University of Adelaide

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Kandelaars.

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (14:49): Thank you, Mr President.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Ridgway, the Hon. Mr Kandelaars has the floor.

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills a question about higher education.

Leave granted.

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS: Adelaide University has a long history of being a leading higher education institution with a reputation for providing high quality learning outcomes. Can the minister inform the chamber about an important milestone for Adelaide University?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (14:50): Good question.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! I cannot hear the minister's response.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Mr President, 140 years ago the University of Adelaide Act was enacted, which paved the way for the arrival of Australia's third university, one of only four universities established before Federation. Today the University of Adelaide continues its tradition of illuminating new knowledge and learning for all South Australians, and it has become a leader of social reform in this state—and, indeed, the nation. More than 160,000 students from more than 90 different countries have graduated from the University of Adelaide since the first graduate received his degree in 1879.

It has a long history of significant achievements. It was the first university in Australia and only the second in the world to admit women to academic courses in 1881, and in 1882 the university was the first in Australia to grant degrees in science. It has produced over 100 Rhodes scholars, including Australia's first Indigenous Rhodes scholar, Rebecca Richards, in 2010.

The university has been a pioneer in international education, enrolling its first international students under the Colombo Plan in the early 1950s, and it has five Nobel laureates amongst its alumni, including father and son William and Lawrence Bragg and Howard Florey. More recently, the university has established key industry partnerships and affiliations, including a research partnership with SAHMRI, which is supporting our state to be globally recognised as a leader in health research, ageing and related services and products.

Its Deep Exploration Technologies Cooperative Research Centre is also helping to unlock the full potential of South Australia's resources, energy and renewable assets by delivering more effective ways to drill, analyse and target deep mineral deposits. It also has a very strong record of attracting national competitive grants from the Australian Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council, and just this year the University of Adelaide took home four of the nine categories at the 2014 South Australian Science Excellence Awards, including Professor Anthony Thomas being awarded South Australian Scientist of the Year.

As reflected in the state's economic priorities, agriculture and wine are both major export sectors. Both these industries are key contributors to Australia's economy, and the university has been a driving force in those particular areas, along with others. The University of Adelaide's Waite campus was established in 1924, and since then it has grown its research capabilities across a range of sectors—agriculture, food and wine, for instance. A unique aspect of the Waite campus is the co-location of a number of non-university research institutions alongside the university's agricultural research lab. This has led to a rich network of research collaborations that are unrivalled in Australia and probably worldwide.

Collectively, the Waite partnership presents one of the largest groupings of agricultural-related researchers in the world. It has become Australia's most internationally recognised and respected agricultural research and teaching institute and is a global leader in the sciences of agriculture, food, wine and natural resources. It has been quite a significant 140-year history for the University of Adelaide, and I would like to congratulate the university on achieving this amazing milestone. The University of Adelaide is very much an icon in this state.