Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to congratulate my colleague the member for Higgins, Professor Allen, on introducing this motion to parliament. I'm sure she, like me, is a lover of science. I have longstanding interest in a whole variety of different sciences. It is great to have some young people in parliament today and to know that their lives will be made better by the tremendous advantages and advances that science has given our community and the wider international community as well.

Recently, I've been doing some work with the Shepherd Centre, which deals with children with severe hearing loss. It is important to know that the great Australian scientist Professor Graeme Clark grew up in my electorate of Macarthur. With his invention of the cochlear implant he has made the lives of so many thousands of people in Australia and overseas better because of his love of science. Also in my electorate of Macarthur we have the Macarthur family still residing. John Macarthur and his wife, Elizabeth Macarthur, were agricultural scientists in the way they introduced the merino genetics into Australia, the birthplace of the Australian wool industry, with the first development of scientific breeding of sheep for wool. Great scientists have come from Macarthur for many, many years. My great hero, Sir John Monash, famous of course as a soldier and as an engineer, was also a scientist and the first to do experiments with concrete science in Australia that led to the development of prestressed concrete and the growth of high-rise buildings.

National Science Week is an important initiative because it not only recognises the contribution of science to the greater community and recognises the scientific community itself but also offers a fantastic system to support the development of science hubs in our education systems throughout regional New South Wales and Australia. These science hubs go a long way to inspiring young people to pursue an interest in science as well as extend networks and partnership opportunities in the regions.

In my electorate of Macarthur we have many businesses that are using science and are at the forefront of scientific technology and business to create wonderful industries and products for use in Australia and for export. I would briefly mention the DECO Group, which uses membrane technology and new technology in coatings to produce the great new products we see in building and throughout our railway network in New South Wales. Most of the signs are now made by DECO Group using their specialised technology of coatings on metal to give a wood appearance and very long-term viable results for seats and structures around our railway stations and in high-rise businesses and buildings without flammability. It is great new technology. The Sevaan Group is another engineering group in my electorate that uses high-technology computers and laser cutting to create different metal objects for use in things like medical technology et cetera. There are really great scientific advances throughout my community in Macarthur. I should also mention the Leppington Pastoral Company, which is the biggest privately operated dairy corporation in Australia. It uses new technology in agriculture to increase the yield of the dairy cows. So there is lots of great new technology occurring in my electorate of Macarthur.

I have been to many schools in my electorate, such as Broughton Anglican College, St Peter's Anglican Primary School and Campbelltown Public School, to see the wonderful advances the children are making in their learning about science. Their experiments are great to be involved with. It's exciting to see the next generation of young scientists coming along. I know that Science Week is an important week and I know that there are many more scientific advances to come from Australia that will benefit us all, both in terms of the economy and in terms of our knowledge and our future.

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