Vince Connelly (Stirling, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence Industry and the Minister for Science and Technology. Will the minister please outline for the House how the Morrison government is supporting our emerging space industry, building a stronger Australia and creating more jobs, particularly as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?

Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Stirling for his question and acknowledge his outstanding former service in our ADF. I want to thank him for his support for our local industries in our home state of Western Australia.

When most people think about space, they might reflect on the Apollo missions, The Dish, Star Trek or, for those who are a bit older, maybe My Favorite Martian. But today and into the future, space is a part of our everyday lives. Space technology enables the GPS in the car and on that phone that never leaves our side. It's used by our farmers to monitor the health of our crops and, most importantly, it's used by our emergency workers to help them plan and respond to bushfires and floods.

The Morrison government understands the profound benefits of space technologies on the lives of all Australians. Space is also the new jobs frontier, launching opportunities across a whole range of industries, and Australia must be a part of this global movement. Our national mission is to triple the size of the space sector in Australia to $12 billion and create up to 20,000 new jobs by 2030. That's why the Morrison government invested $700 million in the civil space sector when we established the Australian Space Agency back in 2018. That doesn't include the specific investment by our government in the defence space capabilities announced as part of the 2020 strategic update.

It genuinely was a thrill to announce recently that the Morrison government has reached an agreement with NASA, and I was very proud that the Prime Minister and I were announcing that Australia is going to the moon. This is supported with $50 million as part of the Moon to Mars initiative. An Australian manned rover will be included in a future NASA mission, and it is going happen this decade—even as early 2026. We are giving Australia's best and brightest scientists, entrepreneurs and researchers an opportunity to be a big part of that. So, for the very first time, Australian designed and built technology will land on the moon. This is significant. I have no doubt that the Aussie rover—or red dog, which is just my working title at the moment—is going to inspire the next generation of scientists who are sitting at home at the moment planning their own mission into space.

We are already a world leader when it comes to autonomous vehicles. They play an important role in our resources sector, as seen at the different mine sites in my electorate of Durack. I very much look forward to working with our space sector to grow it so that we can have many more announcements when we say 'Australia's going to the moon'.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.