Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science) Share this | Hansard source

I understand that the Education and Training portfolio has, because of the interest of the chamber, eaten into the time of the Industry, Innovation and Science portfolio. I am aware that the relevant minister for the Education and Training portfolio is in the House. Out of respect for that minister, I am happy to take all further questions that have been laid on the table before the chamber by the member for Griffith and the member for Berowra and put them on notice to have them answered. That will allow us to move expeditiously to Industry, Innovation and Science.

Proposed expenditure agreed to.

Industry, Innovation and Science Portfolio

Proposed expenditure, $1,244,888,000

It gives me great pleasure to support this appropriation. The Industry, Innovation and Science portfolio is fundamentally about the jobs of today, the jobs of tomorrow and the jobs of the future. Although there is not a perfect identity between the three pillars of the portfolio—being industry, innovation and science—the fundamental relationship can be based on and viewed through the prism of those three elements.

I think it is very important to make the point, as I have repeatedly since coming into the portfolio, that innovation is absolutely about new firms and start-up firms. A quick analysis we did today shows I have had the fortune to meet with more than 100 different firms, industry organisations, players and critical funders within the sector since coming into the portfolio, including universities and those who are supporting venture capital operations.

It is also about jobs in existing firms such as Dulux, a 100-year-old Australian paint manufacturer which has reinvented itself and tripled its share price in the process by using R&D, by using innovation. It is also about firms such as BlueScope, which have redeveloped fundamental products such as ZINCALUME and COLORBOND. When I visited the BlueScope plant at Port Kembla, the workers explained to me the way in which they had been engaged in innovation and the way in which R&D had directly assisted in the process of creating a thinner coating which was more effective and gave greater properties to ZINCALUME and COLORBOND and, in the process, had improved their product identity, their product quality and, therefore, their sales. This was a classic case of innovation in existing firms being at the heart of the workers being able to maintain their job security. It was a really interesting example. Having BlueScope in my own electorate was a very important insight.

The overarching perspective that I want to give is that this portfolio views its critical terms through looking at the macro-economic, the micro-economic and the innovation and science agenda. Firstly, we know the macro-economic task before the country: bringing the budget back into surplus and assisting us to make our firms more competitive through an internationally competitive corporate tax rate. Secondly, it is about, as we see now, ensuring that there is safety and security in the workplace and that the Australian Building and Construction Commission and the registered organisations bills are about removing intimidation and allowing our businesses to flourish. And thirdly, it is about ensuring that the free trade agreements which we have established—and then others such as with Indonesia, the Middle East, Europe, India and the UK—give our businesses more and further opportunities going forward.

The microeconomic reform squarely sits within the Industry, Innovation and Science portfolio. In particular, we have the six growth centres and a $250 million budget over the forward estimates for that. One of those, in terms of the advanced manufacturing, has a critical role within the Geelong and broader area around Deakin University—and is supported by, and driven by, the member for Corangamite, I have to say, who is a fearless advocate for advanced manufacturing in the growth centre.

Then we have $400 million for the Entrepreneurs' Program—more than $400 million, in fact; it is up to $450 million—which is assisting commercialisation, and over $650 million for the 31 cooperative research centres, which are really treasured national institutions. Going forward, we know the first wave of the Innovation and Science Agenda is underway through the critical science infrastructure such as the Synchrotron, the Square Kilometre Array and the national quantum computing program at UNSW; through the support for young people to come into science with over $100 million of funding for science, technology, engineering and maths and, in particular, is focused on women and the support for new investment.

The second and third waves of the innovation agenda are to be delivered in 2017 and 2018 respectively. They will be about investment and additional public support for critical science infrastructure, and then about our National Business Simplification Initiative as part of the third wave, twinned with support for the great growth of university precincts. That is the agenda going forward.

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