Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull often says there has never been a more exciting time to be an Australian. This is certainly very true. Australia is a clever country which has long brought to the world advances in engineering, mathematics and the sciences which have made immeasurable changes to the world, such as the cochlear implant, wi-fi technology and the black box flight recorder. Science, technology, engineering and mathematics—STEM, as it is called, is key to Australia's innovation and advancement in the 21st century. We need our students, especially girls, studying STEM, and making Australia's contribution to the industries and economies of an increasingly global and agile world.

To talk of innovation and productivity is to talk of Australia, and, particularly, to talk of our wonderful universities. I also think that to talk of how Australia is embracing the future is to talk particularly of rural and regional Australia. For this reason I was delighted to attend Burgmann College at the Australian National University here in Canberra yesterday to help launch the Northrop Grumman, ViaSat and Optus Country Scholarship for a student from the Riverina to reside at Burgmann as part of their STEM degree. The $7,000 bursary is set aside just for a student from the Riverina. This is a fantastic initiative which will help students such as Brody Hannan, a young student from Cowra who I met yesterday who was the school captain of Cowra High School in 2014 and is now a STEM student at the ANU. Brody has a clear passion for the sciences and is someone who, like many from country communities, sees no boundary, no barrier, to what he can achieve with a good education and a positive attitude—and he certainly has that.

Professor Marnie Hughes-Warrington, the Australian National University's Deputy Vice-Chancellor, spoke passionately and eloquently of the sacrifices many country families make to help their young ones get a good education. I think she summed it up perfectly when she told the story of a mother who had driven her daughter five hours to the ANU simply to have a look at the campus. Whilst it is a sacrifice and a long drive, it is nothing in the scheme of things if you can unlock the potential in a student to pursue lifelong learning at one of the many terrific universities—particularly the ANU. And I know Charles Sturt University in my home town of Wagga Wagga does tremendous things for the young people.

I was pleased to also chat to Dr Ian Grant, Principal of the Riverina Anglican College, at yesterday's ceremony and to hear of his enthusiasm for the country scholarship. It is a marvellous initiative, and I congratulate Burgmann, the ANU, Northrop Grumman, ViaSat and Optus on this important contribution to the sciences and to the Riverina into the future.