Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'll just reiterate what many of the speakers have said here about this motion—this is a very exciting time for the space industry in Australia. It's no wonder that just on this private members' motion there are four South Australians speaking on it. We heard earlier from the member for Grey and the member for Spence. My colleague the member for Sturt is here, as well as myself. It is extremely important to South Australia. We've created a great space industry in South Australia, an innovative industry, and I'm very pleased to represent an area that's called Lot Fourteen, which has lots of these high-tech space industries doing research work and actually producing incredible technology. I visit them regularly, and they're creating the jobs of the future and ensuring that we're creating wealth for our state and the nation. As I said, it's no wonder there are four speakers from South Australia speaking on this particular topic.

It's a very exciting time for the space industry. Space is critical to Australia's future, for everything from national security right through to climate resilience, agriculture, connectivity and economic growth. I'm also proud to co-chair the Friends of Space Industry in this 48th Parliament together with Senator Dave Sharma, a New South Wales senator. In fact, if I could remind all members, tomorrow night we're having our very first event for the 48th Parliament at the Queen's Terrace at 6.30. We will have the entire space industry here. Please come along, speak to the industry and enjoy the festivities that will take place at 6.30 at the Queen's Terrace tomorrow night. This group is open to all parliamentarians and will assist us to remain informed of the role of the space industry in the Australian innovation, technology and scientific fields.

Space capability is essential to supporting the Australian industry and national critical infrastructure—everything from Earth observation capabilities for the climate, satellite communications and GPS to support for Australian national security and defence priority. As fascinated as we are with space, so much of what happens in space makes our lives much easier here on the ground, so a sovereign space industry is, of course, in our long-term national interest and will be a very powerful driver for productivity. All of us South Australians here today, including the member for Grey, the member for Sturt, the member for Spence and me, are aware of how many innovative companies are forging ahead in the space industry, especially at Lot Fourteen in the Adelaide CBD in my electorate, which is home to the Australian Space Discovery Centre as well, and across our vast state from Woomera and the far north to Whalers Way on the Eyre Peninsula, with companies such as Southern Launch, Inovor Technologies, Neumann Space, QuantX Labs, Myriota, Fleet Space Technologies and many, many more.

I was delighted last week to see Inovor Technologies awarded a $1.95 million Industry Growth Program grant to develop their Hyperion satellite that will enable and provide space situational awareness services for defence and commercial customers in Australia and overseas. The aim is to address the need for efficient traffic management to avoid congestion and ensure the sustainability of space activities. The Industry Growth Program support will enable the design, manufacture, test, launch and on-orbit proof-of-concept operation trial of this particular spacecraft. I congratulate Dr Matthew Tetlow, founder and CEO of Inovor, on his hard work in getting to this point. I've been following them very carefully from day one.

The Australian space sector is significant, with a $4.6 billion annual turnover and approximately 17,000 full-time employees and over 620 organisations. We also should be very proud that Australia is hosting the 76th International Astronautical Congress in September, with more than 6,000 attendees from over 90 countries expected to attend in Sydney next month. The Australian Space Agency has delivered $171 million in grant funding to 91 projects, benefiting over 200 Australian organisations. It is an exciting industry, and I commend this.

See this speech in context