Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Industry and Science. Why are the national science institutions so important to Australia, and what has caused their current funding circumstances?

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Deakin is on a warning. If he mentions one more word, he will leave the chamber.

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

Thanks to the member for Canberra, who, like many of us here, is very proud of our world-class science agencies, be it Questacon, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation or the National Measurement Institute. They're providing public services that people rely on every day but may not necessarily realise are there. Here's an example. A few weeks ago, we had an issue where the nation's attention was captured by the loss of an object no larger than a 10c piece in remote Western Australia. That object was a radioactive capsule. It needed to be tracked down. ANSTO stepped forward to help, with their own device, developed in house. They located that object while travelling 70 kilometres an hour on a 1,400-kilometre stretch of road. It was like ANSTO had found one needle in a million haystacks. It was truly remarkable.

It is not just ANSTO. Look at Questacon, who play an essential role in inspiring the next generation of STEM students. They are skills that we will really need in the economy and the country longer term. The National Measurement Institute help keep Australians safe and healthy. They secure the quality of food produce that's exported. They test water quality. They also help support law enforcement agencies with drug testing. They'll also help in the lead-up to the Brisbane Olympics, making sure that we've got that drug testing working properly. These are the kinds of services that are absolutely relied upon by the Australian public, and we need to ensure that those services are backed in with patient investment.

But what gets me is when you look at the decade of chronic underinvestment by those opposite. They squeezed vital funding for these agencies that are doing very important work. Under the coalition's watch, Questacon's facilities deteriorated. They have been using buckets to catch rain from leaking buildings, affecting the experience of, particularly, school students in our area. Under the coalition's watch, the National Measurement Institute was squeezed for money to deliver the analytical services we rely upon. Under the coalition's watch, ANSTO facilities, vital in producing cancer and diagnostic medicines, were ageing. It wasn't that the coalition couldn't find money—$1 trillion debt, sports rorts, building commuter car parks nowhere near public transport, as long as it was in a marginal electorate. They had the money there. They just didn't want to invest it in anything other than their political interests. That is the worst thing. The person who leads the opposition was on the Expenditure Review Committee helping make those calls. They've learnt nothing and will continue to do the same and will continue to dud Australians.