Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's wonderful to rise and speak on this motion, although I was a little bit perplexed when I read through it. I made sure I read the motion about the government's Future Made in Australia in great detail. I thought: 'Surely, they would want to talk about the $466.4 million that they spent on their National Quantum Strategy? That's a big part of their Future Made in Australia, but it's not mentioned.' Those opposite don't want to talk about their Quantum Strategy as part of the Future Made in Australia. There are a few reasons why they don't want to talk about PsiQuantum and they don't want to talk about their Quantum Strategy under the Future Made in Australia banner.

The first reason they don't want to talk about it is because it's not made in Australia; it's a Silicon Valley company. This government is giving $466.4 million to a US tech company based in Silicon Valley under the Future Made in Australia banner. But it gets worse. There are serious question marks over the EOI process that was undertaken to come to this grant. In November last year I stood in this chamber and raised concerns, which were raised with me by the quantum sector, about the process. They were concerned that the EOI process was reverse-engineered to support PsiQuantum. They were concerned because they'd seen an email from PsiQuantum to potential investors talking about their agreement with the Australian government in April and May 2023. I raised this concern in November 2023. Lo and behold, on 30 April 2024 the government announced their $466.4 million for this US-based company. What a coincidence!

And let's look at the timeline. December 2022, the federal Minister for Industry and Science, Ed Husic, met with PsiQuantum. On 25 January 2023, Minister Husic travelled to the US to visit PsiQuantum. Conveniently, on 26 April 2023, PsiQuantum miraculously registered in Australia—based in Brisbane. What a coincidence. On 3 May, Minister Husic releases his National Quantum Strategy. From 1 to 31 August, a quantum computing EOI was issued by the federal government. This was all happening in May and August last year, when this email was floating around. I then raised it in this House in November last year, and, lo and behold, on 30 April 2024 the government miraculously announced this money for PsiQuantum.

But it gets better. Last year Brookline Advisory started working as a lobbyist for PsiQuantum. Who are two of the key lobbyists who work for Brookline Advisory? Would you believe, Member for Herbert, that they're former staffers for the Treasurer and the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia? They were appointed on 12 May last year. So it is no wonder that those opposite don't want to put any mention of this Quantum Strategy in this motion, because they know this process doesn't stack up. Senate estimates last week showed that the contracts have not been signed. It is still going through the department because it doesn't stack up. What this government did was choose to pick a winner. They put it all on black, put it all on one US based technology company. What they should have done is follow the UK model and undertake an testbed strategy. A testbed strategy in quantum allows you to invest in multiple technologies. Because let's be clear, there is no proven quantum technology; all of these are options they are working through. We don't know whether PsiQuantum will work or not. There are other quantum companies working on different technologies.

The smart decision when you invest is to diversify. But no, this government and this minister in his wisdom chose one US company to spend $466.4 million of Australia taxpayer money on. He abandoned the quantum industry in Australia, left them with nothing. That is why governments should not be picking winners, because they conveniently support companies that their former staffers work for. This is just one example of why this Future Made in Australia strategy is going to continue to fail and cost taxpayer money. (time expired)

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