Bursill, Professor Don

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (15:04): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Science and Information Economy a question about the role of the South Australian Chief Scientist.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA: I understand that the South Australian Chief Scientist, Don Bursill, is about to retire. Will the minister inform the council how the position of Chief Scientist benefits the citizens of South Australia?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (15:05): I thank the honourable member for his most important question and his interest in this area. I know that he holds our Chief Scientist, Don Bursill, in very high regard. He is a great man.

Tomorrow, Professor Don Bursill, our current Chief Scientist, will retire. In reviewing his career, and his three-year term as Chief Scientist in particular, we see how the working life of this very hardworking passionate scientist has generated some truly farsighted initiatives for South Australia. From his beginnings in 1967 as an 18-year-old laboratory assistant in the State Water Laboratory, Professor Don Bursill's wonderful career has spanned more than four decades, progressively building to a position of state, national and international leadership in the water industry, particularly.

As the CEO of the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment and as the Chief Scientist for the Australian Water Quality Centre, just to name two of his appointments, he has been at the forefront of the science in his chosen field. With this leadership came well-deserved awards too numerous to mention but, suffice to say, they include the Order of Australia, the inaugural Premier's Gold Medal Award and numerous academic honours from around the world. He has also authored more than 90 publications, major reports and many presentations.

In view of this prodigious output, it is hardly surprising that in early 2011 both he and his wife, Margaret, opted to retire, with a view to travel, and I think Don wanted to do a spot of fishing. However, when the hook of the job of the Chief Scientist was offered, Don couldn't resist the temptation, and he plunged headlong into the role. I don't think his wife, Margaret, has quite forgiven him, but I think they have some very wonderful plans for his second attempt at retirement.

In those three brief years, Don has created a comprehensive strategy to boost our state scientific research resources and then forge links with industry that will translate that research into tangible commercial benefits for South Australians. Don can depart the Chief Scientist position with considerable satisfaction, knowing that he leaves behind:

the Investing in Our Prosperity strategy, which outlines the pathway to reach this goal;

the Premier's Science and Industry Council, which makes a truly invaluable contribution;

the Catalyst Research Grants, creating opportunities for early career scientists to establish themselves as independent researchers; and

the Innovation Voucher Program, which drives connectivity between industry and research sectors.

These last two are part of the Premier's Research and Industry Fund, which contains a suite of programs that support our extensive research capabilities and the creation of productive links with industry.

In total, South Australia's Investing in Science Action Plan is our comprehensive response to the well-considered advice Don has given to the state government during his term—and all this from a man who has, notionally at least, been more or less retired and doing a part-time job.

Right from the start, Don really threw himself into the Chief Scientist role, bringing a phenomenal capacity for work and a tireless passion to his job. Accepting a substantial challenge is not new to Don Bursill. It is said by some of his colleagues that Don has been a 'water man' from start to finish in his career. It is a mark of his determination and prescience that, in a state where water can be a life-and-death matter, he chose to work in a scientific area with particular daunting challenges for South Australia.

Don Bursill turned a dream into reality. His career has always been propelled by the spirit of inquiry that is the hallmark of his vocation, and there are always fascinating questions to investigate, good science to be done and of course, importantly, solutions to be found, and Don did all those things.

This last point is significant because, although Don loves basic research, he loves applied science, especially when it comes to water. He has been known to detain people at some length on the finer points of the chemistry of improving water quality—obviously a significant issue here in South Australia. Don has also done an enormous amount for SA that is not highly public or well known. His role, for instance, in the establishment of the Renewable Energy Institute is not widely known, and he is clearly not a man to blow his own trumpet, but he gets on and works effectively in the background to achieve great results.

Another example of his wonderful work capacity is around connecting people. He has an extremely broad and widespread network upon which he draws, and he has been known to often introduce researchers to each other when they might work in the same building, even close by each other and in the same kind of research, but have not known that each other existed. So he is good at connecting people.

Don's tenure as Chief Scientist leaves a complex and rich legacy, and one of his important achievements is the strong link that he has championed between science and industry. The initiatives that sprung from that connection will deliver impressive results in years to come. There is also another more personal aspect of his approach to the job, and that has been his great generosity in helping scientists, particularly at the beginning of their careers. The Early and Mid-Career Researcher Forum and the Catalyst Research Grants he established now allow the best and brightest of our scientists to move into cutting-edge research.

Don's enthusiasm, his engaging charm, his sheer force of personality, has given this cohort of scientists a terrific boost of confidence and motivation and it will be this collection of scientists, as they go on to produce high quality research and science, that is possibly Don's greatest legacy. As Minister for Science and Information Economy I place on the record my appreciation of Professor Bursill's contribution as Chief Scientist, and we have been very fortunate to capture Don's unique intellect, knowledge, passion and wit for the three years he has performed this role.