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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-10-19 Daily Xml
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RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS

Mr SIBBONS (Mitchell) (14:43): My question is to the Minister for Science and Information Economy. How is the government helping to support science and research capabilities in our universities?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Minister for Education, Minister for Early Childhood Development, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:43): I thank the honourable member for his question. This state has a wonderful tradition of strong scientific discovery, going right back to the Braggs and—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: True—to the family that made those extraordinary discoveries that led to the granting of a Nobel prize. We have three public universities in South Australia that are held in high regard—

Mr SIBBONS: Point of order: I cannot hear because of the unruly noise coming from the opposition.

The SPEAKER: There is an incredible amount of background noise. Could you please go outside if you wish to discuss things amongst yourselves? Minister.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Thank you. We have three public universities that are held in incredibly high regard, both nationally and internationally, for being at the cutting edge of innovation and research. Indeed, from the analysis of some of the international research capacity data, it is clear that our universities have areas of expertise which are leading the world. However, we need to continue to be at the cutting edge of those developments and continue our reputation as a research hub of excellence.

That is why the state government, through the Premier's Science and Research Council, is today announcing a new initiative supporting the University of Adelaide, the University of South Australia and Flinders to attract world-leading researchers to Adelaide to help expand the state's existing research expertise in areas of strategic importance to the state.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Will members on my left be quiet?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: These are new fellowships. We will see three universities each provided with $1 million over the next four years, which will be matched by each of the institutions. The investment will enable each university to build on its existing strengths. The idea is to attract a world-leading researcher. We know that there are many countries in the world at the moment where a number of researchers are thinking of relocating. We think this is a wonderful opportunity, not only to get them but also their teams and to bring them here to South Australia.

For instance, the University of Adelaide is seeking to appoint a new leading experimental physicist to expand on the groundbreaking work undertaken at the soon to be completed Institute of Photonics and Advanced Sensing—

The Hon. M.D. Rann: Tanya Monro.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Absolutely—Tanya Monro's fantastic institute there. This will build on that. This will provide another capability that she needs to take her institute to the next step. Flinders University will look at ways—and I am sure this will interest the Premier—of building on its capacity in sustainable industries with a focus on clean tech, an emerging field of industry that develops and employs practices that are environmentally friendly and sustainable. Thirdly, the University of South Australia will seek to build on its strengths in the mineral sciences where the Ian Wark Institute has already added more than $430 million to the Australian minerals industry for research that supports improved minerals recovery, improvements in the grade and quality of concentrates and reduced operating costs. So, they will be seeking to attract another scientist in that particular field.

The state government knows how important scientific research, development and innovation are and to apply this research to the benefit of our community. We know that we have to grow the capability of our community if we are to be able to compete in the jobs which we know exist in these high tech industries. Collectively, these fellowships will do much to improve the research capability of this state.

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