Vince Connelly (Stirling, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I remember staring up in wonder at the heavens at night as a child, as I'm sure all of us did, seeing the stars and the moon up there and wondering at the vastness of space. Many of us also remember the space race, that era after we first put a human into space and then onto the face of the moon, when there was so much activity happening right around the world in taking forward what was often referred to as the final frontier. We owe so many things in our daily rituals—mobile phones, GPS satellite navigation and connecting to the internet, which we pretty much all do—to space and to our understanding and utilisation of space. Today, space is often described as the fourth industrial revolution. Some predictions are that global market growth could see that market reaching $750 billion in the period between 2018 and 2040.

So, recognising this growth, in 2018 the coalition government launched the Australian Space Agency, with the specific task of tripling our market share and creating another 20,000 jobs by 2030. Underpinning this is the Australian Civil Space Strategy, which sets out a very clear plan to diversify the economy, to connect internationally, to develop national capabilities and to ensure the safety and security of our space infrastructure and operations. It also makes clear that meeting Australia's international obligations and supporting a rules based order are central to us achieving that vision. The strategy outlines seven priorities: earth observation; communication technologies; position navigation and timing; space situational awareness and, importantly, debris monitoring; leapfrog research and development; robotics and automation on earth and in space; and, finally, access to space.

Since the establishment of the Australian Space Agency, we have committed $705 million to growing the civil space sector. These investments include: $150 million for the Moon to Mars initiative; $19½ million to the Space Infrastructure Fund; the $15 million International Space Investment initiative; $6 million for the Australian Space Discovery Centre; $389 million for Geoscience Australia to look at better GPS systems; $55 million to support the development of new technologies through the SmartSat CRC; and, finally, $26 million—I know it's a lot of money, but you've borne with me very well—to CSIRO to support space science here in Australia.

The space sector is an emerging area of competitive advantage and industry growth. That is why our Australian government provided an additional $13 million over four years and ongoing funding of $3.4 million a year to the Australian Space Agency in the most recent budget. This additional funding will strengthen the agency's capability to deliver a world-class, responsive regulatory system, support the industry's rapid growth and facilitate high-tech job creation.

This Morrison government is backing Australian manufacturing as well as the science and research that underpins it. That's part of our economic recovery plan as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic in this recovery phase. The 2020-21 budget included an investment of $1½ billion over four years for the Modern Manufacturing Strategy. This will allow Australian manufacturers to scale up, compete internationally and create more jobs. The government's identified space as a national priority for manufacturing because it's an area of growing competitive advantage and strategic importance.

It's all about playing to Australia's strengths, and I'm pleased that my own home state of WA is playing an important role. Last year, it was announced that Perth would be the home of the Australian Space Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Control Complex, or SpAARC. This was awarded to Fugro Australia Marine with a $4.5 million commitment. The new space race is on. We're seeking to leverage our advantages and advance the interests of Australia, including in space.

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