Keynote speech to the Science at the Shine Dome Gala Dinner

Well, thanks very much for the introduction Steve [Professor Stephen Simpson]. 

I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet today, the Ngunnawal people, and pay my respects to Elders past and present. 

I extend that acknowledgment to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people here today. I thought that was a wonderful Welcome to Country. The more we as policymakers engaged in Australian science think about the opportunities to engage with First Nations science and what that can mean, the better. 

I want to acknowledge a few people in the room: Julian Hill, the fantastic Assistant Minister for International Education; my colleague from the House of Representatives, Aaron Violi, Shadow Minister for Science; Professor Tony Haymet, Australia’s Chief Scientist; Professor Tanya Monro, Chief Defence Scientist; and Dr Doug Hilton, Chief Executive of the CSIRO. Bran Black, Chief Executive of the Business Council of Australia, has led the Business Council through a period in which it has taken an increasing interest in science, research and industry policy. I’m very grateful for his leadership. 

It’s fantastic to have Tom Calma in the room too, with an extraordinary contribution to Australia and to Australian science colleagues from the diplomatic core.  

It is just so wonderful to look out here. I thank Sam [Professor Samuel Berkovic] for the earlier contribution welcoming those of you who are early- and mid-career researchers, and colleagues from across the Asia-Pacific. I understand that today’s presentations in the Shine Dome were pretty special too, and I’m really glad that event brought the Academy together for what is a pretty important contribution. 

The National Youth Science Forum has been in Parliament over the course of the last 3 or 4 days. I do want to acknowledge the many people in this room who volunteered. Tony’s session on Saturday morning was really treasured by those young scientists and students. I’m very grateful to Tony and all the other people in this room who made contributions. I also want to acknowledge the other MPs and Senators in the room. 

Tonight is an opportunity to celebrate and recognise the Academy’s 2026 Fellows and award recipients, whose work reflects the depth and excellence of Australian science. 

After my speech, I’ll have the honour of presenting the Academy’s Premier Medals. 

Tonight is also an opportunity to remember those the science community has lost in the past year.  

I want to take a moment to pay tribute to the late Emma Johnston – a Fellow of the Academy, a friend to many here and an Australian science leader and perhaps our best science communicator. It was a very sad event that came part of the way through what has been another remarkable year in Australian scientific achievement. 

Introduction  

Scientists, researchers, lab technicians and specialists have worked together to unlock solutions for complex problems in uniquely Australian ways in Australian science institutions.  

Researchers at the Melanoma Institute of Australia and the University of Sydney have had a breakthrough in a world-first mRNA-based cancer treatment for advanced melanoma. That will change lives all over the world. 

The work, led by former Australian of the Year, Professor Georgina Long, reduces the risk of melanoma returning after a tumour has been removed. 

The landmark effort offers personalised treatment options for melanoma patients, using mRNA vaccines together with Keytruda, an immunotherapy drug, to cut the risk of returning cancer in half. 

I was so pleased to be at the Eureka Prizes last month and see Professor Long awarded the Eureka Prize for Scientific Research for her decades long research in melanoma treatment.  

In a country of sun-lovers, her research will make a real difference to Australians.  

While all Australians will be familiar with the impacts cancer can have through their own stories, or the stories of their friends and families, fewer will be as familiar with the potential impacts of quantum technologies. 

How quantum computing could be used to unlock faster, cheaper early-stage drug design or personalised medicine. All sorts of other applications that will change the research sector in profound ways. 

Australia has world-leading quantum technology capabilities. 

Since I was last here, Australian startups Diraq and Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC) have entered the second stage of the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative with US department of defence research agency DARPA. 

They join just 9 other firms from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada which will receive support from DARPA in building towards a commercially useful fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2033. 

This Government, the Albanese Labor Government is proud to back the quantum sector, the ingenuity and courage it takes to make it on the global stage. 

Through our $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund — whose chair, Martijn Wilder, is with us this evening — the Fund invested $20 million in Diraq in February this year to advance its silicon-based quantum processor technology and further establish Australia as a global leader in quantum computing. 

SQC received $60 million to develop and scale atomic-scale quantum chip manufacturing in Sydney from the National Reconstruction Fund. 

And of course, the Albanese Government’s and Queensland Government’s $940 million investment in PsiQuantum to build the world’s first utility-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer in Queensland. 

I point to these achievements in Australian science because, by working together with the sector — with the brilliance of our researchers and the toughness and doggedness of our research teams — we are achieving outcomes that matter commercially and serve a deep public purpose. Our health, our security and our resilience are fundamentally linked to government and the science community working together, including to deliver better cancer treatments for Australians. 

Our national science institutions are also making significant scientific strides when it comes to quantum and its applications. 

This year, the CSIRO has delivered the world’s first proof-of-concept quantum battery. 

For the first time, a quantum battery can charge, store and release energy. 

CSIRO’s Dr James Quach is leading the research, alongside RMIT University and the University of Melbourne. 

The prototype is a step towards batteries powering Australia’s electric vehicles, and charging in minutes not hours. 

And towards faster, more efficient storage for grid-scale and renewable energy. 

I was really pleased that in this year’s Budget, we provided an additional $387.4 million over four years, on top of its near $1 billion to stabilise funding for the CSIRO.  

Stable funding, a focus on contemporary research priorities, led by the CSIRO and a plan for future capability – we are backing the CSIRO and Australian science. 

Albanese Labor Government backs Australian science 

Scientific discoveries like this require long-term, difficult, and patient work. 

So does delivering future national science capability. 

This Government is doing the hard but necessary work to deliver a more impactful research, industrial and scientific system. 

Backing the brightest minds, championing the greatest breakthroughs, and creating the conditions so that hard work can turn a scientific idea into product and product into industry. 

To deliver a Future Made in Australia – where more things are made here, and in doing so, we make Australia stronger. 

Our future will be shaped by science and technology. And by the people that guide the coordination of national effort for national reward. 

This is why I was so pleased that, through our Budget, we established a National Resilience and Science Council. Its job will be to better coordinate our scientific and industrial policy efforts across research, industry, investment and national priorities. 

And we’ll have more to say on that towards the end of the year. 

I had a meeting with Professor Berkovic very shortly after he was appointed, and he took me through the campaign that he and the Academy will lead around the country to build support in the business community, and within government, but more effort and more commitment around Australian science. I welcome that. The Government welcomes that. We want to see a vibrant debate supporting Australian science in the community. I really look forward to participating in that campaign and being part of that campaign wherever I can. 

Taking the first steps in responding to Robyn Denholm’s and the expert panel’s Ambitious Australia report, we’re looking at maximum impact. Reforms to the Research and Development Tax Incentive and venture capital settings is about achieving maximum impact, increasing business investment in research and development to help more ideas grow into Australian businesses. 

The draft legislation that the Treasurer released last Friday includes key changes that are all about supporting entrepreneurs and start-ups, including in the biotechnology and medical technology sectors. 

In the 2026 Budget, we put an additional $2 billion towards science and R&D, bringing the Albanese Government’s R&D investment over the forward estimates to more than $39.1 billion. 

We are also on track for Australian scientists to begin applying to the Australian $155 billion Horizon Europe program from 1 January 2027.   

Our ambitions in science and technology are bold. For a smart and safe Australia that makes our nation stronger and more resilient in a global environment and regional environment that is getting tougher and tougher, and linking our scientific effort to those national purposes. Growth and productivity, strength and resilience, achieving better outcomes for Australians in medical sciences, in agriculture, in food security, having a purpose-based approach is just so critical. 

If we are going to achieve those objectives it will be because of the efforts of people in this room, and the teams that you lead and the people you work with. 

I just want to say, in closing, it's my job to deliver speeches at events like this and to coordinate this effort. But most of all, I'm amazed by what you do. The Government is so grateful for the work that you do, slogging away thousands and thousands of Australian scientists on projects that really matter.  

I hope you enjoy tonight’s amazing evening in this extraordinary building and really feel a sense of pride in how Australians view the work that you do, and in what is going to be a pretty terrific period from 2026 into 2027. 

Thank you. 

ENDS