ANGUS TAYLOR: Thank you, it's absolutely wonderful to be here today. 

Can I acknowledge so many distinguished guests here today -- my good friend and colleague Dave Sharma, the Member for Wentworth. It's great to see you today, Dave. I know you're a huge advocate of technology and the role it plays in making people's lives better. 

David Thomas, we've just had a tour. Great to see the extraordinary work you're doing. Really amazing stuff. 

The team from Omico chaired by Paul Jeans. It's good to see you again, Paul. It's wonderful to see this is coming together in the way that it is. 

Stuart Knight from Roche. This is a collaboration that involves so many different participants if it is to succeed. 

Andrew Hagger from Minderoo Foundation. I know they're very committed to this area of work, of the many areas of work that Minderoo does. 

Ant White – where ever you are, Ant, it's just great to see you here today. And, of course, you are what this is all about. You and your family is what this is all about.

What a magnificent and wonderful announcement it is to make. 

It's particularly for me personally an exciting announcement to make because 35 years ago I lost my mother to cancer in 1988. David was saying how he finished university in 1998, and what extraordinary advances have been made since that time and how many more people are able to survive and prosper having had cancer now compared to what was the case back then.

I have watched closely the extraordinary advances that have been made in cancer research and technology development in this country throughout that 35 years, and it is mind-blowing. 

We are on the cusp of just another whole other round of opportunities and improvements, which has so many benefits. The health benefits are really obvious. Of course, my colleague Greg Hunt, who can't be here today, talks to me endlessly about the incredible potential of personalised medicine, and I have no doubt about that whatsoever. But there's the flow-on benefits to the creation of an ecosystem, which is what modern manufacturing is all about. 

We launched our Modern Manufacturing Strategy before I was Industry Minister, a $1.5 billion commitment to modern manufacturing in this country. Modern manufacturing is about linking technology, research, innovation with manufacturing. That’s where the action is, and that's exactly what this is about today.

Hearing the extraordinary work that's going on here and the magic of matching a molecule with a genetic issue or a problem that has to be solved, that process of the matching and the magic of the matching is what it is all about. And it's incredibly exciting to see that going on here as part of this venture.

Our commitment is significant. It's part of our collaboration grants which is all about bringing together a network of organisations and businesses that are able to work together to achieve extraordinary outcomes – a $61 million commitment of a total project commitment of $185 million. 

It's one of our far more substantial contributions to our Modern Manufacturing Strategy, and we're doing that because we see the potential here. We see that magic happening many times over and many lives being saved here in Australia and no doubt across the world.

I personally believe very firmly that our research and development potential and the potential to link that to our manufacturing and job opportunities for Australians and for the world more generally is not fully realised. But we've seen what it can do when we get it right. 

We have mission-oriented research happening in this country and across the world during the course of the pandemic. We managed to develop vaccines at a pace that I don't think anyone anticipated. I certainly didn't, and many others didn't anticipate the rate at which we were able to develop solutions to a problem if we are mission-oriented, if know exactly where we are going.

We know where we're going. Talking to David, he knows exactly where he's going. He is solving one of the great problems that so many Australians experience, which is cancer and how it affects our lives and how a solution to that can change the lives not just of those who have had cancer or have cancer but those around them – the family members and the friends and everyone else who is affected by this disease.

Congratulations. This is a wonderful, wonderful thing to announce today. A wonderful venture that will deliver, I know, in spades for many years to come. It is a collaboration that involves such a broad range of skills and opportunities. I'm incredibly excited to be able to announce this today, and I thank you for the wonderful work you are all doing.