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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-10-14 Daily Xml
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ROYAL INSTITUTION OF AUSTRALIA

Ms FOX (Bright) (14:15): My question is directed to the Premier. Can the Premier update the house on the official opening of the Royal Institution of Australia?

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:16): I am delighted to respond to this.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Pardon? As I know the Leader of the Opposition would know, on 8 October the Royal Institution of Australia (RiAus) was officially launched in Adelaide by its patron, His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent, with the enduring mission of bringing science to people and people to science and, certainly, the RiAus opening did just that.

The opening was spread over four days and included more than 16 events that resulted in close to 5,000 people visiting the new home of the RiAus, the newly renovated Science Exchange Building at Exchange Place, formerly Adelaide's old stock exchange building, which is a very historic building. It was opened in 1901 and it has magnificent stained glass windows by William Morris. It is a place where Sir Donald Bradman operated as a stockbroker.

We had an idea, basically, out of the Thinkers in Residence residency of Baroness Susan Greenfield, for a whole series of programs and then eventually we said, 'Okay, there's a great historic link between South Australia and the Royal Institution in London,' and that is the fact that Nobel Prize winning father and son team William and Lawrence Bragg were both directors of the Royal Institution. Of course, the Royal Institution in London has produced many Nobel Prize winners, but there was another Australian link, and that is that it was founded by Sir Joseph Banks, and of course one of its previous directors was Michael Faraday, essentially, the discoverer of electricity. The RiAus creates real and virtual spaces in which people can listen, talk and think about science in all its shapes and forms.

The old stock exchange (which, as I said, began its life at the time of Federation) began its new life last week as a national hub for science education and awareness. I am very pleased to say that the Prime Minister (I know that he is in South Australia today) very generously donated $15 million of commonwealth funding, which is built into the base of the continuing operations of the Royal Institution of Australia. Santos also has contributed $5 million and we have spent, I think, about $14 million in purchasing the building and then developing it.

A fire in the old stock exchange building back in the 1980s or 1990s meant that one part of the building obviously had been substantially changed. One part was a very historic, wonderful heritage building, and it means that we have been able to restore the heritage part of the building but then have the latest in information technology communications links at the other part. I think that its state-of-the-art communications and demonstration equipment will service a vital element of the Royal Institution's charter which, in the words of the Adelaide Nobel laureate Lawrence Bragg, is 'not just talk to people about science, but show it to them'. So, it will have high definition technology, which will be linked to other institutions and organisations around the globe and be streamed live on the internet.

The RiAus launch brought fun science shows, interactive art exhibits and even 3D films to the Science Exchange. However, the launch spilled beyond the Science Exchange into Victoria Square. Thousands of people had a family fun day on Sunday. Obviously, we are delighted that the launch appropriately featured some of Adelaide's own scientists and, of course, the South Australian Film Corporation has produced a documentary on the Braggs. These amazing sons of Adelaide, who both became directors of the Ri, were represented by two daughters of William Lawrence Bragg—Lady Margaret Heath and Mrs Patience Thomson—who travelled from the United Kingdom to be part of the RiAus opening celebrations.

The launch was also attended by a host of influential science thinkers, including Nobel Prize winner Professor Barry Marshall—in fact, there were several Nobel Prize winners at the launch—who helped to discover that stomach ulcers are caused by bacteria; Professor Graeme Clark from La Trobe University who developed the bionic ear; and Professor Fiona Wood, Director and burns surgeon from the Royal Perth Hospital, who greatly influenced the future of burns treatment by developing a spray-on skin treatment for burns victims. Messages came in from Sir David Attenborough and astronaut Andy Thomas.

It is very important to recognise that this is a national initiative that is based here in South Australia. For so long, 'national' meant either Canberra, Sydney or Melbourne. This is a national hub for science education based in Adelaide and comes out of our Thinkers in Residence program. I should say, I was asked after the launch: is this one of the first initiatives of the Thinkers in Residence? But, of course, the Bioscience Institute at Thebarton; the incubator, part of a major precinct down there; the work of Rosanne Haggerty and the Common Ground apartments for people who are homeless, with specialist support; the climate change legislation which was the first of its type in Australia; and the feed-in laws—a whole series of initiatives have come out of the Thinkers in Residence program, which I think has been important in challenging us—

Mr Williams: That is just not right. It was an initiative of Rob Kerin's.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: The bioscience precinct was, but the bioscience incubator was an initiative of this government, and let met tell you we funded it and we went down to the opening, and Moira Smith, who was a Thinker in Residence, played an integral part in its development. Turn your back on science; turn your back on bioscience; turn your back on thinking; turn your back on policies: we will continue to get on with the job of innovating for South Australia's future.

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