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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-11-01 Daily Xml
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Ministerial Statement

International Astronautical Congress

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Minister for Investment and Trade, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Defence and Space Industries, Minister for Health Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (14:07): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH: In September, Adelaide's world-class convention centre hosted the 68th International Astronautical Congress, one of the most successful in its long history. This was a significant opportunity for South Australia to showcase its capabilities in space, defence, telecommunications, advanced manufacturing, education, research and development. The congress attracted around 4,500 registrations, exceeding the initial estimated attendance. A total of 81 countries were represented, with the majority visiting from overseas.

Following the congress, I met with NASA officials at the Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Maryland, near Washington. Two of those officials had just returned from Adelaide and were fulsome in their praise for our city and our commitment to the space sector. We discussed joining NASA's internships, fellowships and scholarships program through South Australia's Space Industry Centre—the first of its kind in the country. NASA's internships program aims to inspire, engage and educate and it presents a wonderful opportunity for young South Australians.

We are also encouraging our universities to collaborate with NASA on its earth science, astrophysics and heliophysics programs. Artificial intelligence and advanced processing power are the building blocks today's developers are using to move to the next frontier.

The space sector is a major player in communications, IT, medical science, mining and agriculture. Many South Australians depend upon it for their livelihood. There will be significant disruption to existing industries that will in turn release exciting new developments for young South Australians. Our state is perfectly placed to capture a greater share of the $420 billion annual global space revenue stream, an industry that is growing at nearly 10 per cent per annum.

If Australia replicated the investment and growth in the UK sector over the first eight years, there would be an improvement in space turnover of 132 per cent, from $4 billion to $9.3 billion by 2025. Equally, an increase in direct employment is predicted, from 11,700 jobs to around 23,000 jobs in 2025, a 102 per cent increase. There are enormous economic benefits for South Australia's research and educational organisations and for industry.

In the coming months, this government will continue to position the state as the ideal location for an industry hub. We have received unprecedented interest from international representatives to attend the fourth South Australian Space Forum on 22 November this year. The state government and industry will be following through on a raft of actions initiated at the space congress, including:

two letters of intent, which were signed between the South Australian government and the German Aerospace Centre to promote bilateral cooperation;

a memorandum of intent between the South Australian government, the University of South Australia and the International Space University, which will promote the Southern Hemisphere Space Studies Program;

the South Australian, ACT and Northern Territory governments' signing of an MOU to jointly advocate for the development of Australia's space industry and promotion of Australia's space capability;

letters of intent, which were signed for cooperation in space-related matters with international space agencies, including Thailand, Korea, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and New Zealand;

South Australian company Fleet Space Technologies and the French Space Agency agreed on a deal to track and support Fleet's first nanosatellites, planned for launch next year; and

South Australian based company Inovor Technologies also signed a letter of intent with Italian company SITAEL to jointly establish a multimillion-dollar company in South Australia to design and manufacture nanosatellites, microsatellites, minisatellites and ground station applications.

The congress and the actions that follow will underpin our state's future in this dynamic industry sector. While the commonwealth reviews its national space agency framework, the South Australian government is getting on with the job, and I will lead a delegation to Canberra to reinforce the strengths of our local space ecosystem and the commitment of this government to support this new industry.

The opportunities before us are infinite, and the government is determined to support our state to become a global space industry leader to help incubate our greatest minds, to foster new innovations and to create opportunities for generations to come.

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