Monash University Media Release
Monash University Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Enterprise) and Senior Vice President, Professor Robyn Ward AM, has welcomed today’s historic announcements by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen: the conclusion of the Australia EU FTA, the Security and Defence Partnership and fast tracking of Australia’s association with Horizon Europe.
“Today’s historic announcement about the Australia EU Free Trade Agreement, the establishment of an Australia EU Security and Defence Partnership, and progress toward Australia’s association with Horizon Europe represent a major strengthening of Australia’s partnership with Europe,” Professor Ward said.
“For Monash University, these outcomes will deepen our engagement with Europe’s research and innovation ecosystem and enhance our capacity to deliver globally impactful research, education, and collaboration in support of shared economic prosperity.”
Professor Ward said Australia’s association with Horizon Europe would serve as a strategic multiplier for Australia’s efforts to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
“Antimicrobial resistance is a rapidly escalating global health crisis with profound economic and societal consequences, requiring coordinated international action in research and innovation,” Professor Ward said.
“At Monash, we lead Australia’s response to antimicrobial resistance. While our European presence means we can participate in Horizon Europe projects – the world’s largest research and innovation fund – without Australia’s formal association to the program, we have less opportunity to scale clinical trials, or fully engage with major funding opportunities.
“Strengthening ties to Europe through the Australia-EU Free Trade Agreement, alongside formal association with Horizon Europe, will unlock access to significant research investment opportunities. This includes substantial upcoming funding in antimicrobial resistance, while embedding Australian research more deeply in global programs and enhancing our capacity to lead internationally.
Professor Ward said the opportunities for Australia would extend far beyond isolated fields of research.
“For Australia, this is not only about supporting research in a globally significant field in antimicrobial resistance – it’s about positioning our nation at the centre of global innovation, commercialisation and strategic influence. Expanding access would accelerate translation of Australian-led discoveries, and deliver tangible benefits for people, industry and our health system.”
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Security and Defence Partnership?
With warmongering NATO?
Does AUS really need this?
This is welcome.
Australia is wise to seek to broaden its defence reliance beyond the US and its trade reliance beyond China.
“This is welcome” like a hole in the head. Europe is a done force, they cannot even agree between them selves. Racked by immigration and financial restraints their ability to assist Australia in a conflict situation is zero.
Time for us to go it alone, we have all the resources, the land and surrounded by water, KM’s from anywhere, all we seem to lack is the will.
Remember, a faint heart, never f**ck a fair maid.
The EU is the second largest integrated economy, only those wanting a handbrake on the Australian economy would prefer to overlook the benefits of a trade agreement with it.
It has a democratic orientation, which is a significant reason that Turkey’s application to join is not proceeding.
Economic and military co-operation makes sense.
Australia got suckered into joining the American security alliance soon after the CIA assisted in the Dismissal of the democratically elected Whitlam LABOR government. It is too long past its ”use by date”.
After being defeated in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan at enormous cost to Australian taxpayers, the only beneficiaries of these failed military adventures has been the American military-industrial complex reaping huge profits from building military armaments for destruction in the black hole of war.
Time for Australia to cut the apron strings to the most dysfunctional English royal family (before Princess Kate saves the institution from itself), install an Australian borne Head of State, become a non-aligned middle power relinquishing the role of free ”mercenaries” for every imperialist adventure undertaken by the USA (Undemocratic Sewer of Apartheid).
It makes better sense to spend those funds on developing the public infrastructure and services for the benefit of all Australian voters, especially those in regional & remote locations who have been ignored for too long.
If the backward looking Australian conservatives must have a royal Head of State, then the position should be offered to Queen Mary of Denmark, a lovely Tasmanian borne lassie. Maybe Denmark will lend Mary to us for six months per year to allow her to escape the European winter.
Of the comments so far, you feel NEC has come very closest…
Personally, I feel very,very suspicious of FTA’s. Was it a condition of some FTA negotiation that cost us control of our gas and petroleum.
Now that we need them for an emergency we cant even get an increase in tax on reveue thieved by the multinationsls…
Free Trade Agreements ? …there is no such thing as a free lunch!! As for the Trans Pacific Partnership – tell me why it is that we have Californian oranges in Woolworths and IGA while Australian orchardists are pulling out the orange groves in Sunraysia? And New Zealand dairy products when our dairy farmers are abandoned by our politicians. Australia has all that is physically required to be self sufficient in quality food production – what we lack is political will and local investment to achieve and maintain that essential objective.
About time….held up for a generation by kowtowing skips of LNP and ALP to formalise one of our biggest trading partners, as US and UK have declined in importance (UK is not even in the top 10).
Hopefully this will also help with incteased mobility between Australia and the EU in addition to many reciprocal/national working holiday agreements, and free trade.
Many of the left through right who oppose free trade are inadvertently following the US fossil fuel ‘segregation economics’ of Atlas Koch and nativism of anti-immigrant Tanton.
The latter’s ‘degrowth’ and steady-state economy presented as an environmental solution promoted via the fossil and pre WWII oligarch Club of Rome; greenwash and astroturf of old Nazis and autarky?
It requires closed borders, no migration, ‘sustainability’ and no free trade agreements or small medium sized nation blocs aka the EU European Union, to allow US and other MNCs to manipulate policies including energy and immigration; see Brexit, Trump, now Abbott and Putin’s chum Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán too.
How easy has this been with Anglosphere (Atlas) Koch (Tech Bros), Tanton and Murdoch Networks, with Russia implicit, using low info and/or ageing voters to denigrate and avoid liberal democracy?