CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
I acknowledge the First Australians on whose land we meet, and whose cultures we celebrate as among the oldest continuing cultures in human history.
I congratulate all of the nominees for this year's awards for your endeavours, your imagination and the leadership that you are showing to a new generation of budding young scientists in our schools and universities.
The Australian Government values your work as scientists and your contribution to the nation - to our economy and prosperity; to our health; to our environment, and to our quality of life.
For those of us who are a little more ignorant than most in this room, we can learn a great deal from our scientists.
Earlier this year I had the privilege of hosting the 20th anniversary meeting of the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC).
At that meeting, I learnt from the Chief Scientist Penny Sackett a technical expression used by scientists that I had never heard before - what they called "wicked problems".
I have of course heard men and women of the cloth talking about wickedness.
But I was less used to hearing about wickedness from those in white lab coats.
Penny explained that "wicked problems" - a scientific term, as she advises me - are distinct from the other category of problems, "tame problems".
- Tame problems are those where a problem can be objectively defined and solved through trial-and-error.
- Wicked problems are those problems which cannot be objectively defined and cannot be solved by trial-and-error, because attempting any solution can cause irreversible impacts on that system.
As I reflected on that discussion at PMSEIC, I realised that most of the serious problems facing government are wicked problems.
In other words, in my job, I deal with a lot of wickedness.
Water shortages in communities around Australia.
The reform of the health and hospitals system.
National security and the threat of terrorism.
These are complicated problems.
It can often be unclear exactly what the cause of the problem is; even less clear what the solution is.
But science plays a critical role in overcoming these challenges.
Perhaps the most "wicked" problem facing us as a nation and a world at the moment is climate change.
It is the one of the greatest scientific, economic, and moral challenges of our time.
And it is scientists who have been the town criers of the modern age - warning us, for decades, of the impending danger of global warming.
We cannot afford to wait and see how badly climate change might disrupt normal life on earth.
We cannot afford to get it wrong.
If we get our response to climate change wrong, we can't just try something else - future generations must live with the consequences of our decisions.
For climate change, there is no experiment, no controlled trial-and-error - our generation in history has got one shot to get it right.
That is why our response to climate change is so important to Australia's future.
Another wicked problem that has preoccupied the Government during the past 12 months is the global economic downturn.
It has been an enormously complex challenge.
In its speed and severity, the impact of the global financial crisis during the past year is comparable to the first twelve months of the Great Depression of the 1930s.
It has required extraordinarily complex interventions in financial markets and financial institutions by governments all around the world.
It has also required major coordinated fiscal stimulus.
In the context of the enormous challenges of the past 12 months, Australia has shown remarkable strength and resilience compared to the Major Advanced Economies.
This is a tribute to the hard work of Australian businesses, Australian workers and Australian policy makers.
- We are the only advanced economy to have registered positive economic growth in the past year.
- Second, we have the second lowest unemployment rate of the Major Advanced Economies.
- Third, we have the lowest budget deficit of all the Major Advanced Economies.
- Fourth, we have the lowest debt of all the Major Advanced Economies.
- Fifth, we are the only advanced economy not to go into recession.
The stimulus strategy that the Government began to implement 12 months ago has been timely, targeted and temporary.
It involved immediate support for the economy, and in particular for the retail sector that employs more than one and a half million Australians.
And it involved substantial medium-term and long-term investment in nation-building infrastructure.
There are some people who have criticised the Government's stimulus strategy.
But the alternative to the Government's stimulus strategy would have been to allow the economy to plunge into recession - with more than one million unemployed and with crippling consequences for business and consumer confidence.
By acting decisively, we have so far avoided a technical recession in Australia.
We have so far managed the global recession well.
Now, we need to manage the economic recovery.
A key element of managing economic recovery is to build the foundations for long-term growth and prosperity, by lifting productivity growth.
In the long run it is productivity growth that improves living standards and that supports higher levels of growth.
Australia has experienced declining productivity growth since the 1990s, falling from 3.3 per cent during the 1990s to just 1.1 per cent in the current decade.
The Government's long-term challenge is to turbo-charge our productivity growth rate.
Since coming to government almost two years ago, we have been advancing an agenda for long-term productivity growth:
- The creation of a seamless national economy, collapsing 27 sets of conflicting regulations into a streamlined set of uniform rules.
- A quality and quantity education revolution.
- Productivity-enhancing infrastructure investment by both the public and private sectors.
- A communications revolution through a National Broadband Network.
- Maximising our global competitiveness through targeted tax reform.
I have always said that we cannot rely on strong terms of trade and our resources sector alone to guarantee sustainable economic growth.
We must build the foundations of sustainable growth for the future through policy settings that support education and innovation, that encourage research and development, and foster investment in the commercialisation of new ideas.
Total Commonwealth support for research and innovation is expected to be around $8.6 billion this financial year - 25 per cent more than in 2008-09.
The Australian Government's productivity agenda aims to create a culture of innovation, increase innovative capabilities and raise our long term productivity growth.
As a blueprint for our nation's productivity future, the Government developed Powering Ideas: An Innovation Agenda for the 21st Century.
This is a long-term, 10 year agenda to support productivity growth through innovation.
And it provides new incentives to undertake more Research and Development in both the public and private sectors.
It supports our research capability, both in skills and infrastructure, through the $1.1 billion Super Science Initiative.
This initiative is designed to keep our best emerging scientists in Australia and nurture greater collaboration between our universities and public research agencies.
The initiative will further strengthen our space and astronomy sectors with a $160 million funding injection.
Projects include a new Australian National Centre of Square Kilometre Array Science in Perth and a Space Policy Unit to provide advice to the Government.
$504 million has been allocated for Future Industries - new facilities for cutting-edge biological discovery and biotechnology development.
And two other areas of strength - Marine and Climate - receive more than $387 million in the Super Science Initiative.
The initiative also provides for 100 Super Science Fellowships, and the Australian Postgraduate Awards to encourage further study in the field of science.
We also recognise the importance of universities as the backbone of our research effort.
That is why this year's budget commits an extra half a billion over four years to address the gap in funding for the indirect cost of research - the equipment and materials that are needed for world-class research.
The education system is fundamental to harnessing innovation and boosting productivity.
Because an innovation culture relies on a highly qualified and flexible labour force in all sectors of the economy and society.
And that is why lifting teacher quality is a priority for the Australian Government.
A good teacher can leave a positive impact on a student.
But a great teacher can leave a positive impact on the world.
As you all know a few weeks ago there was a major event in Australian scientific history.
Australian-born and educated biologist Professor Elizabeth Blackburn was awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine.
She is Australia's first female Nobel Laureate.
Professor Blackburn stands in great Australian company alongside the likes of Sir Howard Florey and Professor Peter Doherty.
The prize was awarded for "for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase".
Winning a Nobel Prize in Medicine is an extraordinary achievement and one of which all Australians can be proud.
And Professor Blackburn credits a favourite teacher from the Broadland House Church of England Grammar School in Launceston in the early 1960s, Nancy Hughes, with igniting her passion for science.
And Professor Blackburn's achievement has inspired science students around Australia in recent months.
I note one comment from Jess Cox, a 12 year old student in Year 7 at University High in Melbourne, where Professor Blackburn finished her school studies.
Jess was reported earlier this month remarking:
"I like chemistry and science -- we all think it's cool -- but it (the Nobel prize) is really inspirational."
So just as Professor Blackburn was inspired by her teachers at school, she has now become an inspiration to another generation - and in particular, to girls studying science.
Quality teaching is the single greatest influence on student engagement and achievement.
The Australian Government wants to attract, retain and continue to develop quality teachers and leaders in schools.
Through the 'Smarter Schools - Improving Teacher Quality National Partnership Agreement', the Government has committed $550 million over five years to improving teacher quality.
And the Government is investing in a range of initiatives specifically targeted at invigorating science and maths education in schools and recruiting the best graduates into teaching.
We've reduced HECS contributions for new students in maths and science.
And maths and science graduates who go on to work in related occupations, including teaching, will also be eligible for a refund of about half of their HECS-HELP repayments for up to five years.
The Australian Government is also supporting science teachers though our Building the Education Revolution reforms.
We've allocated $1 billion for the Science and Language Centres for the 21st Century, to build or refurbish some 537 facilities in secondary schools across Australia.
The Government has also committed $2 million to an initiative to encourage students in years 9 and 10 to engage in science.
And Questacon will continue its work in bringing science to Australia with an $11.3m funding investment.
This landmark institution will continue its mission to share the wonder of science with Australian children and adults in remote and regional areas.
Elizabeth Blackburn is a powerful inspiration for a new generation of young scientists.
But we can draw inspiration from men and women of the past as well.
Consider Charles Babbage, the man often described as the father of computing.
It is almost two hundred years since Babbage was experimenting with building his 'Difference Engine No.1' and his 'Analytical Engine'.
When he began building the Difference Engine in 1822, it required some 25,000 separate brass components.
One self-contained part of the Engine, essentially a calculator, took 2,000 brass parts to build but worked perfectly - and extraordinarily, still works today.
Babbage's work was breathtaking in its scope and its ultimate impact, but at the time it was a hard slog.
He struggled to obtain government funding for his research, and a shortage of funds ultimately constrained him from achieving his ambitions.
Indeed it was not until 1991 that the Difference Machine No.2, which he designed in the 1840s, was built by the British Science Museum.
It took 4,000 brass cogs and weighed three tons - and it worked superbly, calculating to 31 decimal places.
An interesting footnote to Babbage's career is that he was deeply critical of the inadequacy of government funding for science and of the quality of science teaching in Britain.
Indeed in 1830 he wrote a treatise called 'Reflections on the Decline of Science in England' - a publication which, with the wisdom of hindsight 180 years later, now seems a little premature.
But Babbage's ultimate contribution to science and to human endeavour is the stuff of legend.
It is embodied in every computer, every mobile phone, indeed most of the gadgets that we each use every day of our lives.
It is a reminder to all those engaged in scientific research that you never know how your work might change the course of history and the lives of generations of people to come.
Indeed the scientists of today - including in this room - continue to build on the early foundations of Charles Babbage.
Science is vital to every community, every nation.
And it is especially important to our nation as we confront the complex challenges of the future - climate change, water shortages, an ageing population, and the broader challenge of competing in a ruthlessly competitive global economy.
Australia is in the very fortunate position of laying claim to some of the finest scientific minds in the world.
The Prime Minister's Prizes for Science go some way to recognising our best and raising the profile of science and science teaching in Australia.
They highlight just how much we have to be proud of and how much potential is yet to be fulfilled.
Over the past 10 years, these Awards have honoured scientists who have unlocked some of the mysteries of biology, medicine, robotics and genetics.
We have paid tribute to scientists such as Frank Fenner for his work in eradicating smallpox.
Graeme Clark, for his multi-channel cochlear ear implant.
And last year, Ian Frazer for his cervical cancer vaccines.
The fruits of their labours are gifts - not just to Australia, but to the world.
The depth and breadth of Australia's scientific firepower is to be marvelled at.
In recognising the important role of scientists I would also like to recognise the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Kim Carr.
Kim has always been a passionate advocate for science and argued strongly for increased levels of support for the sector.
Australian industry and in particular the scientific community have had their interests well represented by the Minister during the global economic crisis.
He has been consistently ahead of the curve on key industry challenges.
Kim also believes - and I agree - that becoming a science teacher is a great career opportunity and wonderful life vocation.
Yet few people know Kim's passion for science teaching extends to his own offspring.
In fact, Kim's daughter has completed a science degree and master of education.
Just this year she started work as a high school science teacher in the western suburbs of Melbourne - Kim, we wish her the best.
Tonight, we celebrate science and science teaching.
If I had one message on the role of science to the nation, it is this.
Science is not about abstract work done in a lab and distant from the real world.
It is about solving real problems for real people in the real world.
It is about dealing with the challenges of the modern world, the global economy, the changing climate and the health and happiness of people all around the world.
And it is about making a difference.
Every individual and organisation represented in this room tonight has a shared responsibility to communicate a passion for scientific endeavour, and inspire a new generation of scientists.
Australia has an outstanding record of scientific achievement in our past.
We have great scientists doing excellent work today.
Our challenge now is to foster a new generation of scientists to confront the challenges of our future.
That is the purpose of the Prime Minister's Prizes for Science.