Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am very honoured to represent the wonderful, dynamic electorate of Boothby. It is a fantastic place to live for so many reasons. It has wonderful landscapes, it has wonderful industry, it has world-class education, and it has families and a community that are thriving. It also has two world-class universities and a fantastic TAFE. What Boothby is increasingly becoming known for is its advanced innovative industry that is thriving in the heart of the electorate that I represent, and this government knows that; it is why the minister introduced this bill. We want to do everything in our power to make it easier for universities and for industry to translate their cutting-edge research into practical and commercial applications.

As the minister said in introducing this bill, research commercialisation is important. It is important because it means that, as Australians, we get a bigger dividend for our investment in research in this country. That investment powers new technologies that we can develop here in Australia, and I say in Boothby, that can improve production processes, reduce costs, create new products that lead to even greater economic activity and, of course, create secure, well-paid jobs.

As I said, in Boothby we are very fortunate to have two world-class universities. We have the world-renowned Waite Research Institute, which is part of Adelaide University. But I'm going to focus Flinders because of its role at the Tonsley Innovation District. Flinders University has almost 26,000 students, about 7,000 people undertaking PhDs and about 900 academic staff, so that is a lot of very smart people out there not only learning but also creating new information. Flinders has a second site at Tonsley, at the old Mitsubishi site—an old car manufacturer closed down—and Flinders is a key player there.

In Boothby, researchers and industry have already begun to establish partnerships and connections, like the Factory of the Future at Tonsley. During the election campaign, I was thrilled to visit Tonsley to announce a $10 million investment in the Factory of the Future. It is a prime example of using cutting-edge research to work towards important national priorities. The pilot Factory of the Future already in operation at Tonsley is a powerhouse for developing effective collaborations between researchers and industry in South Australia.

Labor governments at federal and state level have worked hard to make sure there are now more people working in the Tonsley Innovation District than there were when Mitsubishi was still making cars there. We want to turbo charge jobs in the state through the establishment of Australia's first industrial-scale advanced manufacturing accelerator facility at Tonsley. Tonsley is also home to many high-tech businesses such as BAE, Tesla, Sage, Red Arc, Micro X and many more. It is a fantastic petri dish of high-tech innovation, with Flinders University right in the middle of it. The new facilities, which include a manufacturing growth accelerator program, will support over 120 small and medium enterprises to test and trial state-of-the-art equipment and skills for potential early adoption, with the opportunity to feed into the supply chain for the growing defence industry in South Australia. Side-by-side with this is the world-class education and training and the use of advanced digital technologies, ensuring we have the workforce we need to be a manufacturing superpower. This will be a model for other states wanting to be at the centre of the advanced manufacturing revolution, and it's the sort of thing that changes brought about by this bill are designed to drive.

This bill does two things. First, it amends the Higher Education Support Act 2003 to implement measures as part of the former government's university research commercialisation action plan. It takes what was a good idea and puts it into action. Second, the bill amends the Higher Education Support Act to provide legislative authority to establish an Australian Economic Accelerator program. This program—I'll call it the AEA program—is specifically designed to assist higher education providers in developing research to a level of commercial readiness and to support industry led study and postgraduate research programs. Specifically, the AEA program is being established to assist higher education providers to progress the development of new technologies and services to the commercialisation and investor-ready stage through grants.

The bill also provides for a governance framework, including the AEA advisory board and priority managers, to create a research commercialisation strategy and advise the minister on grants. The program will focus on priorities established under the government's National Reconstruction Fund, legislation for which is being established this week. We've already heard that the opposition is going to oppose that.

The purpose of this bill dovetails with that of the National Reconstruction Fund: to make Australia a place where we make things again, a place where we lead the world in advanced technologies—technologies and innovations that drive economic growth and deliver well-paid, secure jobs. The fund and measures like those introduced in this bill which power it will drive investment in projects which will be our collective prosperity. They will broaden our industrial base and boost regional economic development.

Crucially, this bill also allows for the creation of a National Industry PhD Program. The program will provide a basis for new industry led postgraduate programs that create a clear and structured career pathway in innovation and commercialisation focused research. The programs will embed researchers in industry settings, allowing them to build the all-important connections and networks needed to translate their research into commercial and practical solutions. I'm very excited that the internationally recognised Tonsley Innovation District, with Flinders University as the major hub, is fantastically positioned to take advantage of this, with so many exciting, high-tech businesses on their doorstep.

Ultimately, this bill will make it easier for universities and businesses to work together to commercialise the important research that they undertake. It will help us build our sovereign capability and it will boost our economy for the future. I commend the bill.

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