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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-06-22 Daily Xml
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UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON

Mr PICCOLO (Light) (15:14): My question is to the Premier. Will the Premier update the house on the recent agreement concluded between BHP Billiton and University College London?

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) (15:14): I am pleased to inform the house about this. People will be aware that University College London has, of course, been around for nearly 200 years in Britain, and its first overseas campus is in Adelaide because of what is happening on the resources front, and it has a strong emphasis and offers masters degrees in energy and resources. Santos put up $10 million and the state government $10 million.

Members of the house would be aware of the government's commitment to increasing the flow of international students to our state and creating an international profile for Adelaide as a university city. People would have seen the stories this morning about Laureate University and Kaplan.

The state government has worked to boost South Australia's international higher education credentials by attracting some of the world's finest educational institutions to our state. Our efforts have paid off in many ways, including through the significant economic dividend which has seen international education become our second largest overall export in 2009-10, bringing $1.05 billion into the South Australian economy.

This area was so neglected by the Liberals when they were in power. We did pitifully in terms of overseas students. We have seen a massive increase in overseas students since this government was elected and working with the universities.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Norwood, you are warned!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Today, I would like to report to the house of a further significant outcome from our University City program. A new agreement has recently been concluded by BHP Billiton and University College London that focuses on energy and resources, two of South Australia's major growth areas and two of University College London's areas of internationally recognised expertise.

The agreement supports an International Energy Policy Institute in Adelaide and an Institute for Sustainable Resources in London. According to UCL:

The two new institutes will drive research into the complex economic, legal, environmental, technological and cultural issues faced by the resources sector and provide a framework within which expertise from the northern and southern hemispheres can be shared and innovative responses developed.

Under the terms of the agreement, BHP Billiton Sustainable Communities, a charity established by the company as part of its community investment program, will provide University College London with $US10 million over a five-year period to establish both institutes and fund academic research, fellowships and scholarships, as well as the appointment of a new Chair in Sustainable Global Resources and a Chair in International Energy Policy.

In South Australia, BHP Billiton's contribution will include: funding for a new Chair in Energy Policy based in Adelaide; four postdoctoral research fellowships; seven PhD research scholarships over five years; and 16 masters of science scholarships over five years.

UCL is an exceptional global university, which I am told has been ranked fourth in the world in the annual Times Higher Education World University Rankings and top of the most recent ranking of the UK Research Council awards. So, if you think about world universities, No. 1, I think, was Harvard, No. 2 was Cambridge, No. 3 was Yale, No. 4 was University College London and then we get down to Oxford.

This, of course, would not be a eureka moment for the member for Unley because he probably thinks that he wants to continue his campaign against this, but BHP Billiton is a lot smarter than the member for Unley.

In 2006, the state government invited UCL to establish a campus in South Australia and signed an agreement in 2008 that led to the establishment of the UCL School of Energy and Resources in Adelaide—as I said before, UCL's first overseas campus.

The UCL-BHP Billiton agreement follows another recent agreement concluded by UCL. A six-year, $3.1 million agreement funded largely by Santos and energy giant Korea Gas Corporation will engage UCL's School of Energy and Resources to educate future Korean energy leaders. This additional agreement will see 18 students from the Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy and KOGAS undertake two-year Masters of Science in Energy and Resources degrees in Adelaide. So, congratulations to Santos and BHP Billiton for recognising this as something that is an outstanding asset, and a unique one for Australia, located in Adelaide.

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