The University of Western Australia is home to a special senior citizen. They have lived here for 62 years.
IBM 1620 was the first “stored program” computer ever to operate in Western Australia. This paper tape computer was first switched on by Dennis Moore in September 1962. Dennis was Officer-in-Charge of the UWA Computing Centre. A small part of the mathematics department. But he knew if he trained people, if the University created the qualifications of the future, Australia could again, choose our own luck.
And we did.
Speaking in 2015, Dennis said of bringing computing to Western Australia:
"I had 4 years’ experience of computing by then and that was a lot in those days…
The University only had 300 staff, it wasn’t big. Perth was less than half a million [people]…"
Dennis went on to become the Director of Government Computing. He lead the first digitisation of Government data in WA with the Land Information System. One of the leaders of the computing transformation of Australia the 1960s through to the 1980s.
Again Australia sits at a moment where we get to choose.
Choosing the future
Our government wants to choose A Future Made In Australia. That’s our plan. And it is a plan to get ahead of where the world is heading.
The CSIRO has identified seven “megatrends” that will have a transformative impact on Australia over the next 20 years. We need to plan for these megatrends.
And we are.
Amongst others, the CSIRO identified three themes of:
1. Leaner, cleaner and greener.
They say our wellbeing and our economic future lies in:
“solutions to our resource constraints through synthetic biology, alternative proteins, advanced recycling and the net-zero energy transition.”
2. Diving into digital.
Many of us feel we are already swimming in digital. Alerts from half a dozen messaging apps. More PDFs than we have time to read. But again, the CSIRO tells us: “the vast majority of digitisation yet to occur.”
We are at the start of the digital revolution. Just as the industrial revolution went for almost a century, the digital revolution is just getting started.
3. And the final mega trend I seek to highlight is “Increasingly autonomous”.
I argue that nowhere in the world is creating more autonomous value than right here in Perth. If you have been to the autonomous control centres in East Perth, West Perth or the Airport you will have seen the future. You will have seen the jobs. The benefits. You will have seen Australia leading the pack of this revolution.
A new type of superpower
So these megatrends are happening. Leaner and cleaner. Diving into Digital. Increasingly Autonomous.
They will happen whether we sit still or whether we act. So what does this country of 27 million people want to do?
We can leave these opportunities to others. Or we can shape this future.
Australia in 2050
So let’s have a glimpse at that future.
Perth in 2050 will be even more beautiful than it is today. Some 3.5 million people will call it home. We will still have the Swan River. Long macs will still be topped up. Australia will still have one of the highest standards of living anywhere in the world. The Perth skyline still has many familiar business names and many new ones.
But alongside our traditional exports sit new ones. Advanced manufacturing. Value-added minerals like clean iron. Our intellectual property on automation. Clean hydrogen to fuel our trading partners.
Western Australia will always be an energy exporter. We provide the energy that powers our friends in Japan, Singapore, Korea and many more. Energy that is building the renewables of the future including wind turbines, electric cars and electronic circuits.
It is up to us to meet the demand now and the future for new energy – clean hydrogen and more. And the businesses of Western Australia need to help lead that transition. Because it is a transformation, not a switch.
The International Energy Agency tells us we don’t yet have all the technology we need.
They tell us:
“Reaching net zero by 2050 requires further rapid deployment of available technologies as well as widespread use of technologies that are not on the market yet.”
Now the choice here in Australia is, do we wait? Or do we fill that gap?
I say we fill the gap. Grab the opportunity. Because if we get it right, Perth in 2050 will be at the heart of Australia’s future as a renewable energy superpower.
The Future Made in Australia plan
This year’s budget committed $22.7 billion in the Future Made in Australia plan. It is a plan to become a renewable energy superpower. We do that by making Australia indispensable.
The world will realise you can’t have net zero without Australia.
And we have highlighted five industries aligned with our National Interest Framework
- Renewable hydrogen
- Critical minerals processing
- Green metals
- Low carbon liquid fuels
- Clean energy manufacturing, including battery and solar panel supply chains.
That’s how we play to our advantages and get ahead of where the world is heading.
Australia’s export future
I want to conclude my remarks with a simple truth.
Politics is all about choices. And the choices we make now will define us for this century.
This is the defining decade. It sets our course for the future of the net zero economy. The biggest change since the industrial revolution began more than 250 years ago.
250 years is a long time. Let me put it in more immediate terms. For the first three decades of my life, coal was Australia’s largest export. For every day of my children’s life, it has been iron ore powering Australia’s exports.
But be it agriculture, energy or minerals. Australia has always been in the bulk commodity trade. Agriculture and coal exports helped open up our trade and people to people links. Iron ore has given Australia world leading logistics, automation and mining expertise. But we are so much more than ore.
That’s where our future lies. Bringing our people, our technology and our natural resources together. That’s what happened when the IBM 1620 arrived here at UWA more than six decades ago. It is what we must do now. Our Future Made in Australia plan embodies that spirit of innovation. It offers the growth the next generation deserves.
Together, let us shape a future that is not just about ore. But about a dynamic, diverse, and thriving Australia.