Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

In December last year I presented the report of the Standing Committee on Industry, Innovation, Science and Resources entitled The now frontier: developing Australia's space industry. On 11 November 2020 the committee adopted an inquiry into developing Australia's space industry and was asked to focus on how the Australian government can support and encourage the space industry while preserving and protecting the space environment.

Space is an industry that inspires, fascinates and excites people. Generally rockets and astronauts come to mind when we think about the space industry, but in fact it's technology and equipment that are very much part of our day-to-day lives. There are enormous opportunities for individuals, organisations and communities to take advantage of this growing sector, particularly in regional and rural areas.

Most Australians are familiar with our nation's involvement in the moon landing in 1969—a little bit before my time—and the tracking stations at Honeysuckle Creek and Parkes, in New South Wales, that relayed images back to earth of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon. This followed the rocket-testing program in the late fifties at Woomera, in South Australia, as part of the Australian government's Weapons Research Establishment. But perhaps less familiar to Australians is the continued use of space based technologies and applications in our daily lives. Mobile phones, the internet, weather forecasting, GPS technology and banking services all rely on data derived from space.

Space related technologies—robots, drones, remote sensors and artificial intelligence—were once considered those of the future but are now very much where we are. For Australia to be competitive, we need to not only foster these technologies and their applications but ensure that we have the right people, with the right skills and expertise, to make it happen. Australia needs to position itself—it must position itself—to capitalise on these opportunities. Australia enjoys natural and structured advantages that can be leveraged to benefit us socially and economically. Our geography and landscape, education and training systems, technical expertise and international partnerships and agreements all combine to form an important foundation for access to the global space industry supply chain and the development of sustainable commercial activities.

The Australian government has set a goal to grow the domestic space sector by $12 billion and create an additional 20,000 jobs. The report presented last year makes recommendations designed to support this growth and beyond. Some of these recommendations include the call for an overarching vision of the industry in Australia, to inspire confidence and investment in our space capabilities and give an increased visibility of space across the government and parliament.

Importantly, space is an accessible industry to those wishing to pursue a career in this field. The sector presents many opportunities for young Australians, and the need to grow a workforce to support it is paramount. There are a range of professions not generally associated with the space industry, such as law, medicine, project management, communications and business, that will be able to support and facilitate Australia's industry to grow to an internationally competitive sector. Further, there is so much potential for our rural and regional areas to benefit from and get involved in Australia's space sector. This includes the links between our regional industries and the space sector; the application of space related technology and infrastructure to agriculture, health and telecommunications; and, of course, the uptake of regional education and training to better equip young people to build their careers in the industry.

This is an exciting time for the Australian space industry, with awe-inspiring work already being done here. In terms of growing the future workforce, the report tabled in December identified the need for greater education of young people in science, technology, engineering and maths. We had evidence that most of the higher level jobs are filled by those who have been educated overseas. We need to make a change in that regard and encourage education at a university level in both space engineering and aeronautical engineering, rather than look overseas.

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