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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-04-06 Daily Xml
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Ministerial Statement

BURSILL, PROF. D.

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) (14:01): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Thank you, Madam Speaker. South Australia has a proud history of scientific achievement. Many world-renowned scientists, including four of Australia's 11 Nobel laureates, shaped their careers here in Adelaide. The government recognises the importance of science in the development of our economy.

I am therefore pleased to announce today that South Australia's new Chief Scientist is Adjunct Professor Don Bursill AM. A leader and recognised expert in the field of water management, Professor Bursill will bring to the chief scientist role a wealth of experience in water science. Having been at the forefront of the most important developments and decisions regarding potable water in Australia over the past 40 years, Professor Bursill has outstanding credentials to lead South Australia forward.

Professor Bursill is not just recognised here in South Australia but nationally and internationally. As chief scientist, he will help to raise the state's research and development profile and ensure our research and development capabilities support important and emerging industry sectors such as health, resources, defence and agriculture.

Among a range of senior appointments, Professor Bursill has been a member of the board of the Global Water Research Coalition, the Water Advisory Committee of the National Health and Medical Research Council, and the Premier's Climate Change Council. As chief scientist, Professor Bursill will also now co-chair the Premier's Science and Research Council, providing dedicated leadership for strategic development of the state's science and research sector.

I congratulate Professor Bursill on his appointment and look forward to working with him, especially in identifying how we can boost research and development investment in this state and maximise benefits from previous investments. Professor Bursill will continue the work of his predecessor, Dr Ian Chessell, in enhancing the links established between government, academia and industry and to ensure that South Australia strongly benefits from the practical application of research.

I want to thank Dr Ian Chessell for his outstanding performance as chief scientist and wish him well in his role as the inaugural chair of the Goyder Institute for Water Research, which I officially launched last week. The Goyder Institute will play an important role for our state and our nation by informing policy and debate on one of the planet's great challenges. Through its stated aim to support world-leading water resources policy and management, the Goyder Institute will also help establish our state as a national centre of expertise and knowledge on water.

It is fitting that this new institute is named after George Goyder who, after emigrating to South Australia from England in 1826 at age 22, rose to the position of South Australia's surveyor-general in 1861. Goyder was asked to survey regional South Australia and determine the location of arable land.

Goyder's line, as it became known, tracks from the Nullarbor Plain to the Victorian border and, effectively, marks the southern boundary of saltbush country. Goyder's line remains relevant today. It is therefore appropriate that this initiative, supporting water resources policy and management through best-practice scientific research, bears Goyder's name as well as his philosophy.

Of the $50 million invested in the Goyder Institute, half is being provided by the state government. The balance comes in the form of in-kind support from the CSIRO and our three public universities: the University of Adelaide, Flinders University and the University of South Australia. I am pleased to report that work has already begun under the institute's research programs and a total of $14 million in project funds has already been committed to a range of important initiatives.

I am also pleased to inform the house today that Dr Tony Minns has accepted the position of the Goyder Institute's inaugural director. Dr Minns is a South Australian who graduated from UniSA and completed his PhD in hydrology at the University of Delft in the Netherlands. He joined the Goyder Institute from a Dutch consulting firm where he had been Scientific Director of Hydrological Engineering. I congratulate Dr Minns on his appointment and I wish him, along with everyone involved with the institute, all the best as they build on the substantial legacy of George Goyder and South Australia's outstanding scientific and research pedigree.

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