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Following is the transcript of the speech delivered by the Hon. Arthur Sinodinos AO, Australia's Ambassador to the United States to the Future Work Summit 2022.
I would like to thank the Future Work Summit for the opportunity to provide some insights on collaborative work we are doing with partners in the US, to capitalise on opportunities to reshape our economy and our workforce.
Thanks also to the host of our panel and MC of the Summit, the indefatigable Maria MacNamara, for her invitation to speak. Maria is a force of nature and so important in bringing us together.
Today, I’d like to briefly focus on four key areas, collaborating across borders, space, quantum technologies, and energy, and opportunities for our future workforce in those areas.
As a former Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, I have a keen interest in how Australia and the US can share experience and learn from each other in these areas.
Disruption is the new constant, adapting to change, managing change, preparing for change is the mindset necessary for all of us to thrive and survive in the future.
We are witnessing a period of significant geopolitical, economic and social upheaval; disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; and rapid technological and climate change. We need to be agile in our responses.
The resilience of the United States, its capacity for change and propensity for innovation make it an indispensable partner in facing up to these challenges.
The Australia-US bilateral relationship goes from strength to strength and this cooperation, combined with our shared interests and values, provides a solid foundation for Australia and the US to work together as our economies continue to change and evolve.
The US is Australia’s second-largest trading partner and biggest investor, and Australians invest more in the US than they do in any other country.
We continue to work with US and Australian businesses to support investment in a range of sectors, including critical minerals and critical and emerging technologies.
AUKUS –an enhanced defence capability partnership between Australia, the US and UK – announced in September last year is an example of how we are modernising our partnerships to deal expressly with this new and uncertain environment.
The nuclear-powered submarine program will create jobs in Australia over the coming decades, but AUKUS also offers so many opportunities for collaboration beyond the submarine capability, which was the natural headline grabber.
It will also usher in a new age of trilateral cooperation that will enhance our joint capabilities and interoperability in cyber, artificial intelligence and quantum technologies.
AUKUS will be a partnership where our technology, our scientists, our industry and our defence forces all work together to deliver a safer and more secure region that ultimately benefits all.
We are also deepening our technology partnerships through the Quad.
Together with India, Japan and the United States, Australia is working to harness our respective nations’ capabilities to enhance the resilience of Indo-Pacific supply chains and foster an open, accessible and secure technology ecosystem.
At September’s first in-person Quad Leaders Meeting in Washington DC, leaders agreed to strengthen lines of effort across a number of very important areas, including combatting climate change; critical and emerging technology; cyber security; quality infrastructure, and the sustainable and stable use of outer space.
Collaboration on critical and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing is important as these are areas that will fundamentally change the way we work and live.
A challenge is who sets the rules and therefore, who benefits the most economically and geopolitically by being on the ground floor.
Australia will continue to advocate for a global rules-based order where technology is designed, developed, governed, and used should be shaped by our shared democratic values and respect for universal human rights.
As part of efforts to build Australia’s capabilities and ensure a resilient workforce, Prime Minister Morrison announced the release of the Critical Technologies Blueprint at the Sydney ASPI Dialogue last November.
Importantly, it includes the establishment of a Quantum Commercialisation Hub and National Quantum Strategy.
The Hub will foster strategic partnerships with like-minded countries to commercialise Australia’s quantum research and help Australian businesses access new markets and investors.
During the development of the National Quantum Strategy, we’ll be looking to partner with the US government and companies.
We want to jointly expand our quantum industries, research and commercialisation, skills exchange and collaboration on standards.
In November 2021, the US and Australian Government’s signed a joint Statement of Cooperation on Quantum to boost collaboration on quantum science and technology between our two countries.
Australia and the United States have a long history of space cooperation – going back to the earliest days of NASA’s space missions in the 1960s. Australia has important strengths in space technology, such as our unique location to launch and communicate with space; our know-how in robotics, sensors and automation; our R&D capabilities; and our highly skilled workforce.
Space is one of the key sectors identified priority in Australia’s 1.5 billion Australian dollar Modern Manufacturing Strategy announced last year.
Under that Strategy, the Australian Government developed a road map for space and offered significant grant funding.
The U.S. remains the world’s most significant and rapidly evolving space sector, with the largest government space budget and commercial space industry A number of US companies have expressed interest in Australian launch sites and I attended a roundtable with a number of these companies when Trade Minister Tehan visited the US last July.
During that visit, Minister Tehan announced that the Australian and US Government’s would commence negotiating a Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) that will enable US companies to use Australian launch sites once the agreement has been finalised.
I am looking forward to attending the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs in April, which will showcase some of what Australia has to offer.
From my position in Washington, I’m aware of how well-positioned Australia is to support the United States as it looks to develop domestic supply chains for renewable energy, advanced batteries, electric vehicles and other clean technologies.
Secure, reliable and sustainable sources of critical minerals are crucial for US national security and achieving the Administration’s climate goals.
Australian companies are already developing cobalt, lithium, graphite and rare earth projects in the United States that will support the clean energy transition.
And Australia is among the top five global producers for lithium [largest, 49 per cent global production], rare earths [fourth largest, 9 per cent], and other battery minerals.
Domestically, the US Administration has set itself an ambitious goal of reducing emissions by 50-52 per cent by 2030.
Recognising that one of the US’ priorities is constructing a national network of electric vehicle (EV) chargers, Australia is already collaborating with the US in this space Last year, Brisbane-based Tritium announced that it would be providing technology to EV Gateway, an EV charging station management network, to provide a turnkey charging solution for Southern California parks and beaches.
Tritium’s CEO, Jane Hunter, stood alongside President Biden at the White House last month to announce a new Tritium factory in Tennessee that will produce 10,000 DC fast charger units per year, with the potential to increase production to approximately 30,000 per year at peak capacity.
International collaboration through practical projects is crucial to lowering the cost of low emissions technologies across global supply chains.
I’m looking forward to the Summit on Clean Energy Supply Chains that the Prime Minister has proposed for later this year to explore what is possible by working together.
Recognising the importance of harnessing and building strong pipelines of talent, particularly in the field of critical and emerging technologies, Quad leaders have agreed to sponsor new Quad Fellowships, which will enable 100 students per year to study at top STEM graduate schools across the United States.
The Fellowship will develop a network of science and technology experts committed to advancing innovation and collaboration in the private, public, and academic sectors, in their own nations and among Quad countries.
The program will build a foundational understanding among Quad Scholars of each other’s societies and cultures through cohort-wide trips and robust programming with each country’s top scientists, technologists, and politicians.
We’re excited that applications for the inaugural Fellowship will open soon, with the first cohort to commence in the academic year 2023.
I also wish to commend the work of Peter Verwer, the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Global Business and Talent Attraction, his work reflects a new mindset in going out to meet the market to bring business to Australia and make it easier to bring the best and brightest to live and work in Australia.
Australia, like the United States, is committed to promoting global rules and norms, including as they relate to the development and deployment of technology.
As President Biden has said:
“We’re … encountering a new era — an era of new technologies and possibilities that have the potential to release and reshape every aspect of human existence. And it’s up to all of us to determine whether these technologies are a force to empower people or to deepen repression.”
And Australia is one of only 15 founding members of the Global Partnership on AI — a coalition working to ensure AI is used responsibly and respects human rights and democratic values.
The recent announcement by the United States that they are developing an Indo-Pacific economic framework also presents us with an opportunity to progress regional digital trade norms and other initiatives such as closer cooperation on critical supply chains.
Continuing to focus on co-operation with the US and other partners will help us capitalise on the new opportunities that critical and emerging technologies, space, Cyber, AI and our wealth of talent present.
Thank you.
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