Australian Space Agency

Ms LUETHEN (King) (15:10): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier update—

The SPEAKER: Point of order. Let's hear the point of order.

Mr KOUTSANTONIS: I have two points to make, sir. Did you hear the response of the member for Adelaide to you? She said to you, Mr Speaker—

The SPEAKER: What is the point of the order, sir?

Mr KOUTSANTONIS: Mr Speaker, she is ridiculing the house.

The SPEAKER: I do not uphold the point of order. She gave her answer. The member for King.

Ms LUETHEN: My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier update the house on progress towards a national space agency for Australia?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (15:10): This is a very important issue. I am very surprised that those opposite haven't asked a question about this because this is important for the people of South Australia to understand. There is an enormous opportunity on the table at the moment, courtesy of the federal government. They have made a decision to establish a national space agency for Australia—I would add, not before time. Nevertheless, it is finally coming.

And I update the house that this announcement by the federal government was made here in Adelaide. It was made as part of the keynote address when the conference for the International Astronautical Congress was held in Adelaide last year, and what an excellent congress that was.

I know those opposite like to suggest that they brought it here to South Australia, but I have made inquiries and let me tell you that, as per usual, those opposite are the ultimate photobombers. Every time somebody in the private sector has ever done anything in South Australia, any time anything has ever happened in South Australia, it was because of the former Labor government.

I was delighted this morning because the sun rose, and I got on the phone as soon as I could to ring up the Leader of the Opposition to say to him, 'Thank you, sir, for the work that you did in those 16 years—those 16 long, tedious years—in government to make the sun rise today.'

The reality is that a lot of hard work has been done by a lot of people to bring about an announcement by the federal government to establish a national space agency. Now, here is the opportunity. What we need to be doing is working as hard as we possibly can to ensure that that space agency comes to South Australia. That is certainly what I will be doing.

I was delighted when I was listening to the federal budget being handed down the other night—that budget which talks about lower taxes for households, lower taxes for businesses in South Australia—because it also talked about an additional federal government investment of $41 million to establish the national space agency. Can I tell you, those of us on this side recognise the incredible opportunity which space provides.

We know that hundreds and hundreds of South Australians are employed in this sector. We know that there is plenty of private sector activity in this area at the moment. Very innovative companies like Fleet, like Innovare, like many other companies in South Australia, are really seeing the opportunities, especially around smart small satellites. This is the future, and it is a great future and we want to be a part of that future.

The federal government established what they called the Expert Reference Group, and the Expert Reference Group has completed and handed in its report (chaired by Megan Clark) to the minister, Michaelia Cash. We all have to be extraordinarily nice to Michaelia Cash. If anybody is friends with her, give her a call at the moment because she has a big decision. But I am convinced that South Australia will do very well with this decision because we've got an enormous capability. We have a great history in the space sector. We've got great geography to support a space sector here in South Australia. Most importantly, though, I think that we've got the companies based here in South Australia and the capability based here in South Australia to make Australia proud.

Can I just say, it is not just the $41 million that the federal government has committed to the national space agency but the huge amount of work that is coming in this sector. Just briefly, in the few seconds I have remaining, I will update the house that, in the federal budget, $260 million was invested in world-class satellite positioning infrastructure for Australia. This is an enormous opportunity and it is one that I will be working very, very hard on.