And so it begins. Medical research lobby Research Australia has announced the first gimme of the election. That’s the federal election which could be held in May – May, 2019. RA has convened a summit to “capture the issues our sector wants commitment to – from a future Australian government of any political persuasion.”

And to help discussion along RA has spelt out what the industry should call for: $20bn in the Medical Research Future Fund by 2021,“sustainable, predictable research and development tax-incentives, making Australia attractive for clinical trials, rolling-out the My Health database and making de-identified records available for research

RA shows remarkable restraint in not calling for the entire federal budget to be spent on medical research although you can bet if it did some members would warn inadequate funding would cost lives.