The MRFF is completely cashed-up, with a $3.2bn credit yesterday taking it to its target $20bn

This is what the government promised would happen when the fund was legislated (CMM August 13 2015).  CMM doubted it at the time, being “sceptical of treasurers to come respecting the fund’s virtue” (CMM May 14 2015). But the government has done what it said it would do, by when it said it would do it.

Let us pause for that to sink in ……

Health Minister Greg Hunt says the MRFF’s capital is “preserved in perpetuity” although with interest rates just above zero the way earnings won’t be paying for a bunch of new research. The MRFF nominal return in the current financial year to the March quarter was -1.9 per cent.

CMM expects demands to start Monday for more money for medical research.