ADDRESS BY THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P J KEATING, MP
PRESENTATION OF AUSTRALIA PRIZE, GREAT HALL, PARLIAMENT
HOUSE, MONDAY, 27 APRIL 1992
It gives me great pleasure to host this second presentation
of the Australia Prize.
The Australia Prize honours outstanding achievement in
science and technLology.
It honours the intelligent, commercial application of
science to develop the technology essential to create wealth
and human welfare.
It celebrates Australia's place in the world as an advanced
and enlightened nation.
We Australians are inclined to underestimate our
achievements in science and technology or, rather, we do
not know enough about them.
We learnt at school that innovation and invention were
essential to our success in conquering the land and the
great distances which separate us from the rest of the
world. So we came away knowing about the MacArthurs' development of
Merino sheep, Farrer' s experiments with wheat, MacKay's
Harvester, Mort's development of refrigeration, the stump
jump plough and myxomatosis.
There was a certain romance to these developments by virtue
of their being part of the rural pioneering legend of
Australia. They were presented to us as principal reasons for our
success in building a good society here.
Our successes in industrial technology have not attracted
the same attention.
Nor have our efforts in the field in which tonight's awards
are made physical sciences related to mining or processing 6441
Nor have our efforts in the field in which tonight's awards
are made physical sciences related to mining or processing
of mineral resources.
It is safe to say that very few Australians are aware of the
Isasmelt process for base metals which Mt Isa Mines and the
CSIRO developed.
It's doubtful if many know about CRA's technology for the
rapid sorting of diamonds, or the " Jameson cell" flotation
process for the separation of minerals.
These technologies are not well known, and the effort and
ingenuity that went into them are not widely acknowledged.
Yet these sorts of successes in research and development are
as vital to our future as any of the legendary ploughs and
wheat breeds were.
So in presenting the Australia Prize tonight we hope that,
over and above reward and acknowledgment for the winners, we
are signalling recognition for all the workers in this field
past and present.
You will be aware that last week I was in Indonesia.
I went there to consolidate our relationship and pave the
way for a great expansion of our economic relationship.
The opportunities are enormous we are talking about a
rapidly developing, resource rich country of 180 million
people.
We have much of the technology, the processes and the
experience Indonesia and the wider South-east Asian region
needs.
The application of our skills in these countries has more
than a commercial significance, of course. Very often it
means that people there are healthier and better fed and
housed, that they have better lives and more
opportunities. Tonight I can say to the winners of the Australia Prize, and
all those others engaged in the field the work you do is
at the very heart of our future in the region and in the
world. And, of course, what we do there will determine, to a very
large extent, the sort of the society we can build here.
In a real sense our solutions to the problem of
unemployment, our ability to sustain our way of life and our
standard of living, depend on our success in Asia and
Pacific and our success there depends largely on our
scientific and technological skills and the selling of them.
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Ladies and gentlemen, the Australia Prize is an
international award and this year it demonstrates that our
science and technology are among the best in the world.
The four winners in this year's field have put Australia in
a position of world leadership in developing and making
commercial on-line instrumentation in the coal industry.
The work of tonight's winners is a contemporary example of
the impressive record of Australians in mining and mineral
processing technologies.
For in fact much of the innovation in the mining industry
worldwide is the result of the work of Australian
scientists, technologists and engineers.
It is important that this aspect of ' Australian development
be more generally known, to provide perspective gn the
benefits available from science an * d technology and to
establish an environment that nutures intellectual
achievement. We need to build on our past achievements. In particular,
we must improve our commercial acumen.
We must sharpen our ability to develop Australian ideas and
adapt the ideas of others to gain competitive advantage.
The importance of the Australian Prize is that it places
Australian science in this international context.
Globalisation of technology is not just a concept, but an
important part of Australia's new outward looking culture.
Science and technology can be of great benefit to Australia.
They hold the key to solving many economic, social, medical
and environmental problems.
The Government has recognised this, and is committed to
maintaining a vigorous science and technology system.
Our initiatives in stimulating industrial R& D, strengthening
the public sector research base and enhancing linkages
between researchers and research users, are directed to
providing the strong and vital innovative capacity that is
needed for sustained economic growth.
It is a mark of this commitment that Government support for
science and innovation has grown by 29 per cent in real
terms since 1982-83.
The Australia Prize is a small but important part of this
support, and the work of tonight's winners a tribute to the
national science effort.
I would like to record the Government's gratitude to the
Australian Prize a Committee. 6443
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This panel of distinguished Australians has again brought
wide knowledge and experience to bear on a challenging task.
Our Master of Ceremonies, Sir Rupert Myers, has chaired the
Committee for the last two years.
Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we honour Australian
endeavour. We congratulate the winners individually and
collectively for their outstanding achievements.
They are achievements of which Australian should be proud.
It is equally true that we should be grateful and I hope,
inspired.
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