Tom Venning (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

On 1 July this year, we marked seven years since the coalition established the Australian Space Agency. It is a milestone worth reflecting on—not just to measure how far we've come but also to recognise how backwards this Labor government is dragging us. When the coalition launched the agency in 2018, we set out with ambition and direction. We committed more than $2 billion to the civil space sector with a clear outcome to triple the size of the industry to $12 billion and to create 20,000 jobs by 2030.

Our vision was never about prestige or symbolism. Space today is about more than satellites and rockets. It's about building sovereign capability, driving new manufacturing, advancing medical research, strengthening national security and, critically, creating jobs and opportunities in regional Australia. Sadly, Labor has abandoned that vision. This government has ripped $1.2 billion from the National Space Mission for Earth Observation. It has gutted $60 million from the technology-into-orbit program and the space flight subprograms, axed $18 million from the Moon to Mars Global Supply Chain Facilitation and stripped away $32 million that was set aside for co-investment in spaceports and launch sites.

This is not just trimming fat; it is cutting into the bone of our sovereign capability. At a time when advanced economies are racing ahead in space technology, Labor is pulling Australia out of the space race altogether. And here is a great irony—this is not just a story of high-tech labs in capital cities. In Australia, space is built, launched and re-entered in the regions. Space is a regional industry, and, in my electorate of Grey, we are doing it. At Whalers Way in Port Lincoln, the proposed launch site alone is projected to generate more than $500 million in GDP if allowed to realise its potential. It is already attracting rocket manufacturers from around the world, eager to take advantage of our unique geography for sun-synchronous and polar orbits. Whalers Way is not alone. Grey is also home to established launch pads in Koonibba and, of course, the world famous Woomera range—a key asset not just for Australia but for the free world.

It doesn't stop at launch. The re-entry and recovery of space capsules are fast becoming a multibillion dollar opportunity for this country. Just last year at Koonibba, the test range was used for an orbital manufacturing mission by Southern Launch and California's Varda Space Industries. This is cutting-edge work using microgravity and the vacuum of space to produce medicines that cannot be manufactured on earth. These capsules carried ritonavir, an anti-AIDS drug produced in orbit as the zero gravity allows for medicines to form purer, more homogenous crystals. This is not science fiction. This is real manufacturing—a real breakthrough—and it happened in my electorate.

The next step must be ensuring it is not just capsules landing in Australia but companies themselves setting up here. We should be attracting the next generation of pharmaceutical and high-tech manufacturers to establish operations in Australia. That is where the jobs, the value chain and the long-term sovereign capability lie. Space is not a hobby. It is not a photo opportunity; it is a national economic and security priority. It happens in the bush, on the Eyre Peninsula, in the outback and in regions across the country. Labor's cuts will not simply delay a launch or two; they will cost this nation billions of dollars in GDP, tens of thousands of jobs and the chance to lead in one of the most competitive and high-margin industries in the world.

The coalition has already shown what is possible when government provides vision and support. We provided it when we established the agency. We've proved it when we set bold targets and backed them with serious investment. Labor has shown the opposite. Their cuts are short-sighted, reckless and harmful to our national interest. Not investing in space seems contrary to Labor's own policy of regional growth and their flagship programs, seemingly making space a personal issue with Labor.

I call on the government to urgently reprioritise Australia's space sector—restore funding, back our regions and back our sovereign capability. Without that commitment, Australia risks not just losing ground but losing the future itself.

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