Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to thank the members for Wills, Perth, Solomon and Corio for their contributions to this debate, as well as the members for Grey, Boothby, Parker and Fisher. The truth of the matter is that 50 years ago, on 21 July, human beings for the first time stood on another planet. Famously, Neil Armstrong said, 'This is a small step for'—he said—'a man, but a giant leap for mankind'. Not so long ago—about two years ago—I took a cruise with Buzz Aldrin, who has a rule that you are not allowed to take selfies with him because he is so famous. Buzz, being Buzz, insisted everyone got a photo with him and that no-one leave the boat without him being very well photographed indeed. He said, on that afternoon, that he thought it was part of the human condition for us to travel beyond the moon to Mars, to invest a whole bunch of resources and human capital to ensure that that was not the last stage of the story that we told, in terms of space exploration.

He pointed out that we do not explore space because it's easy; we do it because it's hard. It is not the actual exploration that matters. What actually matters is that it brings us all together. As the member for Corio pointed out, it is important because it sends a signal to all of those people who seek to understand and gain more knowledge, and this can lead to something so audacious. Space exploration brought all of us together. It united all of us in what is now the single biggest event of modern history, and that is why it is so important. As John F Kennedy said—and he has been quoted at length in this chamber today: 'Where men go, free men must also go.' That is why we do this. While we knew a lot about the moon, there was one thing that we didn't know and that was whether we could get there and get back again. That is what made the Apollo space missions so important.

It has always been thus. Humanity has always wanted to know what was on the other side of the mountain, what was on the other side of the river, what was to be found in the plains ahead, what we would find when we crossed the seas and the oceans. We, as a species, demand to know more. We wish to explore and find out more. It is when we are at our best. That is why space exploration, to boldly go where no-one has gone before, is so critical to how we organise ourselves, our communities and our nations.

This quest for knowledge has been critical in changing how we exist on this planet. Prior to modernity, we believed that the world was a zero-sum game. But space travel has shown us that it can be more—that, when we put things together, all of us can gain. Space exploration has ended wars and it has created peace. It has ensured that what I have does not mean that others must have less. That is why space exploration is critical. And that is why it is so that we as a nation are involved in this endeavour. It is why this government has committed millions of dollars to ensuring that we are part of the space exploration race and part of this great endeavour.

When we look at nations around the world, what we also know is that exploration is critical if you want to encourage innovation—whether it is exploring the depth of our seas or the far reaches of our solar system. Those nations that commit resources, people, energy and devotion to this exploration will typically live in communities and nations that are far better ones—nations that want to see all people better off, not just the few, nations that encourage all of us to reach for the stars. It is in the effort that we make to do these things, to know these things and to be part of such exploration that all of us can become a better group, a better nation and a better people.

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