John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Next Monday in the Great Hall, we are going to have the innovation fair, where great innovations from the innovation capital of Australia, Macquarie Park, will be present. We will have a hydrogen cell from the Hyundai motor car company that powers their hydrogen powered car, which is an emissions-free vehicle. We will have representatives from 3M, from Microsoft and from all of the multinational pharmaceutical companies that live off innovation. In the Bennelong Cup, the great nations of table tennis, China, Korea and Japan, come and compete in the Great Hall, but the real benefit of the Bennelong Cup is that 40 schools have a schools competition and play table terms with each other, which bridges the previous social and the cultural divides. Table tennis is bringing them all together.

As with the innovation fair, we had an innovation competition amongst the schools last week, and it was a joy to be there to see these brilliant young minds come and compete. There were trophies and coaches, just like a little tennis game—the coaches were the school teachers. They had very keen parents making sure that we spent an equal amount of time with each team, but the joy was in competing. It was sad that we actually had to call winners and losers, but the intelligence was recognised and applauded, as were the engagement between these young minds and their understanding of the value of STEM education and the value of innovation. The event was hosted by one of our innovative companies. The students had earlier made a trip to 3M, which is an extraordinary site in Bennelong. Virtually everything that we touch is held together by a 3M product. They do not just make Post-it notes. The winners among these young people will be competing here in the Great Hall next Monday—so you will all be there, won't you?—with an array of, I think, something like 30 companies from the innovation hub of Australia in the Bennelong area. As the Prime Minister would say, there has never been a more exciting time to be an Australian, but, when you see these young kids and their intelligence, which just springs forth, you know that the most exciting time will be in the future. The young will inherit the future.

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