p>As one of his first acts in government Tony Abbott cut $12 million in funding for the Westmead Millennium Institute.
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As one of his first acts in government Tony Abbott cut $12 million in funding for the Westmead Millennium Institute.
Touring the facility today Shadow Minister for Health Catherine King and Member for Parramatta Julie Owens learnt of the effect of Abbott’s cuts first hand.
Before the election Tony Abbott promised no cuts to health. Instead he has cut more than $260 million in vital health infrastructure and workforce funding and more than $560 million from public hospitals across Australia.
“The Abbott government promised to prioritise medical research but instead it has cut funding for medical research facilities and programs across the country,” Shadow Minister for Health Catherine King said.
“WMI is a pioneer in medical research and for that they need the right facilities and funding. This really is a slap in the face for the extraordinary people who work at WMI, the families they help and the lives they save.”
“I am telling Mr Abbott that the people of my electorate want medical research, they want to know that our health system is at the cutting edge. That’s a standard we are simply not getting with these sorts of cuts,” said Julie Owens.
“We also have to remember the jobs that are lost because of this. This expansion would have created up to 170 jobs and those are now gone too.
“Cutting vital funding for medical research shows how twisted this Prime Minister’s priorities are.”
The $12 million commitment by Labor would have delivered 6000sqm of research and education space for WMI and the University of Sydney. This would have supported WMI’s world leading research into a range of conditions including cancer, cardiovascular disease, major infectious and immune diseases, as well as liver, eye, kidney and psychiatric diseases.