Hail Mary
September 3rd 2008 10:17
As I often complain about the lack of funding for medical research in Australia, it's only fair that I should recognise when money is wisely invested in this area.
Today the St Vincent's Victor Chang Lowy Packer Building in Darlinghurst, Sydney was officially opened by Danish Crown Princess Mary. This $80 million world class medical research institute is a joint initiative of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (named after the distinguished heart surgeon who was gunned down in 1991 after a failed extortion bid), St Vincent's Hospital and the Garvan Institute. This new building will allow the Cardiac Institute to expand from their one-floor occupation of the Garvan Institute, to the new 10-floor building which will enable the addition of 5 new research teams and 55 new research staff.
Princess Mary has been involved with the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute since 2005, after losing her mother to cardiac disease in 1997, and follows the tradition set by the late Princess Diana, who opened the previous Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute's premises in 1996.
A host of special guests turned up to greet the Princess, including the Packer family, Morris Iemma and Cardinal Pell. In PM Iemma's words "Facilities like these are where the future of Australia is being determined, where the high-skilled, high-tech jobs are being created, where our reputation for innovation is deepened every single day and where our quality of life is being rewritten."
So high-fives go to the State and Federal governments for funding this building, as well as to the families of Frank Lowy and Kerry Packer who made major contributions. Actually, Frank Lowy gets two high-fives for also making a major contribution to the current construction of the Lowy Cancer Research Centre at UNSW.
The take-home message is: Massive donations, all tax-deductible, everybody wins!
Today the St Vincent's Victor Chang Lowy Packer Building in Darlinghurst, Sydney was officially opened by Danish Crown Princess Mary. This $80 million world class medical research institute is a joint initiative of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (named after the distinguished heart surgeon who was gunned down in 1991 after a failed extortion bid), St Vincent's Hospital and the Garvan Institute. This new building will allow the Cardiac Institute to expand from their one-floor occupation of the Garvan Institute, to the new 10-floor building which will enable the addition of 5 new research teams and 55 new research staff.
Princess Mary has been involved with the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute since 2005, after losing her mother to cardiac disease in 1997, and follows the tradition set by the late Princess Diana, who opened the previous Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute's premises in 1996.
A host of special guests turned up to greet the Princess, including the Packer family, Morris Iemma and Cardinal Pell. In PM Iemma's words "Facilities like these are where the future of Australia is being determined, where the high-skilled, high-tech jobs are being created, where our reputation for innovation is deepened every single day and where our quality of life is being rewritten."
So high-fives go to the State and Federal governments for funding this building, as well as to the families of Frank Lowy and Kerry Packer who made major contributions. Actually, Frank Lowy gets two high-fives for also making a major contribution to the current construction of the Lowy Cancer Research Centre at UNSW.
The take-home message is: Massive donations, all tax-deductible, everybody wins!
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