MOTIONS
Mr GEORGANAS (Adelaide) (18:30): I move: That this House: (1) commends the Government for its Statement on Space, which provides a clear, focused, and strategic framework to support the growth and development of Australia's space industry; (2) recognises the strong partnerships, collaboration, and shared commitment among industry stakeholders, researchers, Government agencies, and commercial operators that are driving innovation across the Australian space sector; (3) acknowledges that Australia has a significant opportunity to develop trusted sovereign space services that Australians rely on every day, strengthening national capability and reducing reliance on externally controlled systems; (4) notes the potential for a commercially scalable spaceflight ecosystem that provides pathways for Australian technologies, research, and payloads to reach application and deployment, ensuring a greater share of the value generated by mission activities is retained within Australia; (5) further recognises that the development of domestic space platform capability presents opportunities to integrate Australian technologies into both Australian and international missions through satellites and multi-orbit constellations, enhancing Australia's role in the global space economy; and (6) further acknowledges Australia's unique opportunity to build on its strong and credible foundations in the space sector to participate in, and capture value from, emerging space-based industries, including in-space manufacturing and biotechnology The space sector is an incredible, incredible sector that's taken off in the last few years, especially in my electorate with Lot Fourteen.
The space industry has made many achievements in many areas. This motion is about a statement that was made just recently by the Assistant Minister for Science, Technology and Digital Economy about direction for the space industry. The statement sent a clear message that Australia is serious about the expansion of the space industry and encourages global investors and partners to invest on Australian soil.
There are some incredible, incredible businesses in my electorate in Lot Fourteen, which houses a lot of the space industry. Some of them include: Inovor, which is building satellites; Southern Launch, which is launching rockets into space and is in the member for Grey's area—he's here with us—; Myriota; and SmartSat, which is run by Andy Koronios and is doing some incredible work.
By investing $170 million through the National Reconstruction Fund, the government has demonstrated its enduring commitment to supporting Australia's resilience and security and thereby securing our place in a changing world in which space plays an incredible role. The five focal points of the statement recently highlighted Australia's space capability, where it provides unique opportunities, where it has market potential and where it supports national resilience.
These focus points are trusted space services, space flight ecosystems, space platforms, exploration technologies and microgravity ecosystems. For Adelaide in my electorate, the increased investment in the Australian Space Agency, run very capably by CEO Enrico Palermo, has allowed Lot Fourteen to commence new construction. This new construction, which will be Defence headquarters, strengthens Lot Fourteen as a powerhouse for this particular area.
Defence headquarters is not only advantageous for Adelaide and Australia long-term but also enhances Australia's international partnerships. Namely, Defence HQ and Lot Fourteen at large will be substantial in Australia's carry out of AUKUS endeavours and therefore promotes the strengthening of the US-Australian relationship. You don't have to look far when you talk about space without mentioning the name of Katherine Burnell-Pegg.
The 2026 Australian of the Year and Adelaide resident has made outstanding significant contributions in drawing the nation's attention to the increasing importance of space and STEM to Australia's prosperity, resilience and security. And it's not just STEM and the space industry that stand to benefit from the statement on space. It'll be felt by everyday Australians in our daily interactions.
By investing in space, Australia is not only investing in critical technologies but also safeguarding broader industries in a rapidly changing world. When you think about space, it covers everything that you can think of that we are responsible for here in parliament, everything from security of the nation to agriculture to mining. There's not a single minute of the day where our lives are not touched by space.
Just the simple Google apps that we have are all done through satellites. A lot of the weather patterns for our agriculture sector are all done through space. So it's not just about sending people to the moon and to Mars, even though that is fantastic and it would be great.
It's also about our everyday capabilities and our cutting edge technologies, which is an area where we're making great advances. I mentioned some of the companies in my electorate that are doing incredible things that just five or 10 years ago would have been impossible. In South Australia we're launching satellites on rockets that were built in Adelaide, something that you would have thought was impossible a few years ago.
But here we are in Australia, collaborating on joint ventures with some US companies on our telecommunications. Inovor Technologies, for example, is part of the big build of a big satellite with Optus. That's billions of dollars worth of work, employment and cutting-edge technology being built.
The space industry, as in the statement that was made, is a commitment to Australia's future, and it provides confidence to Australian businesses. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Dr Haines ): Is the motion seconded? Ms Mascarenhas: The motion is seconded, and I reserve my right to speak.