David Bushby (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Cabinet Secretary, representing the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Senator Sinodinos. Can the Cabinet Secretary outline Australia's important role in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's deep space exploration program and how this creates jobs and growth?

Arthur Sinodinos (NSW, Liberal Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable senator from Tasmania, Senator Bushby, for his question and his ongoing interest in all things space, and indeed also his commitment to the Antarctic work being done in Tasmania. He is a man who appreciates science and he knows the importance of science to Australia's future.

Australia's partnership with NASA spans 50 years, with NASA investing more than $800 million in space-tracking operations in Australia, primarily at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex at Tidbinbilla. Australian scientists at the 'Dish' in Parkes and at the complex in Tidbinbilla played an integral role in tracking the Apollo missions, including Apollo 11, in which Mr Buzz Aldrin, who was recently in this parliament, was second man to walk on the moon.

Today that complex is helping NASA with Cassini, which is a 20-year project sending a spacecraft 1.2 billion kilometres to Saturn, which over the coming days will plunge through the rings of gas around that entity which have puzzled and excited astronomers since the days of Galileo. It will be our Australians scientists in Tidbinbilla tracking Cassini as it answers questions which have been left unanswered for 400 years.

Today, that partnership is stronger than ever. It was great to see my colleague the Assistant Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Mr Laundy, welcome officials from NASA to the Tidbinbilla complex recently to officially open NASA's two new 34-metre deep space tracking antennae. This was the culmination of a $120 million investment by NASA over the last six years in new infrastructure at Tidbinbilla. It will enable Australia's ongoing partnership with NASA for many years to come, and it will contribute to its future plans, including sending humans to Mars in the 2030s.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Bushby, a supplementary question.

David Bushby (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the Cabinet Secretary outline the role Australia will play in the development of other groundbreaking space science projects and how that will benefit the Australian economy?

Arthur Sinodinos (NSW, Liberal Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Earlier this month, the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science announced that Australia will host the world's largest space conference, in 2020, with thousands of international experts set to join local scientists and astronomers to explore future space missions and investigate trade, research and development opportunities. This is known as the Scientific Assembly of the Committee on Space Research and Associated Events, and this is only the second time this conference has been hosted in the Southern Hemisphere since 1974. It is a ringing endorsement of our people, our infrastructure and the high regard in which we are held in the global space community.

This week, it was announced that Australia will have a role in the $100 million Breakthrough Listen initiative funded by the US based entrepreneur Yuri Milner, which has yielded its first results, achieving observations of an Earth sized planet orbiting the nearest star to our sun, Proxima Centauri. Australia is also taking a lead role in the development of the Square Kilometre Array, the world's largest and most sensitive radio telescope. (Time expired)

David Bushby (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I have a further supplementary question. I also note that the global space economy is a growing sector, a driver of innovation and a creator of jobs. What else is the Australian government doing to help grow this important sector?

Arthur Sinodinos (NSW, Liberal Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A recent report by the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science found that our space industry employs between 9,500 and 11,500 people and is growing. Almost 90 per cent of companies are expected to grow their staff by more than 25 per cent over the next three years. To support this growing sector, in October 2015 the government announced a review of the Space Activities Act. The act establishes a licensing and safety regime for the regulation of space activities carried out either from Australia or by Australian nationals overseas. New developments are driving change, including reducing many of the traditional barriers to entry into the space industry, which creates new opportunities for Australian firms. This review will ensure our civil space regulations do not curtail development opportunities for Australian businesses in the sector. There have been public submissions and consultations already, and the government will announce its intentions for possible reform of the legislation in due course.

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On that celestial note, I ask that further questions be placed upon the Notice Paper.