Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a recent visit to Thuringowa State High School in my electorate, I was absolutely blown away by the students' incredible knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, science, technology, education and mathematics. STEM is an exciting and ever-developing field for young thriving minds. In the one short hour that I spent at the school, I have to admit that their excitement was starting to rub off on me.

My visit was in the middle of my minister blitz. In the three weeks leading up to the sitting fortnight of parliament, I welcomed no fewer than six ministers and assistant ministers to the best electorate in the country, the electorate of Herbert. It was a great pleasure to welcome the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, Karen Andrews, to Townsville for a visit to the Australian Institute of Marine Science and then to Thuringowa State High School. There we met three year-10 students—Brian Archer, Declan Lindsell and Luke O'Brien—in the science labs. The trio had lined up crab pots for us to see. But this wasn't the average red twine and hoop set-up you find in waterways in North Queensland. This was an artificial intelligence fingerprint crab pot, an award winning one. It was among the eight finalists—out of 600 entries—in the Education Changemakers competition.

This crab pot was invented by these 15-year-olds to solve two problems. The first problem is that, unfortunately, crab pots are often stolen or there is confusion about who owns them. This is because they are left alone for long periods of time to do their work—catching crabs. So the boys invented a system by which the pot would only open up if the rightful owner was in possession of it.

But the second problem this crab pot solved was probably even more important. The boys told me it was crucial that only male crabs were taken because, if a lot of females are pulled out of the ecosystem, it can affect the population, making it harder for a species to reproduce. So they designed a crab pot that only lets males in. I was very impressed because, despite their relative youth, these boys saw a problem that was affecting them in their own lives, and they could see it was affecting other people in their lives, so they used their STEM knowledge to come up with a solution. While I always think it's a good idea to keep your options open as young school students, it was clear to me that if they were to choose careers in the sector they would have a very bright future ahead of them.

Next on our tour of Thuringowa State High School, we went to a room that could only be described as a TV studio. There were lights and cameras and plenty of action as a science teacher taught a live class over a video link to dozens of children in some of the most remote parts of Queensland and around Australia. What I was witnessing was the Global Tropics Future Young Scholars project, a joint initiative between Thuringowa State High School and James Cook University, led by Deputy Principal Wendy Bode.

On the screen were five students who logged in with webcams and microphones to a virtual world where they could interact with their teacher and each other in real time. This offered them opportunities they would never be given where they lived. It was a new-age School of the Air, known as the Queensland Virtual STEM Academy. It was definitely a far cry from my own memories of school and I find myself quite jealous of the students. I'm keen to return to the school and witness some more of their virtual classes. The topics they cover are fantastic and are directly relevant to living in the north. They let me know a few examples of the programs they have on offer: the Trop House Grand Challenge, the Disaster Resilience Grand Challenge and—a favourite of mine—the Mining Initiative Grand Challenge.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Thuringowa State High School for hosting us and congratulate them on their efforts in being a leader in science, technology, engineering and maths. I'd also like to pay tribute to Minister Karen Andrews for the hard work that she's been doing to promote innovation in our schools. These schools are fantastic in the electorate and they really bring the community together. I was really amazed by how everyone in the room and from around Queensland all spoke so positively of STEM.