Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to congratulate and wish a wad of luck to the robotics program team from St Peters Lutheran College in my electorate of Ryan. They're competing in October in an international robotics competition in Dubai called the FIRST Global Challenge, and they're representing Team Australia. FIRST Global Challenge is an international robotics competition where participating teams are composed of students aged 14 to 18 years. They've got a common goal of increasing their knowledge of science, technology, engineering and maths so they can become the next generation of scientific leaders who will work together to solve some of the world's most pressing problems. They've tackled problems such as food security and access to clean water, as well as finding better medicines and securing cyberspace.

Teams of high school students from more than 175 nations across the world are participating in this competition. Each team gets the chance to create a robot to compete in a very specific challenge that occurs in the competition each year. Every challenge is relevant to a real-world issue, and this year's competition is entitled Ocean Opportunities. It involves engineering robots to remove rubbish in our oceans, something that's important to this government as it is important to the next generation. The competition is being held in Dubai from 24 to 27 October. Team Australia, always affectionately known as the Pineapples, have represented Australia in the competition ever since its creation in 2017. In their previous efforts in the competition, the St Peter's robotics team have been honoured to receive a silver for international unity in Washington DC in 2017, and a silver award for creativity and innovation in Mexico in 2018. The St Peter's team is comprised of five students, three of whom are from the sister college to St Peter's, Grace Lutheran College. Over the years, Team Australia have graciously received sponsorship from organisations such as UQ, Siemens, Array Technologies, Telstra and Bunnings, to name a few of the companies who recognise their commitment to and passion for robotics.

I had the great pleasure of meeting a number of the members of Team Australia. The team is a strong believer in unity over all else, and by working together as a team and being a team within the global community they will perform to the very best of their abilities. I'm so very proud of these local students, just as I am proud of a great local school, St Peter's. I wish them all the very best of luck in the competition. Win, lose or draw, I know that they'll represent my electorate of Ryan, our local community and Australia incredibly well.