Speeches
Thursday, 01 June 2023
Hanyang University, Seoul
It is my great pleasure to be here at Hanyang University this morning.
This is my first visit to South Korea as Governor of South Australia.
It is a country – and a relationship – that is held in high regard by South Australia, not only as a strong trading partner, but also a source of cultural exchange that enriches the South Australian community, through tourism, education and other forms of engagement.
Indeed, education – and the transfer of knowledge – is fundamental in supporting this powerful bond.
I am pleased that a focus of my visit to South Korea, on this particular occasion, is to reinforce the already significant partnership that exists between South Korea and South Australia through education, and to support the education and career aspirations of South Korean students.
South Australia is home to a world class education system, and we have a long history of welcoming international students to our state. I am proud of our international education sector.
Earlier, I had the pleasure of meeting with your University President, Dr Lee Ki-jeong.
We discussed the University’s strong approach to internationalisation, providing its students with the opportunity to study abroad through various global programs, with about 3,000 of you capitalising on these opportunities each year. Equally, I am advised that Hanyang University is expected to host around 6,000 international students through the 2023 academic year – a truly remarkable achievement.
The partnerships forged between Hanyang University and education institutions worldwide provide students with the knowledge and capabilities – gained through international experiences – to support successful engagement in a world that is increasingly diverse and globally connected.
One such partnership is with my state’s own University of South Australia. It is a partnership still in its early stages, having been established in 2019, though to date there has been strong engagement from South Australia with students travelling to Hanyang University on exchange. Two students from Hanyang University, your peers, are currently undertaking a semester long exchange in South Australia, and we look forward to welcoming many more of you in the years to come.
Of course, it is crucial that this international collaboration continues beyond the classroom, and it is this collaboration with industry – and strong research partnerships – that will support the industries that are important now and into the future.
Hanyang University is certainly leading the way on university-industry partnerships, through its Industry-University Research Cooperation Foundation which, for close to 20 years, has fostered a collaborative environment conducive to high quality research and professional training.
For South Australia, Lot Fourteen – our own world-class innovation district dedicated to solving complex global challenges – has attracted some of the world’s biggest and brightest, and smallest and most innovative, across hi‑tech, defence, space and creative industries.
Bringing together research, education, industry and government, Lot Fourteen is an integral part of South Australia’s innovation ecosystem.
It is the home of the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre, the University of Adelaide’s Australian Institute for Machine Learning, and the Australian Space Agency, and will be the home of the district’s flagship Entrepreneur and Innovation Centre and Innovation Hub from 2025. The Hub is expected to be world-leading for the defence, space and critical technologies sectors in accelerating innovation and research collaboration at scale.
Collaboration also plays a crucial role for recipients of South Australian government grant programs that support early-stage innovative companies to develop and commercialise their products in national and international markets. The overwhelming majority of grant recipients report significant collaboration with national and international partners to facilitate product trials or commercialisation efforts, which is fundamental in ensuring the success of these pursuits.
New Energy
South Australia’s ambitions in renewable energy and hydrogen are well known.
Earlier this year, South Australia’s Premier released the South Australian Economic Statement – an overarching document which articulates the government’s ambition for the South Australian economy.
The statement sets out the government’s mission to capitalise on the global green transition by utilising our state’s sustainability credentials and natural endowment to provide green energy, products and services to the world.
South Australia’s renewable energy transition is truly remarkable.
From less than 1 per cent renewable generation only two decades ago, South Australia now generates just under 70 per cent of its energy from renewable sources.
We’re also on track to supply one hundred per cent of the state’s operational demand with renewable energy by 2030.
The next step is the realisation of the state’s ambition to become a major producer of green hydrogen.
R&D and innovation play a key role as global, national and regional drivers of this economic transformation.
The South Australian government, University of Adelaide and University of South Australia are currently supporting a bid to establish the Scaling Green Hydrogen Cooperative Research Centre, which aims to become the largest single initiative in the country focused on supporting the vital scaling up of the emerging Australian green hydrogen sector to allow us to realise these expectations.
This requires a multi-disciplinary approach, bringing industry, government and research leaders together to develop collaborative solutions to ensure the full potential of these endeavours are realised.
South Korea is potentially an important destination for future exports of hydrogen. The South Australian government is supporting the growth of the hydrogen sector through undertaking hydrogen supply chain mapping and developing a hydrogen industry workforce roadmap.
South Australia’s rich deposits of critical minerals are crucial to supporting the world’s clean energy and technology transformation. South Australia has a vibrant and innovative critical minerals research community, including the Australian Critical Minerals Research Centre at the University of Adelaide and the Future Industries Institute at the University of South Australia. Both are globally recognised researchers in everything from geology and metallurgy to mineral processing.
As South Australia moves from 70% to 100% net renewable energy by 2030, South Australia is growing ‘green’ minerals and processing industries to supply copper and other critical minerals across the globe, for low emissions technologies including electric vehicles and renewable energy technology.
Australia’s Heavy Industry Low-Carbon Transition Cooperative Research Centre, with its research centre based in Adelaide, is also leading vital national research to enable our heavy industry sector to compete in the low-carbon global economy for carbon-neutral materials such as ‘green’ iron, alumina, cement and other processed minerals. It will focus on developing technologies and methods that overcome barriers to the low-carbon transition, which include the unacceptable risks of untested innovations that could jeopardise equipment, production and/or worker safety.
The potential to further the processing of rare earth elements is globally significant.
The South Australian government is equally committed to investing in the development of our state’s innovative and world class space capabilities.
Co-operation and partnerships across government, industry and research across the international space community are essential in advancing technological development.
Space-based technology has a central role to play in realising sustainable environmental, social and economic benefits for all.
South Australia is Australia’s Space State and is the home of:
- the Australian Space Agency
- the Australian Mission Control Centre
- the Australian Space Discovery Centre
- the future Australian Space Park, and
- more than 100 space-related organisations.
My state is playing a leading role in the development of Earth Observation sovereign capability in support of the Australian Space Agency’s National Space Mission for Earth Observation Program.
Australia’s leading national space industry and research consortium, the SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre, based in Adelaide, is focusing its efforts on advancing Earth Observation.
The SmartSat CRC is building on Australia’s expertise in transforming ever-increasing streams of satellite data into essential, decision-ready information for industry, government and Defence.
The South Australian government will also be launching Australia’s first state satellite, Kanyini, into low-earth orbit in 2023.
The South Australian Space Services Mission satellite, Kanyini, is being led by the SmartSat CRC in partnership with two South Australian space companies – Inovor Technologies and Myriota. One of only a few Australian satellite manufacturers, Inovor Technologies is designing and building the satellite. Adelaide-based global space company Myriota is managing the Internet of Things payload, which will collect data from devices and sensors on the Earth’s surface.
Kanyini will use a powerful imaging payload that combines hyperspectral and thermal imaging with high-level data processing and Artificial Intelligence capabilities that enable smart processing of data directly on orbit.
The satellite will provide vital data for everyday South Australians, such as assisting farmers to monitor water levels and more accurately predict future crop yields, and supporting government to deliver state services including environmental management, water quality monitoring, mining and bushfire mitigation.
Data will also be available to schools as part of the government’s approach creating educational opportunities that inspire students to follow pathways into space careers and accelerate broader understanding of space data and possible applications.
In October 2022, Myriota announced an agreement with ISILAUNCH, a commercial CubeSat launch services company based in the Netherlands, to send Kanyini into orbit. Under the Launch Services Agreement, Myriota has booked a spot for Kanyini to blast off on a SpaceX Transporter mission in late 2023.
The South Australian government is committed to increasing the complexity of our economy and driving growth that is sustainable and fair. Crucial to this endeavour is the need to invest in the skills, technologies and research needed for the industries of the future – with a substantial research and innovation agenda across sectors including defence, science, space, clean energy and cyber security, and cutting-edge work being done on quantum technologies in collaboration with artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Industry collaboration is so important to the translation of this research, the adoption of new technologies and developing new industrial and workforce capabilities.
And we know that the knowledge, skills and technologies that will be developed through these partnerships, will benefit many other sectors.
I thank President Lee for the opportunity to visit Hanyang University this morning and share with you my thoughts on the importance of collaboration – government working in partnership with industry and higher education – to support industry capability and transformation, for the demands of today and for the future.
I look forward to seeing many more of you take the opportunity to further your studies in South Australia, and gain an important international perspective, while capitalising on the tremendous opportunities available to you here at Hanyang University.
Thank you.