Speeches
Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Reception for Bellberry Ltd
Rod and I warmly welcome you all to Government House.
This evening we gather to celebrate Bellberry’s success in being named the National Winner of the Telstra Business Award for Championing Health in November.
South Australia has a long tradition of world-leading medical research.
We need look no further than Prince Henry Gardens outside Government House to see the bust honouring eminent medical scientist Howard Florey who played a vital role in the discovery of penicillin.
Today, South Australian institutions, including those down the road in our biomedical precinct, are continuing to build South Australia’s reputation for innovation and discovery.
Through such collaborative research we are finding new medicines, new treatments and new ways to save lives.
I thank you all for being part of our state’s proud research tradition, and for your commitment to its future.
As experts in human research ethics, your services play an important role in South Australia’s health and medical research ecosystem.
The classic image of medical research is a scientist in a white coat, working with test tubes in a lab.
This is certainly what we see in the media.
No one knows better than you that the overall picture is much larger – a picture which includes testing and research on humans, and the vital importance of conducting this research ethically.
I thank you all for dedicating your expertise and energy to ensuring the safety and dignity of research participants, as well as the scientific value and soundness of research design.
Earlier this year, Kylie Sproston’s address during UniSA’s International Women’s Day lunch gave me pause for thought.
She spoke at some length about the history of male-dominated testing in medical research, and the consequences of this for women.
As Governor, I am strongly committed to gender equity and I thank Bellberry for its role in actively promoting the inclusion of women in research, to ensure more comprehensive and accurate results.
Friends,
South Australia prides itself on its entrepreneurial spirit and growing start up sector.
I congratulate Bellberry on its impressive trajectory of growth.
In just 20 years, the organisation has become Australia’s largest reviewer of clinical research, providing specialist HREC oversight to 40 percent of registered clinical trials in Australia.
It’s also excellent to see that surplus funds – more than $12million - generated by committee activities are reinvested in the medical research sector.
I’m pleased to see Bellberry receive national recognition through the Telstra awards – it is well deserved. And while I am sure the gala awards evening will never be forgotten by those present, it is right that we should also celebrate at Government House this evening, not far from where the first Bellberry HREC met just over 20 years ago and with members of the wider Bellberry community present.
I thank the board, staff, committee members and supporters for your unique contributions to the organisation’s success story.
I wish Bellberry all the very best for the future, as it continues to flourish and to grow South Australia’s, and indeed Australia’s, reputation for excellence in health and medical research.