Andrew McLachlan (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the minister representing the Minister for Industry and Science, Senator Farrell. Is the minister aware of reports today that the Space Industry Association of Australia is asserting that there has been no substantial engagement with the space industry by any ministerial office in Canberra, that the space policy is in a vacuum and that critical national space infrastructure projects totalling $2.5 billion are stalled on departmental desks? It appears to many that space has fallen through the cracks in Canberra. Can the minister reconcile his government's reported neglect of Australia's strategic and economic importance of the space industry with the government's stated commitment to the industry sector?