to have you here.
This vision is Chris O’Brien’s and Gail O’Brien’s vision. This bloke has had a bit to do with it as well.
Every now and then in national political life, there are great days where it makes it all worthwhile and this is one of those days because we are making things better for people who suffer from cancer.
I got to know Chris O'Brien way back when, when I was Leader of the Opposition, and he had already been diagnosed and it was one of those terrible, terrible tragedies for a guy who was doing so much for people suffering from cancer, himself he was afflicted by the same condition which ultimately took his life.
Chris O'Brien saved lives and he changed lives.
This marvellous Lifehouse centre is about making sure that his contribution while he was alive continues well into the future.
These are living stones and therefore his vision and his work will continue with every person and every room in this place once we welcome the first ambulatory patients later this year.
To all those who have been associated with this project, to the construction, the Multiplex mob, well done.
Those who are still doing their work, guys up there, well done. Keep at it. Five minutes off, then hop back into it.
To the entire team from RPA and more broadly let's call it the cancer research, cancer treatment community, well done because you've all had your say in how this facility should look and how it should function in the future.
To all our colleagues from both Federal Health and State Health of New South Wales, thank you for working so closely with us as well.
Of course the important fundraising team, which has been behind this from the corporate sector, the Chairman and others who are associated with making sure this is a world-class facility.
To Gail, her vision and her input, a very personal touch into how you change the lives of people afflicted with a very challenging disease.
Let me just say one or two things about why we are doing this and why we are acting resolutely on cancer across Australia.
As the Health Minister said before, cancer is Australia's number two killer and therefore it is a number one priority for the Australian Government.
You can't just push this to one side. It's mainstream. None of us here today are free of either family connections or friends who at one stage or another have suffered from cancer.
I'm the son of a woman who never smoked in her life and she died of lung cancer, we assume through passive smoking.
All of us are touched in one way or another by this. So for the Government, this is a number one priority.
If you look at the figures which Tanya touched on before, they are very challenging.
In 2013, 125,000 Australians will be diagnosed with cancer. 125,000. Next time you're watching a game at the MCG on the television, think of the MCG and think of it full and plus another 25,000 on top.
That's what we're talking about.
That’s a huge number of Australians each year.
Let's just put that into our sights, into our focus.
Within that, we have tobacco as the number one preventable cause of cancer.
Around 30 per cent of cancer is caused by tobacco consumption and it's estimated that this will kill 15,000 Australians each year. 15,000 Australians this year.
So this day somewhere in Australia on average, 40 to 50 Australians will die as a result of smoking-induced cancers.
That is far too many.
It's a tragedy for those who are afflicted and it's also really expensive for the country to deal with, particularly when it's preventable.
Smoking is the major cause of lung cancer responsible for 90 per cent of all lung cancers in males, 65 per cent in females.
We looked at some of the figures in terms of how this occupies the public hospital system of Australia each year.
Over 750,000 hospital bed days per year are attributable to tobacco related diseases. 750,000 hospital bed days each year are attributable to tobacco related disease.
It represents just under 10 per cent of the total burden of disease in Australia being attributable to smoking.
I mean we need to get serious on this major driver of cancer in Australia and around the world.
So the legitimate question is, what are we doing about it? That's the nature of the challenge. 125,000 Australians being afflicted with cancer each year, 30 per cent of them afflicted through smoking-related cancers and on top of that you have the extraordinary cost to our public hospital system.
The cost to economy by the way is estimated to be $31.5 billion a year. $31.5 billion a year. We're a $1.5 trillion economy, $35 billion a year up in smoke, literally.
What are we doing about it?
As the Health Minister indicated before, we are now investing $4.1 billion as an Australian Government to improve the prevention, detection and treatment of cancer as well as cancer related research.
Australia, I’m advised, now has the best overall cancer survival rates in the world.
That's because we are putting such a huge investment into this killer disease.
Now what it means across the country, of our $4.1 billion nearly $2 billion has been invested in new and amended cancer medicines and the Minister indicated a couple of those have just literally come on the market throughout the PBS. Tomorrow.
These are genuinely critical drugs and they are really expensive as we know through our Budget processes but we believe it's absolutely necessary to do.
On top of that, we're also investing $1.5 billion on cancer-related research, including the translational research of integrated cancer care that we see here at Lifehouse as it will unfold and at centres like it around Australia, including the $426 million investment in the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre.
Also, the Minister indicated the number of specific cancer types that we're investing in the research of. I won't go through the list but they are formidable.
Around Australia though and this is quite critical, we are also investing $672 million in 26 regional cancer centres across Australia.
This is as important as what is happening here in the middle of Sydney or in the middle of Melbourne or the middle of Brisbane where I come from.
What happens out there in regional Australia is critical. You know why?
The survival rates out there in the regions and rural areas are much, much lower than the cities.
Why? People just give up. They give up because it's too much hassle to fly to Brisbane, fly to Sydney, fly to Melbourne, disrupt your life. They just give up and they shouldn't because there's a whole lot of life still lying ahead of them.
So that's part of the vision which I've been prosecuting since I first became Prime Minister back in 2007 and the result – 26 regional cancer care centres.
Places like New England, the Central Coast, the North Coast of NSW – Shoalhaven, Illawarra, Lismore, in Queensland, in Central Queensland, Townsville, on the Sunshine Coast, Whyalla in South Australia, Ballarat and Gippsland in Victoria, Bunbury in Western Australia, Darwin.
These are just some of the investments that we've made right around the country.
And so I conclude with these remarks.
This is a major investment here in Sydney at this Lifehouse centre, part of a much wider national investment of $4 billion-plus in dealing with the number two killer in Australia today.
You can either just say it's all too hard and someone else should fix it or you step up to the plate and you're part of it solution.
We believe in being part of the solution.
That's what a compassionate Australia is all about, turning it into bricks and mortar and things that make a difference for people.
But I'd say this in conclusion, when we are looking at 15,000 Australians dying each year as a result of smoking-related diseases, we are looking at the cost to the hospital system and the health system of that.
Frankly, this costs a lot of money for the Australian tax payer and we’ll need to continue to take necessary action to make sure that we can fund this great work into the future and ultimately secure the cure for cancer as well.
GAIL O’BRIEN: Thank you very much Prime Minister.
I have to say this wouldn’t even be happening if it weren’t for you and the relationship that you and Chris had and how you actually listened to him and his grand idea.
Just as I’ve been standing here, I’ve been think how he would feel walking in that door if were sick. He’d feel safe, he’d feel, the fear dissolve, he’d feel he’s in a place where there are people to look after him, have a smile on their face and people who understand.
Chris did say this isn’t just about an iconic building, because it obviously is, but it’s about what goes in here and I absolutely know we have, in Professor Boyer we have the best clinicians and his team to follow on in here.
So I just thank you so much and Tanya for coming here today.
I know that we’ll be able to do something great for the people New South Wales.
TIM DUGAN: I don’t know if there’s much more I can add other than what the Prime Minister and the Minister and Gail have already said other than to say great ideas don’t happen easily.
There’s been a lot of people in this room and across the country who put their hard work to making this facility a reality.
It won’t be a functioning cancer centre until the end of the year, so there’s a bit more work to be done.
But I’m absolutely sure, given the levels of effort and hard work and intellect that’s gone into getting us to where we are today, from all sectors of the community, the support of the Commonwealth Government has been amazing, the New South Wales Government, Sydney University, corporate sector and each and every one of the people who have made contributions to this organisation.
You’ve built an amazing piece of national infrastructure and I think it’s something that everybody should be proud of for many, many years to come.
So I’d just add to Gail, our collective thanks.
PM: It gives me great pleasure on behalf of the Australian Government to announce a further support to this cancer research here, care and patient support services by providing an additional $19.5 million to the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse project.
This funding will be matched by Lifehouse and will enable the project to be completed in mid-2014 instead of the original completion date of 2016.
Imagine that, a government project finishing early, and under budget, and you doubt the existence of God.
It will be used for fit-out of inpatient facilities, operating suites and procedure rooms.
This $19.5 million means that since 2007 the Australian Government has committed $169.5 million towards this project. Every cent of it, well spent, well invested in order to save lives and improve lives.
Overall, this is $169 million from the Australian Government, including a further $19.5 million today and I congratulate all concerned for bringing this great project in Chris O’Brien’s memory to conclusion.
JOURNALIST: Today will probably be the worst day for New South Wales Labor in living memory.
PM: That’s not a question on cancer research.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: The Northern Territory Government have been given many months to explain why a facility that was built to care for patients attending the Royal Darwin Hospital for critical surgery isn’t being used for that purpose.
The funding that funded this Chris O’Brien Lifehouse cancer centre came from the Health and Hospitals Fund as did the $18.5 million for the patient accommodation attached to the Royal Darwin Hospital.
The Northern Territory Government have decided to use that instead for locking up alcoholics.
What I’ve asked them to do is explain to me and to the Health and Hospitals Fund how they will meet their responsibility to treat patients at the Royal Darwin Hospital and how they will keep the patients and staff of the Royal Darwin Hospital safe given that there are people basically jailed on the grounds of the Royal Darwin Hospital.
The Northern Territory Government have refused to do that.
What I’ve said is that they should return that money to the Health and Hospitals Fund so that it may be used for health priorities in Darwin. They have a great deal of health needs up there, they haven’t explained how they’ll meet the need for patient accommodation at Royal Darwin Hospital.
I think that there’s been a tremendous failure of leadership in the Northern Territory on this issue.
PM: Can I just emphasise what the Minister has just said.
Our health dollars have to be spent the right way. There is a limit to the number of taxpayer dollars available for health.
What I like about this place and this project is you see value for money. You see the purposes for which the funds have been dedicated realised in what’s being done.
I say again, when it comes, in particular, to cancer, treating cancer and smoking-related cancers cost the Australian taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
Frankly, these are funds we have to continue to raise from the taxpayer.
It’s important therefore that taxpayer dollars are spent the right way across the range of the health portfolio mission.
JOURNALIST: So NSW Labor, obviously ICAC will release their recommendations today. What do you [inaudible]
PM: I’ve been absolutely disgusted by what I’ve seen in the ICAC hearings so far and my view is very simple. Anyone who is responsible for corruption or illegal behaviour should face the full force of the law. That’s what I want to see happen.
JOURNALIST: Will your reforms outlast you if you don’t win at this election?
PM: I say again, I’ve been disgusted by what I’ve seen in the ICAC public hearings so far. I welcome this report, anyone who is responsible for illegal or corrupt behaviour should face the full force of the law.
Further I would say it was for no idle reason that I took a virtually unprecedented step of directing federal intervention in the NSW branch of the Labor Party.
This set of reforms are anchored in one core principal: zero tolerance for corruption, zero tolerance for corruption and I expect that to be fully reflected in the intervention we’ve undertaken and I go back to my comments on the ICAC report. The Australian Government welcomes the ICAC report.
We’ve been disgusted, I’ve been disgusted by what I’ve seen before ICAC and anyone responsible for corrupt behaviour should face the full force of the law.
JOURNALIST: Could you tell us a bit more about your campaign team needing three people that worked with Obama has been [inaudible]?
PM: Well we’re a very broad church. We sort of take advice from wherever we will.
These are matters for the national organisation.
I’ve always been a strong supporter of President Obama, both in his leadership in the world, also his message to the American people and we’ll draw up the best brains in the world.
But these are questions for the national organisation of the Australian Labor Party.
They’re very welcome. We’re a very welcoming bunch here in the national campaign team of the Australian Labor Party.
JOURNALIST: When’s the economic statement due to be released?
PM: That’s a matter entirely for the Treasurer and the Finance Minister.
The last time I saw them, they were beavering away in a cave somewhere underneath the Treasury building and that’s what they’re supposed to do.
The business of economic management is a tough business.
We believe in tough disciplines, they are adhering to those disciplines and that’s why when we decide to allocate $19.5 million to this project, it is fully budgeted for.
I’d contrast that with what I’ve heard in recent days, which is Mr Abbott junking completely the finance disciplines established by John Howard and Peter Costello back in 1996.
He said, through Mr Hockey, they won’t be adhering to those disciplines.
In other words, they expect to be able to just have a blank cheque.
We’re adhering to those budget disciplines, they’ll be transparent to the Australian public.
That’s what Finance Minister and Treasurer are working on. It’ll be released in due course. It’s very important that Mr Abbott be held to identical account.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] consider a deal with the Nauruan Government to expand the number of asylum seekers that can be sent to Nauru?
PM: The Minister, Tony Burke, has been in constant contact with all regional governments, including the government of Papua New Guinea and the government of Nauru and will continue to do so.
This occurs within our framework of a Regional Resettlement Arrangement and occurs within a wider framework of a regional approach to the assessment of asylum seekers across South East Asia and the south west Pacific.
Our policy is clear. Our policy is if you are a people smuggler and you put a person onto a boat to come to Australia, that person will not be allowed to settle in Australia. That’s our message.
The contrasting message I’ve seen from Mr Abbott is this. Mr Abbott’s most recent three-word slogan after Operation Whatever is as follows: Mr Abbott now says we’re going to have some arrangement with Nauru which has a numerical limit on it, which people smugglers will be able to work out and after that, they can in large measure come on to Australia a little while later.
That isn’t a policy, that’s a piece of sloganeering for the purposes of getting a cheap headline.
We’ve got a real policy, we’re implementing it, it’s tough, it’s hard but it had a core message, which is that if you are going to get on to a boat with a people smuggler to come to Australia, you will not be settled in Australia.
That’s the simple message, it’s a hard line message, we thought it through carefully.
Frankly, the alternatives being put on offer by Mr Abbott are either three-word slogans or frankly, it’s just designed to grab a quick headline.
Frankly, when you see the reports in today’s press about how this recent episode has been apparently financed, I think there are a lot of questions to answer for Mr Abbott about that one.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PM: I’ve just seen the reports in the newspaper, I think it’s time for Mr Abbott to fully account for what has occurred.
Was Mr Abbott aware of all of this? What actually transpired? Was it funded? I’d just like to hear the answers to all these questions.
As Prime Minister of Australia, I’m responsible for formulating policy and implementing policy that maintains the Australia’s national security interests.
I’ve said what our policy is, if you come on a boat aided by a people smuggler to Australia, you will not be settled in Australia and therefore, that’s what we’re implementing.
There’s going to be all sorts of opposition to it, not terribly politically popular in various parts of the country, I understand that.
Lots of implementation hurdles, we’ll cross each one of those as we come to it.
I’m sure there’ll be legal hurdles as well, we’ll cross each of those hurdles as we come to it.
But that’s our core policy.
The alternative is not much better than a three-word slogan and when Mr Abbott utters his immortal phrase ‘stop the boats’, the Australian people want to hear the six-word phrase ‘how will you stop the boats?’ That’s what we need to hear the answer on.