Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister update the House on the recent achievements of the Australian scientific community?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Together with the Minister for Industry, Innovation, Science and Research and various other members from this side of the House—and I hope there were some from the other side of the House—I attended last night in the Great Hall the annual awards for the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science. This is a great gathering of the Australian scientific community because you bring together not just scientists at the pointy end—that is, those out there in laboratory land doing all those interesting things in white coats, which most of us in this room have no idea about—

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Speak for yourself!

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Minister for Education says, ‘Speak for yourself!’ What was also really impressive about the gathering was the concentration of teachers of science—that is, primary school and secondary school teachers—who were properly recognised and rewarded for their achievements. We had a primary school teacher there who was legitimately proud of what he had done with kids a couple of hours north of Perth. He was working with those kids to get their minds fired and inspired with the wonders of science. Similarly, a secondary school teacher also received an award because of the work he has done in a secondary school re-entry facility in Adelaide. He told me that there were four such facilities in Adelaide. For people who have not made it through to year 12 and go off and do a few other things in life and come back, he is instilling a real passion for science in those folk who come back to do their year 12 equivalent.

This was a great gathering and it was a great opportunity last night to see people appropriately recognised for their scientific achievements. The winner of this year’s Prime Minister’s Prize for Science was Dr John O’Sullivan of the CSIRO for his contributions to astronomy and to the invention that made wireless computing a part of our everyday lives. What a great scientific innovation from Australia. This is a great piece of good news for the country. Dr O’Sullivan was not looking for a major breakthrough in information communications technology at the time. In fact, he was looking for something called ‘black holes’. He was out there in astronomy land.

Government Member:

That’s where they are on the other side.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, he found Liberal policy on the way! In the process of working in laboratories, he developed a real passion for how he could deal with the whole problem of wireless computing. He worked with colleagues around the world to bring this invention to fruition. Their invention is now enshrined in international standards and built into computers, printers, smartphones and other devices used by hundreds of millions of people every day. It is a great example of how basic blue-sky research can lead to very practical benefits. The Science Minister’s Prize for Life Scientist of the Year went to Professor Michael Cowley from Monash University’s Faculty of Medicine for the advances he has made in understanding and treating human obesity and the ailments that go with it, including diabetes and heart disease.

The Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year went to Dr Amanda Barnard, from the CSIRO, for her achievements in modelling nanoparticles. This is a key to unlocking the benefits of nanotechnology, which promises us everything from better medicines to more efficient solar panels. And last night I was introduced to a new term called ‘nanodiamonds’. I do not know what a nanodiamond is, but it is good and it is being worked on at the moment by our great legion of nanotechnologists and nanoscientists!

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Turnbull interjecting

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition knows what a nanodiamond is, he tells me. The Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Primary Schools has gone to Mr Alan Whittome, from the Badgingarra Primary School in Western Australia. I ask my WA colleagues: have I got the pronunciation right?

Barry Haase (Kalgoorlie, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Haase interjecting

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Got it. His secret is to show his students that science is a part of life and not just something to be done at school. The Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools has been awarded to Mr Len Altman, from Marden Senior College in Adelaide. Mr Altman, as I said before, is leading a renaissance in geoscience teaching in South Australia. These are great achievements.

A few weeks ago there was another significant development for Australian science: Australian born and educated biologist Professor Elizabeth Blackburn was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine. What a great achievement for Australian science. What a great achievement for an Australian woman scientist. This is a fantastic achievement for the country. She is Australia’s first female Nobel laureate—period. Professor Blackburn stands in great Australian company alongside the likes of Sir Howard Florey and Professor Peter Doherty. The prize was awarded for her work on chromosomes. I called Professor Blackburn personally to congratulate her on her outstanding achievement. I am sure that everyone in this House will join me in acknowledging Professor Elizabeth Blackburn for receiving the Nobel Prize for Medicine. It is an achievement of which Australians can be proud.

This government is proud of Australia’s science community. We are proud of our science teachers in primary schools, in secondary schools; we are proud of our science lecturers through the universities; we are proud of what those in the laboratories are doing now. This country punches above its weight when it comes to the scientific community, writ across all the disciplines. This is why the education minister and the industry minister are so actively supporting research, innovation and science at the schools level, at the university level and at the research institute level across the country. This is good for the country’s future. If we are going to build long-term productivity growth, part of that productivity growth lies in building a culture of innovation and of invention, of which science must be the core. I commend the winners of these awards.