Prime Minister
Prime Minister: It’s exciting to be here today with Christian Porter and, of course, Steve. It is fundamental to Australia’s economic future that we harness these capabilities and meet them. The ambitions we have for manufacturing in this country is built on the vision we have for science and technology. That's why we have the investing economy. That's why we can invest in Pawsey right here. And that's why we are committing some $387 million in new funding over 10 years to meet Australia's commitments to co-host the SKA Observatory. And not only will that, you know, enshrine, entrench Australia in this massive partnership, of which we are a key player, and deliver those core capabilities to that partnership, but as you say it feeds in to this waterfall of data that you have in so many different areas that enable you to interrogate and ensure we can crack some of the biggest problems that are there. The quantum computing capability is not just essential for solving deep scientific problems, but it's absolutely essential for national security. This is one of those key areas that are being used, in many respects weaponised, around the world. And so Australia needs that capacity. And what's exciting about this project and what's going on here at Pawsey is by investing in these capabilities, we're not just giving our industry, our scientists and our researchers the tools, but we are developing our researchers. We're developing our scientists. And at the end of the day, that's what will make the difference, we believe. And so whether it’s the 250 or so jobs that are established through the establishment, which much of it is out there in the field where CSIRO is, and ensuring that these amazing Christmas tree looking features that do far more than that - they're the most, they're the smartest Christmas trees I think we've ever seen, and particularly at that scale - but then it's what sits behind it here, with the analytical capability and the processing capability. And even more important than that the, you know, the 230 ongoing jobs, some of the smartest jobs in this country that are made possible by that. So we're very excited to be here, and I know Christian is as well. And Steve has been a passionate supporter of this project over a long time. And the fact that it's all happening here in the West, the opportunities of the big skies, creates great opportunities with the scientific vision, I think. So it's very important to do that. So I'm going to hand it over to Christian Porter to say a few words in his new role, and I tell you, Christian is an absolute science and space junkie on these things, he has the tattoos to prove it. Christian.
The Hon. Christian Porter MP, Minister for Industry, Science and Technology: Thank you, Prime Minister, and Steve Irons thank you for allowing us into your electorate, and it’s very enjoyable to be here. And to Mark and Kristen, thanks for hosting us today. So, you would have heard the Prime Minister there say something that you wouldn't have heard previously, which is that in the Budget, which will be announced obviously later in May, there will be a $387 million 10-year commitment to the SKA. So, the scale of that I’m sure is not lost on you and your team here, because it ensures what you're doing with SKA in Australia is absolutely locked away. And just to explain the very basic breakdown of that funding - $301.4 million of that is allocated to the construction and operation of the Square Kilometre Array Observatory. Another large amount of $64.3 million over 10 years is allocated to the data processing centre, which, of course, you know, is scheduled and expected to be here at Pawsey. And the remainder goes to site readiness and fibre optic connections, it’s in the [inaudible]. So it is a massive Budget commitment. It absolutely locks away the future of the SKA, the future of Pawsey, and all the wonderful things that you can do and are doing here. And as we've been walking around today, if you are trying to get your head around the scale of the funding that has been put in the Budget, we've been trying to wrap our head around the scale of what it is that you’re doing. And we were discussing it earlier that the Pathfinder, so the prototype of the Square Kilometre Array low antennas, that produces 5.2 terabytes of data. That effectively comes here to be sorted through and understood and analysed. And for those people who download things from time to time, just that prototype that the Square Kilometre Array Low is producing about the same data equivalent of downloading around about 1,300 movies a second, every second. And that's just the prototype. So as Mark was explaining to us, when in the middle of this decade, the Square Kilometre Array Low gets turned on and the entire Square Kilometre Array gets turned on, the amount of data is simply beyond comprehension. And this money, which is in effect 14 per cent of the total global commitment, is now locked away. It secures the future of the SKA in Australia and while we're here, I'm sure we’ll see the Prime Minister interested to know the West Australian angle to all this. In fact, it was as a former state attorney-general and the state treasurer that I had an initial involvement with this project with Colin Barnett many years ago. To be back here and see it come to this level of fruition is quite remarkable. But it is estimated through [inaudible] that the cumulative economic impact globally that will come to Australia over the 30 year operational period of the SKA is about $1.8 billion. So our money leverages $1.8 billion worth of economic growth into Australia. And 95 per cent of that uplift comes into WA, $1.47 billion, and 59 per cent of it to the Mid West region. And the money that we’ve announced today will give you an understanding of how that work cements an immediate future for Western Australia and the Mid West job creation is the money we’ve announced today represents 350 new medium-term construction jobs between 2022 and 2030. 130 permanent jobs being created in the Square Kilometre Array Observatory, with 20 additional jobs at the Australia SKA regional centre. And, of course, as I have noted, the majority of those jobs will be in the Mid West region. So the economic opportunity and the immediate opportunities, the leveraging of what we will do terms of technology and science based in understanding of this data, the algorithms that will be developed, the developments in big data, the simple processing application - this will take us to the next level in Australia in terms of our science and technology front. It is a remarkable pleasure to be able to come here with the Prime Minister and announce that $387 million worth of funding which means that the total amount of funding that has been allocated over the life of our Government to the SKA is $710 million. So it is a fantastic project, I wish you all the best here at Pawsey and I look forward to seeing how much bigger those data banks get just in the next couple of years. SO well done to all of you. Thank you.
[Ends]