Gold Coasters know all too well how sensationally we “punch above our weight” when it comes to sporting achievement.
Who can forget the exhilaration of watching Sally Pearson claim gold at the London Olympics – the thousands of hours spent training on the track at Griffith University playing out in a spine-tingling victory.
It’s a source of great local and national pride. It’s something we can all share.
I’ve often wished we had a similar form of collective pride for our world-leading research which has been commercialised into life-changing medical technologies and products.
From the cochlear implant, to the green whistle pain reliever and the cervical cancer vaccine – Australia has more than our share of success stories.
And like it was for Sally Pearson’s victory – Griffith University and the Gold Coast are again primed to be the genesis of something great.
The Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct boasts more than 1000 researchers and 700 research students.
They sit along internationally regarded clinicians and global companies, all operating in innovative partnerships.
Combined with our city’s other universities – Bond and Southern Cross – and our wonderful manufacturing pedigree, you have all the ingredients for success.
But the ingredients alone are not enough – research without follow through is not going to create the economic growth and new jobs that we so need.
Addressing that breakdown is central to the Morrison Government’s Modern Manufacturing Strategy.
The centrepiece of that Strategy is our $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing Initiative, which has an entire funding stream devoted to supporting businesses and researchers to commercialise their great ideas into job-creating realities in six priority areas, of which medical products is one.
As a Government we know industry has to be at the heart of this Initiative, and that’s why they’ve led the development of the road map which will guide our investments in the sector.
The road map focuses on high-value opportunities that will position medical products manufacturers for long term success. This isn’t about a short term fix – we want to scale up production for the long term to ensure we maximise the opportunities and are better equipped to deal with challenges in a post-COVID world.
The strategy is the next step in helping Australia achieve ongoing podium finishes for medical products – a step that will not only leave us feeling proud, but healthier as well!
For the Gold Coast it’s again our chance to strike gold.
