Check against delivery

I would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet today, the Turrbal and Jagera Peoples, and pay my respects to Elders past and present.

I extend that acknowledgment to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People here today.

Sid Domic, that presentation and work of art and video were very inspiring for people here.

It’s a rare thing to be able to so clearly articulate the relationship between the 60,000 years of First Nations experience in Australia, which is something that Australia is very proud of.

No other country has that as a national cultural, historical and scientific asset. That matters for Australia.

Being able to articulate through a work of art for Australians who are wondering how we build this connection between First Nations science, land management, food security, health, aquaculture – all the achievements of First Nations culture.

I also acknowledge:

• Dr Katherine Woodthorpe AO, Non-Executive Director of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering and Chair of CAETS
• Professor Tony Haymet, Chief Scientist
• The Hon Andrew Powell, Queensland Minister for the Environment and Tourism, and Minister for Science and Innovation – really great to meet with you last week
• The Hon Karen Andrews, one of my predecessors in this portfolio
• Lance McCallum MLA
• His Excellency Gabriele Visentin, the European Union’s Ambassador to Australia
• All of today’s speakers
• Distinguished leaders from the University and science sectors from Australia and visitors from around the world.

I’m really pleased to be here to participate in this ambitious, forward-thinking and outward-looking conversation about Australia’s future to 2075.

The business of technological sciences and engineering is, of course, outwardly facing and collaborative.

At a time when the world faces all of the geopolitical challenges that we face, it’s important to underscore that collaboration is key, and international collaboration is fundamental.

Making sure that we share the benefits of scientific research and engineering research to everyone’s benefit. That is the business of science, and the business of universities, and you are so welcome here.

I’m really pleased to be here, and there is something exciting about Queensland, its universities, this city as a gateway to the Pacific and to the Southeast Asian region.

The work that’s going on from industry and mining and resources and manufacturing through to robotics, all of these industries, through to our university sector. This is a great time to be in business.

Fifty years is a long time, and the Australia of today is certainly a different place from the Australia of 1975.

There are the obvious cultural and demographic changes – back then, no more than 1.8% of Australians were born in Asia or the Middle East.¹  

Today, migrants from India alone make up nearly double that proportion, 3.4% of Australia’s resident population.²  

That’s really good for Australia – it means greater diversity of experiences and perspectives, an added depth of cultural richness, and a much larger pool of skills and talents with which to fashion a future that’s made here in Australia.

More than 60% of the qualified engineers in Australia are migrants – and nearly a quarter (23%) of that cohort were born on the subcontinent.³  

Nearly half of Australia’s tech sector workforce was born overseas.⁴  

Aspiring scientists and scholars from around the world come to Australia to undertake research, making up 40% of Australia’s PhD enrolments.⁵  

Just imagine how much poorer Australia would be, in terms of skills and capabilities, expertise and output, without these members of our community.

And to those of you here today who were born overseas, or whose parents were born overseas, let me just say unequivocally – this government backs you to the hilt and welcomes your contributions to solving Australia’s national challenges.

And we will push back against the kind of extremism that we saw a few weekends ago. We will provide the leadership that is required.

Science and engineering are outwardly facing, and of course, within Australia we are so much richer because of our migrant experience.

Of course, the last 50 years has also brought about massive changes in the way all of us think, work and communicate.

Robotics in manufacturing processes.

Autonomous and remote machinery in mining, agriculture and manufacturing.

Digitisation in retail.

Personal computers, smartphones and the internet in every workplace and logistics.

Now the emergence of artificial intelligence as a general-purpose technology with enormous potential to shape better outcomes in healthcare, service provision

And of course a set of consequential decisions for firms, governments, civil society and citizens to shape this technology in Australia’s national interest.

In 1975, few Australians could have foreseen the nature of those transformations in our economy and society.  

For that generation, the arrival of colour TV in March 1975 seemed a really big deal.

It didn’t come to the Ayres farm until about 1984.

But as new technologies arrived, Australians adapted and adopted them to make their working lives more productive, more rewarding and often much safer than before.  

No one can predict how Australia and the wider world will look, feel or sound 50 years from now.  

But what I do know is that the Albanese Labor Government can, and is, anticipating the big challenges and the opportunities that come with them.

Climate change. Unpredictable future public health challenges. Growing geostrategic competition. The urgent national mission here in Australia to build 1.2 million homes.

These challenges should mobilise and energise Australians, so that all of Australia’s national skills and talents in science, technology and engineering are brought to bear.

Fundamental to this is the urgent need and opportunity to develop our energy system, backed by storage and clean transmission technologies, ensuring Australia has a clean energy grid that can meet increased electricity demands as we industrialise and electrify our industrial electricity systems.

Of course, challenges are always discussed at these things in the same breath as opportunities – because in a changing global environment, we have the opportunity to fundamentally uplift Australian productivity, economic resilience and economic diversification for the betterment of all Australians.

Australians in our outer suburbs, and Australians in our regional communities chief amongst them.

New biotechnologies and medical manufacturing capabilities from which Australia and the wider world will benefit.

New, high-tech defence technologies and sovereign capabilities that keep Australians and our partners safe.

Adopt and advance new technologies like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, advanced robotics, to transform professional and social lives and drive innovation at an unprecedented pace.

The Albanese Labor Government is actively focused on the relationship between our science and engineering capabilities and Australia’s national interest.

Not second guessing, or talking our industrial competitiveness down, but betting on Australia and Australians.

We released a National Robotics Strategy that anticipates and encourages the adoption of robotic technologies that improve the competitiveness of Australian industry.

We’ve invested $17 million in the creation of four AI Adopt Centres, a downpayment on our approach to working with Australian firms to spread the adoption and diffusion of AI technologies.

The government launched in 2023 – I pay tribute to my predecessor, the Hon. Ed Husic here – a National Quantum Strategy to grow a skilled quantum workforce and build the world’s first error-corrected quantum computer here in Brisbane.

We’re working in a coordinated way across government to help Australia seize the opportunity of the world’s shift to low-carbon energy technologies.  

Processing critical minerals, engineering new clean technologies and infrastructure, making the storage products and recycling the components in Australia – benefiting Australian researchers, Australian firms, and Australian workers.

The Albanese Government’s $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund has a particular role to play here – and it has already made some far-sighted investments in Australia’s AI and quantum capabilities.

The Finance Minister and I recently issued a Statement of Expectations for the Fund, instructing them to favour national interest and long-term strategic outcomes and to ensure their risk appetite meets government objectives.

My department has announced today that it is conducting exploratory talks with officials from the European Commission to consider the possibility of Australian association with Horizon Europe, the world’s largest research and innovation fund.  

It’s too early for any decisions or commitments from government, of course, but it’s a positive conversation for Australia to be having.  

In terms of purposeful engagement with the world, I’m also really enthusiastic about the work that ATSE itself facilitates, including through the important Global Science and Tech Diplomacy program and Global Connections Fund.

Trade disruptions and global uncertainty in R&D make Australia an even better destination to live, research, work and invest.

Embracing the best global talent we can attract is entirely in keeping, I think, with the ‘progressive patriotism’ that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese invoked following Australia’s recent federal election.

Because what progressive Australian patriots understand, in a way that it’s important to build confidence around, is that a nation is stronger, smarter, safer and more resilient when it is engaged with the world’s engineering and technological sciences talent.

ENDNOTES

1. 1976 Census Data, Table 8, Population by Birthplace
2. ABS, Australia’s population by country of birth, June 2024, https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/australias-population-country-birth/latest-release
3. Engineers Australia, Barriers to employment for migrant engineers, October 2021, p 11. https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/news-and-media/2023/07/tens-thousands-qualified-skilled-migrant-engineers-missing-out-engineering. Sum of percentages for India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.
4. ACS Digital Pulse 2025, p 29, https://www.acs.org.au/campaign/digital-pulse.html
5. Universities Australia, Investing in PhD candidates in Australia, p 7, https://universitiesaustralia.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Investing-in-PHD-Candidates-in-Australia.pdf