I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, and I pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
It is such a pleasure to be with you today to open one more element of Australia’s better future – a future we will make here, together.
I’d like to thank Flinders University for inviting me here. And of course Premier Malinauskas, for once again hosting me in your great state.
When I visited Flinders earlier this year, I met with students and the impressive staff who have the great responsibility of opening their minds and expanding their horizons.
And I left feeling confident that the students I spoke with will be instrumental in shaping a Future Made in Australia, especially as part of the skilled workforce helping to drive the AUKUS project.
A project that will become an essential component of the security on which so much of our nation’s wellbeing relies.
So it’s particularly pleasing to be back at Flinders for something that addresses an even more fundamental aspect of our wellbeing.
Designed in consultation with traditional owners, and powered by cheap, clean renewable energy, the Health and Medical Research Building will be home to more than 600 medical researchers, clinicians and professional staff.
It is the centrepiece of the Flinders Village development, which when complete will be a biomedical research precinct that is expected to drive $1.5 billion in economic activity.
That’s a figure that will include more than 20,000 direct and indirect jobs.
What is even more exciting – and far harder to calculate – is the sense of possibility that now stands before us.
Consider how many lives might be saved because of what happens here.
Consider how many lives might be made better.
Consider the possibility of history being made here when a disease is consigned to history.
Whether it’s better understanding neural pathways to control chronic pain, unravelling the secrets in our DNA to address debilitating genetic conditions, supporting the health of mothers and babies, or increasing survival rates of diseases such as a cancer, this building will provide the facilities and the connections its 600 researchers need to succeed.
What it all represents is the courage and the imagination that true vision requires. A vision that extends far beyond the horizon.
This – and all that will grow up around it – will be making breakthroughs and changing lives for the better for many generations to come.
When I speak about a Future Made in Australia – this is what it looks like.
Australian research, hard work and ingenuity keeping us at the global cutting edge.
Because our vision for a Future Made in Australia is about Australians making breakthroughs too.
Just as we want to do more with the minerals that are under our feet, we want to do more with what’s within our minds.
We want to draw on all our resources, including the greatest one we have – the genius and creativity of our people.
That is what will deliver the groundbreaking discoveries that will in turn deliver the reality of better lives, better industry, and an even stronger, more confident Australia.
Projects like this one help fuel my government’s commitment to a future made here – and instil such faith in our ambition and our ability to rise to this moment.
Earlier this year, I had the honour of speaking at the 40th anniversary of the St Vincent’s Heart and Lung Transplantation Program.
It was a great milestone in the life of our nation, but as I said that night, what was so moving was to come together and be able to say: Here is something that changed the world.
As we join together here at the dawn of this wonderful new facility, I say with every confidence that here is something that will change the world.
Because if somewhere is good at being first, it’s South Australia.
It gives me great pleasure to declare the Flinders Health and Medical Research Building open.