Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Every day I'm left astounded by the tremendous accomplishments of our younger generation in my electorate of Macarthur. Recently, 10 students from Magdalene Catholic College, a school within my electorate, travelled to the United States to represent Australia in the prestigious International Space Settlement Design Competition, held at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This opportunity came after this team of students were successful at the Australian Space Design Competition national final held in Brisbane early last year, where Magdalene was named national champion.

Magdalene Catholic College was one of only two Australian schools invited to compete in this international competition. These 10 students—Isibeal Abbey, Isla Attard, Angelina Bampton, Zachariah Belanszky, Sienna Beller, Christine Brazier, Lachlan Campbell, Lachlan Chadwick, Charlotte Hawkins and Luca Saprun—were accompanied by their teachers Mr Chris Ferry, Mrs Jodie Hort and Mr Danny Avalos on this thrilling journey.

The students competed over three days alongside 250 students from over a dozen countries to simulate the work of aerospace engineers, challenging students to collaboratively design a large-scale space settlement. For this competition the students had to create a professional engineering tender to design, plan and build a floating or propelling settlement within the atmosphere of Venus in 2075. This was an invaluable learning experience as they had to respond to a formal brief, present their proposal to industry judges and work under pressure in a three-day design sprint. I was impressed to hear of how hard the students worked, the energy and dedication which they put into their proposal and how well they delivered themselves professionally. These students benefited from the international connections they made and from being active in the competitive STEM community.

This isn't the first time I've been impressed by students of the college and their work in STEM. The school and its students have excelled over the years, both in national and international competitions—from F1 to robotics and coding. To these students at Magdalene Catholic College: thank you for your hard work and dedication to your fields of interest. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed. To the teachers, parents and school community, who supported and assisted these students along the journey: you've done wonders to support such an incredible group of students, and I congratulate you. The young minds engaging in STEM across our nation are the minds of tomorrow and the work, thought and dedication that these students put into their studies will pay dividends for both themselves and all of us in the wider community.

High-quality STEM education is critical for Australia's current and future productivity. Young Australians engaging in STEM learning and studying STEM subjects in schools across the region will support a pipeline of individuals in STEM skills and careers in the future. I'm proud to see our government invest in STEM education to bolster the STEM teaching workforce; to support STEM educators; to improve participation and achievements in STEM in schools; and to build STEM pathways to encourage more diverse cohorts to take part.

I was also pleased to hear the Minister for Industry and Innovation and Minister for Science announce that applications for sponsorship grants for STEM science engagement and international competitions 2026 are now open. The Albanese government is providing $1.6 million in sponsorship grants to schools and eligible organisations to support students participating in science, technology, engineering and mathematics activities, events and competitions. It's initiatives like these which allow our students to flourish, and I hope to see many of the students in my electorate benefit from these grants.

I want to congratulate the teachers in STEM education in the over 80 public, Catholic and independent schools in my electorate. They do wonderful work. I'm incredibly proud of the students and the work that they do. We're now seeing them in the universities including Western Sydney University—particularly in the medical faculty, where I still do some student teaching. It's great to see many of our local students coming there, showing us their skills and excelling across the medical faculty and further into the future. Now many of our students are advanced specialists doing incredible 21st century work in health care. They're now working in science. They're working in research and making me very proud of them. My electorate and young people across Australia are really showing us the way forward in the 21st century.

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