Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

We are here today to acknowledge a truly great achievement by one of our Australian scientists and his team. Professor Brian Schmidt of the Mount Stromlo Observatory at ANU has become one of just 12 Australians to win a Nobel Prize—indeed, the first since 1915 in Physics—and, in doing so, has not only made a significant scientific discovery but shown once again that Australia is at the forefront of innovation. Professor Schmidt led a team of approximately 20 international researchers who discovered that the expansion of the universe was not behaving as commonly believed, a very unexpected and exciting result. In short, contrary to what was believed, the universe appears to be speeding up rather than slowing down as it expands. This was unexpected, as gravitational forces act to slow things down by pulling down on all matter, so it was expected that, as the universe expanded, it would also be slowing down. However, Professor Schmidt and his team have discovered that this is not the case, implying that there is an additional push coming from somewhere to counteract these gravitational forces. This push acts like antigravity and is known as 'dark energy' although scientists are yet to determine where this push comes from or what dark energy is.

When interviewed about his achievements, Professor Schmidt was the first to acknowledge and emphasise the work of his team, which included two other Australian scientists, Professor Warwick Couch from Swinburne University and Professor Brian Boyle from the CSIRO. Professor Schmidt also acknowledged another international team which made the same discovery and is sharing the Nobel Prize with Professor Schmidt and his team.

Professor Schmidt's achievement underscores the excellence of Australian science, particularly Australian astronomy. Australia has been providing world-leading research for more than 50 years, in many cases outperforming the United States and Europe in scientific impact per paper, despite our much smaller population. Australian astronomers and researchers have proved their ability to make significant contributions to science and our understanding of the universe at the most fundamental level. Our telescopes and the teams involved in their operation are world class. The Parkes radio telescope, made famous, of course, by the Australian film The Dish, has just celebrated its 50th anniversary. Together with the Anglo-Australian optical telescope at Siding Spring, in the Warrumbungle National Park, it has provided the excellent data that has contributed to Australian and international discoveries and innovation. Whilst we celebrate these telescopes, we need to upgrade our access to facilities to continue to address the cosmic questions of the 21st century.

As Professor Schmidt's achievement shows, Australia truly is producing world-leading research and its facilities are cutting edge and help facilitate this research. As I mentioned in my maiden speech, Australia and New Zealand are now poised to secure the Square Kilometre Array site. The SKA will over the next 50 years provide essential opportunities for Australia to shine as an international leader in research, technology and innovation. As Australian astrophysicist Professor Peter Quinn says:

We can only dream of the amazing insights and Nobel prize-winning discoveries that the SKA will provide. The SKA will let us see the dawn of time—the first light from the first stars, discovering what dark energy is and finding out that we are not alone in the universe are but a few of the exciting discoveries we hope to make with an SKA based in Australia.

It is the quality of our scientific community, our technological experience and our capability that will ensure that Australia and New Zealand provide the best possible site for the SKA. This will allow the global community to realise the vast scientific vision and opportunity the SKA brings. Indeed, Professor Peter Quinn himself was researching dark matter at Mount Stromlo and subsequently was part of the ESO, the European Southern Observatory, team that built the world's largest telescopes at Paranal in Chile.

It is indeed a truly exciting time for Australian science, and I am pleased to have the opportunity today to congratulate Professor Brian Schmidt and his team on their outstanding contribution, recognised by their winning the Nobel Prize in Physics.

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