Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A telescope in the desert, a window to the universe, stars above and stars in science—that's what I'm talking about today. In the red dirt of Western Australia's Murchison region sits a telescope that's quietly reshaping our understanding of the universe. It's known as the Murchison Widefield Array, or MWA. Recently, I had the privilege of celebrating its phase 3 upgrade. This upgrade has boosted its sensitivity and data capacity, allowing scientists to peer deeper into space and go further back in time, right to the formation of the first stars and galaxies over 13 billion years ago.

The MWA is a global collaboration involving 29 partners and hundreds of researchers. It's supported by Curtin University, the Commonwealth government and international partners. It has also generated over $83 million in economic activity, and it's not just about astronomy. The MWA has spun off technologies that now power high-performance computing, data processing and even remote sensing. These innovations are being used in fields far beyond space and science, from medical imaging to environmental modelling. The MWA is a symbol of what's possible when we invest in science, collaboration and the future.

One of the key partners in supporting the MWA is the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre, based in Perth and also funded by the Commonwealth as a CSIRO site. It is also a partner of the new and extraordinary Square Kilometre Array, which will make WA an astronomy capital of the world. It is a place where raw data becomes insight—a place where petabytes of information from telescopes like the MWA are processed, analysed and transformed into knowledge. It is a hub for innovation. It supports researchers across astronomy, medicine, engineering and environmental science. It is home to some of Australia's most powerful supercomputers, including Setonix, named after the Latin word for quokka—another WA icon, from Rottnest Island.

There is much to say about this place from a scientific perspective. Its infrastructure is designed to reduce energy use and produce less carbon emissions. It uses groundwater cooling, solar energy and efficient data centres designed to minimise its environmental footprint. Imagine data centres connected by pipes and actually seeing fluid pumping through this. It's very impressive technology. It's proof that high-performance computing can be both powerful and responsible.

Dr Natasha Hurley-Walker is a radio astronomer who has used data from the MWA to create the most detailed map of the southern sky ever produced at low radio frequencies. Her work has helped uncover hidden galaxies, dying stars and cosmic phenomena that we're only just starting to understand. She was awarded the Nancy Millis Medal for women in science, a well-deserved recognition of her groundbreaking research and her commitment to mentoring the next generation of scientists. Dr Hurley-Walker is a star in science, and she is based in WA and lives in the heart of Swan.

But the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre isn't just about space; it's also about Earth. One of its most exciting areas of work is environmental modelling. The Pawsey supports researchers who are tackling some of Australia's biggest environmental challenges, from climate change to biodiversity loss and water management. Take the work on carbon sequestration. Australia has vast underground basins that could store millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide, but modelling these complex systems is complex and requires a huge amount of data and computing. Pawsey has partnered with researchers to simulate how carbon can move through rock formations and be stored safely and how we can watch it over time.

All of this—including the MWA, Pawsey, Dr Hurley-Walker's research and environmental modelling—is possible because the Albanese Labor government invests in science. And, under the Albanese government, that investment is growing. We accept science and know that we need it for research and innovation and that it's central to Australia's future. Science isn't just a discipline; it's a promise to learn, to grow and to build a better future that is fairer, smarter and more sustainable.