Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This week, parliament is hosting Australia's world-leading scientists, innovators, educators and medical researchers. These leaders work every day to discover, understand and improve the world around us and to teach the young minds of the future.

Among those is Victorian professor Chris Greening, recipient of a Prime Minister's Prize for Science on Monday night. Professor Greening has made a world-first discovery that microbes take up tiny amounts of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. This is a process that means 350 million tonnes of carbon monoxide are removed from the atmosphere, countering air pollution and regulating climate change. On receiving the award, he said:

Science became a passion when I realised that I could actually create new knowledge and make a difference in the world. It's been exhilarating ever since.

Congratulations to Professor Greening and the team at Monash University.

Tonight, I look forward to seeing which equally passionate scientist will be awarded the Rising Star Award by the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes. I can't help but be hugely proud to see a shortlist full of Victorians. Victoria is no stranger to scientific excellence. Our state is a world leader when it comes to medical research and manufacturing. We are the home of the first-ever IVF pregnancy and of the bionic ear. Victoria will soon be the home of the only mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility in the Southern Hemisphere. All this is made possible because of our exceptional scientists, innovators, engineers, technologists, educators and all those who support them. We are building an ambitious long-term vision for science in this country, and I'm proud to be part of a government that backs our scientists.