Former Australian Minister Greg Hunt becomes a Distinguished Fellow

Published on October 14, 2024

The GFCC is pleased to announce that Prof. Greg Hunt has joined our esteemed group of Distinguished Fellows. Prof. Hunt is a highly experienced former Cabinet Minister, having served Australia as Minister for the Environment, Innovation, and Health across three major portfolios over almost nine years.

 

As Minister for Health from 2017 to 2022, he oversaw Australia's response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, established telehealth as a permanent and universal centerpiece of Medicare, reformed private health, and established long-term plans for mental health, aged care, medical research, and primary care, and listed over 2,000 medicines for public access.

 

"I am honored to welcome former Minister Hunt into our esteemed network of global leaders. Few around the world have made an impact like Greg – having served a distinguished career spanning the public and private sectors, including several cabinet-level roles in the Australian Government", comments GFCC President, Deborah L. Wince-Smith. "As Minister for Industry, Innovation & Science, he paved the way for the Australian Space Agency – and helped cement the first-ever U.S.-Australia CTO Dialogue with the Council on Competitiveness. During his tenure as Minister for the Environment, he was named Best Minister in the World for his work negotiating the Montreal Protocol and updating the Paris Climate Agreement. And in 2020, while Minister for Health, he creatively hosted on a virtual platform the GFCC Annual Meeting and Global Innovation Summit – one of the first such events in the world", she completes.

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In 2020, the GFCC hosted the Global Innovation Summit online in partnership with the Australian Government and the Australian Advisory Board on Technology and Healthcare Competitiveness. On occasion, Prof. Hunt spoke about how the COVID-19 pandemic has driven systemic changes to the way healthcare is delivered around the world. Australia was one of the least affected countries during the pandemic, holding a favorable economic performance despite the global crisis. This result was primarily due to an evidence-based response and recovery measures led by Prof. Hunt during his service as Minister of Health.

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"I am delighted and honoured to join the GFCC. Not only is the GFCC comprised of outstanding individuals, more importantly still it has a simple aim of encouraging global competitiveness which in turn allows people to have improved outcomes such better healthcare and education. This organization has never been more important or timely", states Prof. Hunt.

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Prof. Hunt is a Fulbright Scholar with a Master's Degree from Yale University and First Class Honours in Law from the University of Melbourne. In December 2022, he was appointed Honorary Enterprise Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Services and the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Melbourne. He is also the inaugural Chair of the Advisory Council for the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health at Monash University.

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Read his full bio here.