Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak this evening about the Turnbull government's hollow words and inaction on innovation. The Turnbull government is all talk and no action on innovation. When it comes to innovation, the Turnbull government has been a big disappointment. It has cut $30 billion out of schools and dumped the Gonski reforms, it has botched the rollout of the NBN, it has backed cuts to CSIRO and it has underfunded Australia's innovation activity. If Mr Turnbull really wants to be taken seriously on innovation, he needs to do a lot better than the overhyped innovation statement last December and his glossy 'Ideas Boom' ad campaign that is costing us more than $28 million.

Labor has always understood that innovation should be a national economic priority and that innovation is not something that just occurs in our capital cities. That is why it was with great delight that I was able to visit some excellent start-ups with shadow parliamentary secretary for digital innovation and start-ups, Ed Husic, in Launceston last week. I would like to thank Launceston's Foundry, Macquarie House Innovation Hub, the Innovation Circle, Bitlink and Definium Technologies for meeting with us. Launceston is leading the way in this space, and Tasmania has a bright future with these great creators. The vibe and energy of these local organisations and world leaders was catching. They are proof that there is no point talking about innovation without talking about Tasmania. If we are going to have a national conversation, we cannot have that conversation without talking about Tasmania. We have so much to contribute to this area. Labor believes that government has a vital role to play in encouraging the spread of innovation activities across the country, and Tasmania has a big part to play in that effort. If we are not involving our regions in our push to be smarter and more innovative then we are selling ourselves short.

The fact is that, if you are not investing in education, you cannot be serious about innovation. If we do not get the basics right in our schools, colleges and universities, we cannot aspire to a future that is smart, innovative or agile. It was also good to meet with the colleges in Tasmania last week who are getting it right and investing in this space and building digital technologies into their curriculum. You cannot have innovation without having a strong education system, and, when it comes to our schools, the government's policies on education risk dragging Australia's innovation capacities backwards. If Malcolm Turnbull were really serious about innovation and skills—

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Prime Minister Turnbull.

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

he would keep the Gonski reforms, reverse Tony Abbott's school cuts and drop his $100,000 degrees—but he has not changed a thing. He is still using that as his priority when it comes to education. Mr Turnbull is pretending to be the innovation Prime Minister when in fact he is vandalising the education system in this country. He has failed to outline to young Australians where the jobs of the future are coming from and the pathway to get there. That is the most important point. We have to build that pathway to innovation. That is the future for our young people.

We cannot have innovation without being digitally ready. The world is changing faster than most of us realise. Our economy, along with the types of jobs Australians have, is rapidly changing. In fact, the jobs that our young people are now training for will not be there in a decade or less. We have to be a lot more nimble, we have to be a lot more agile and we have to be innovative.

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The jobs and opportunities of the future are not going to create themselves. They must be built on strong digital and innovation infrastructure and with the technical skills of our people. This is why Labor planned and started construction of the NBN and announced we would invest in STEM skills in our schools and introduce computer coding into our national curriculum. I am surprised that the government members on the other side would want to interject when we are talking about the NBN. I would have thought the senator from Western Australia would know and understand the value of the NBN to his community.

Senator Smith interjecting—

Senator Colbeck interjecting—

I know that the Minister for Tourism and International Education is still a bit sore about being relegated to the fifth position on the Senate ticket, but he of all people should be fully aware of how important the NBN is to the Tasmanian economy. As the minister for tourism, he should be embracing the rollout of the NBN. He should be urging his Prime Minister to get into the 21st century. He was very agile and nimble when it came to knifing Mr Abbott, but he has not been as nimble or as agile or as innovative when it is about bringing the NBN into his state.

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We know that this is the reality of it. If I were you, Senator, I would be more worried about where your colleagues believe that you should be on your Senate ticket.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To the chair, Senator Polley.

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A minister being relegated to the fifth position is not a good place to be.

This is why Labor planned and started the construction of the NBN and announced we would invest in STEM skills in our schools and introduce computer coding into our national curriculum. Access to the real NBN is the key to unlocking the potential, particularly in our rural and regional areas.

When it comes to innovation, the Turnbull government has been a big disappointment to Tasmania. It has failed to properly support schools, botched the rollout of the NBN and continued to cut jobs at the CSIRO.

Senator Colbeck interjecting—

As a Tasmanian in this chamber, I would be hanging my head in shame if I were the minister for tourism who has failed to ensure that his industry is equipped with the fastest NBN that we can have. He has failed.

Mr Turnbull has had one job in the last 2½ years, and that is to build the NBN, and he has made a mess of it, just as he has of the leadership of his party. Also, everything he promised he would do on the NBN he has failed to deliver. The cost has doubled, it is going to take twice as long to roll out and the cost of fixing the copper that makes Malcolm Turnbull's second-rate NBN work has blown out by more than 1,000 per cent. Almost three years ago Mr Turnbull promised that his second-rate NBN would reach every home in Tasmania by the end of this year. Failed, failed, failed. But now we will be lucky to have it by the end of the decade, and we are at risk of being left behind. One thing is for sure, there has never been a better time to have a poor and inefficient NBN connection with slow internet speeds under this government.

Mr Turnbull is right when he talks about the importance of innovation and skills to Australia's future. Words, however, do not mean much without action. Mr Turnbull is creating a name for himself by saying one thing today and doing something else tomorrow. In fact, when it comes to education, action on climate change and economic leadership, he has failed on all accounts. I have given up trying to work out what Mr Turnbull actually thinks. Quite frankly, a thought that he has in the morning will almost inevitably be gone by night.

The reality is that for two years he was a member of the Abbott cabinet that deliberately and systematically tore down the architecture Labor had built to support our national innovation system. He supported every measure in Joe Hockey's disastrous 2014 budget, which cut investment in science, research and innovation by $3 billion. He voted for cuts to the R&D tax incentive—three times. He oversaw the demise of Australia's world-class ICT research agency. And of course has failed dismally in delivering the innovation infrastructure of the future—the NBN.

Unlike the Turnbull government, the Labor opposition team led by Bill Shorten has announced a raft of meaningful policies to back the innovation and creativity of Australians wherever they live. We have consistently advocated a greater national effort in innovation. We recognise that innovation has no boundaries, but we must include regional and rural Australia as much as our big cities because we cannot be innovative and expect that all of that will happen out of Melbourne or Sydney.

We opposed the Liberals' reckless cuts to innovation and, of course, fought every step of the way against the Liberals unfair and unnecessary plan for $100,000 degrees, their cuts to TAFE and apprenticeships and their schools funding cuts. We have been consistently talking about the need to invest in education, in science and in research and innovation. We have a proud record in building Australia's national innovation system. In opposition, we put forward a number of policies to advance Australia beyond the mining boom by investing in our greatest resource—the creativity and capacity of our people. That is something that the current government have failed to do. This is an unfair, unimaginative and certainly not a very nimble government. (Time expired)