Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Hansard source

This is a budget which in macroeconomic terms of course fails to meet the needs of our nation, particularly as we face an extraordinary inflation challenge, which has only been fanned by the decisions in this budget. But when you look at the sector-by-sector impact, there are some pretty disappointing outcomes in this budget as well, and that is true in relation to science, for example. We've seen quite a lot of repackaging and rebadging in this budget, but we have not seen the kind of new funding that one would want to see and hope to see, consistent with the kind of rhetoric we have had from this government. For example, the measure 'enhanced support for small and medium-sized businesses and startups' and the measure 'growing Australia's critical technology industries' predominantly repurpose funding and are offset by redirecting funding from within the Industry, Science And Resources portfolio. There was no separate new funding for artificial intelligence in this budget. Instead funds were simply redirected from within the industry portfolio.

It is perhaps no great surprise that the reaction from stakeholders to this budget has been less than overwhelming. The CEO of Sapia.ai, Barb Hyman, said :'This is a massive missed opportunity from the federal government to surge ahead in what is fast becoming the race to not only pioneer but leverage new AI technologies. This information is time sensitive. By the time it is a focus globally, it will be too late.' My questions to the minister are: where is the new funding for science? Where is the dedicated new funding for artificial intelligence? Why isn't this government investing more in artificial intelligence to keep pace with the rest of the world? Why was there a national quantum strategy without the provision of any additional funding to back it up? Why is there no additional funding for quantum in this budget?

I turn now to the space sector and build on the excellent observations of the shadow minister for industry and Deputy Leader of the Opposition. In the space sector and under the growing Australia space industry program in the October budget there was $181 million over the forward estimates. A mere six months later nearly $70 million has been cut, with the savings partially redirected to fund other priorities. Of course, this comes at a time when developing sovereign space capability and satellite capability is key not only to business opportunities but also to strengthening our national security. Under the previous government very significant progress was being made in space. We established the Australian Space Agency, which has been based in Adelaide, and that catalysed significant industry growth with businesses like Fleet Space Technologies showing the remarkable potential of the space sector. Other entrepreneurial activities have been attracted to the South Australian Space Industry Centre, and companies like Q-CTRL and AltspaceVR have announced their involvement.

Certainly the Prime Minister has shown that he is happy to turn up for a photo opportunity at the remarkable Australian company Gilmour Space Technologies, but what is disappointing about this budget is the real lack of commitment to maintaining the substantial, long-term funding that had been provided and committed to under the previous coalition government. Of course we can all agree that the space sector provides significant opportunities for Australia, first, in fundamental research and then in commercialising that research and turning it into material business opportunities that will create jobs and growth for Australian businesses, Australian scientists and Australian workers at all levels of skill. But what is important is that the rhetoric be backed up with a detailed plan and backed up with targeted funding. On this side of the parliament we absolutely respect and cherish the central role of the private sector, but there is clearly a role for government in catalysing and stimulating.

My questions to the minister are: why has the growing Australia space industry program been cut? Why has $70 million for the Australian space industry measure been cut, and where did that money go? Why is developing a sovereign space capability not a priority of this government? Will you restore space funding to the levels it stood at under the previous coalition government? Will this government back its rhetoric with substantive support for the space sector? Why has it been, frankly, a characteristic of funding in this particular portfolio that, rather than material new funding being provided to pursue the economic opportunities that our nation faces, instead there has simply been a redirecting of funding and a cutting of many valuable existing programs?

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