Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Industry and Science. What was Australia's involvement in NASA's project DART, which collided a spacecraft with an asteroid this morning? How does it showcase Australian scientists, and what are the Albanese Labor government's plans to leverage our scientific know-how?

Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Industry and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Boothby not only for the question; I've also had the pleasure of visiting the Tonsley Innovation Precinct at Flinders University and look forward to visiting again.

What occurred this morning when I visited the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex in Tidbinbilla, a NASA facility managed by the CSIRO, was that we witnessed a historic double asteroid redirection test, or DART for short. What happened was a literal world first. It was humankind's first test of planetary defence. It was an incredible feat. Just imagine flinging an object the size of a fridge at the speed of 6.6 kilometres a second at an asteroid the size of a pyramid to slow it down or change its orbit and doing it from 11 million kilometres away. That is just what happened at 9.14 am our time. It was a mammoth achievement, and full and hardy congratulations go to the global effort led by NASA.

But, across the chamber, can we congratulate the CSIRO team at Tidbinbilla, who played such a crucial role in the mission. They received the final signal from the DART spacecraft as it approached and impacted the asteroid. The CSIRO is rightly proud of the 85 people who work there and their scientific, engineering and tech nous, as we all are. It was a great pleasure to visit them with the member for Bean, David Smith. What we saw today was a great example of how Australian know-how brought to life by skill is making a valuable contribution on the world stage. It was a testament to our strong scientific relationship with the US.

Now, the Albanese Labor government wants to rekindle our faith in Australian know-how. We're a smart people. We need to apply those smarts to our national prosperity and wellbeing. That's why I announced earlier today we will be revitalising our national science priorities. We are a government that believe in the value of science and will act on science. Our national science priorities haven't been refreshed since 2015. A lot has happened in the world since that time. We need a modernised framework. We want these refreshed priorities to reflect the nation's values. We've identified three new priorities as starting points: supporting stronger action on climate change; elevating and investing in First Nations' knowledge; and harnessing the potential of emerging technologies not just for economic growth but for Australians' wellbeing.

We have published the terms of reference for this work, which will be led by our Chief Scientist, Dr Cathy Foley. We expect a new set of priorities and a statement within the next year. Importantly, I want to invite and listen to the advice and views of our nation's tremendous science and research community. We thank everyone at the CSIRO who contributed to today's great effort.