Well, it’s very good to see you all, I’m in the happy position of being completely unprepared to say anything to you this evening but I think what I should say is pretty obvious.

First of all, welcome to the Parliament, I think this is the second one of these events that I’ve been to. And it really is just marvellous to see the work that all of you are doing.

I know that each of your businesses are businesses that you bring your own expertise to. They all have a commercial rationale as well as a social and meaningful one. But really what you’re doing for Australia and for Australian industry, we are very grateful to you, for all of your work, really. It matters for the national interest.

I know that Mark Butler may get here but it is an exciting week in the Federal Parliament. We’re always up to something and there’s some important work that both the House of Representatives and the Senate are working their way through this week.

I can assure you that the sets of issues that go to the relationship between the tax system and your work, and the broader supports that are offered to research and development are absolutely in our consultations. But also, have been in our thinking about how we approach this sector all of the way through.

We’ll work through those issues carefully, because they matter.

And we’ll be informed by the work – I just want to say while I’m here too – the work that has gone on over the last couple of years including in my portfolio area, the Ambitious Australia report led by Robyn Denholm on behalf of Australia’s research and development sector, to bring more coherence, more purpose, more coordination to our research and development effort and then lead in to more commercialisation, more production, and more national interest outcomes for Australia, has already led to reforms that we delivered through the Budget.

Yes, the research and development tax incentive reforms, but also in my area, greater coordination of the systems so that Mark Butler and I, and the states and territories and the CSIRO and the university system and all of your work is put in the right direction with that mission focus to deliver better health outcomes, a stronger medtech sector, for Australia.

I’m also, I have to tell you, completely relieved to see the actual speaker for this evening’s event who told me earlier today, prepared a short 45-minute speech on the future of medical technology, the TGA regime and all sorts of other things so I’m completely delighted to welcome my friend Mark Butler, the Minister for Health to the stage.

ENDS