Alan Griffin (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure today to stand in this adjournment debate and to herald excellent work being done representing this country by a group of young Australians who are in the process of heading overseas to represent our nation internationally. Of course, I speak of the Olympics. But I also speak of an element of our international Olympics that is not occurring in London in the weeks ahead. Of course, all of us congratulate those who have worked so hard and strived to represent our nation across a range of sports and will be in London, and all of us will watch to see their excellent efforts on behalf of themselves and on behalf of all of us. We will all be cheering them on, knowing full well that in the history of the Olympic movement Australia can be very proud of the excellent efforts that have taken place on our behalf by men and women of greater sporting prowess than, certainly, me.

But I rise to speak about a group of 23 young Australians who will be competing in olympiads elsewhere in the world over that period of time—that is, the International Mathematics and Science Olympiads—and the recognition of that. Some members would have recently attended a blazer presentation ceremony here in Parliament House, where the Hon. Peter Garrett MP presented a number of young Australians who will be representing Australia overseas with blazers. Six students will be part of a mathematics team that will compete in Argentina on 4 July, four students in the biology team will compete in Singapore, five students in the physics team will compete in Estonia, four students in the chemistry team will compete in Washington and four students in the informatics team will compete in Italy.

All of these young Australians—and I had the pleasure of meeting several of them at the ceremony—are outstanding examples of our school system. They are outstanding examples of young people with enormous ability and potential, who are at the cutting edge of the potential that this nation has with respect to the maths and science fields. Australia has competed in these olympiads since 1981 and we have won 526 medals. Last year the mathematics team returned with three silver medals and three bronze medals and the science teams brought home 12 medals.

If we look to the future of our nation, and beyond the debate we are currently having with respect to matters such as the mining tax, there is no doubt that the significance of our mining industry is there for us all to see and understand. It is also recognised on all sides that there is a time line on that industry. There is also no doubt that our agricultural sector has a promising future and an important future as part of what this nation can do. But there is also no doubt that if we do not as a nation move into other areas and if we do not as a nation maximise our capacity and potential—particularly in high-tech areas—then we will suffer accordingly over time. And there is absolutely no doubt that developing these sectors and the expertise in these areas is incredibly important in terms of our future as a nation. These young Australians show what this nation can do. But also all this shows that there is more that we can do.

At that ceremony it was very pleasing to come across our most recent Nobel laureate, Professor Brian Schmidt. It was great to see him there talking to those young Australians and I suppose it was great for me, bathing in the reflected glory of people much smarter than me. This is not a problem I normally have in this chamber, I might add, or certainly in my caucus but it is certainly something that I enjoyed on that particular occasion! To all those who are going to represent our nation overseas in these olympiads, I say this: I wish you all the very best. They are the very best of a generation that has significant potential. They are the very best of a generation that we need to encourage. Governments must fund the sciences to ensure that we develop those skills into the future. But governments and members and the community must also celebrate their achievements and their abilities and understand that all that is part of the future. I am very proud to have spent a short period of time with a bunch of young people who will achieve far more than I will ever achieve and I wish them all the best for the future. I commend their activities and I say to them: go for gold!