Estimates
Estimates of revenue and expenditure
Consideration of tabled papers
Resumed from an earlier stage of the sitting.
Hon Dr Parwinder Kaur (5:07 pm): Before question time, we were talking about economic diversification and why it is so important for Western Australia, and the ambitious plan for our future that is Made in WA.
The President: Order, members! There is a little bit too much noise in the chamber for the member to continue her contribution. Keep it at a very low hum.
Hon Dr Parwinder Kaur: We were talking about doubling the Strategic Industries Fund to $1 billion, and why that matters to achieve the ambitious goal we set ourselves in terms of a future that is Made in WA. I mentioned that this fund is already delivering support for new developments in Bunbury, Kwinana and other regions, and will also support the establishment of the South West advanced manufacturing and technology hub in Picton. That will not be unique; similar hubs have been created in many parts of the world.
I would like to share some examples of how governments have leveraged special economic zones and free economic zones in targeted industrial precincts to drive transformative economic growth, underpinned by supportive infrastructure incentives and a coordinated policy. This is the way we are doing it as we speak. One example is that of our closest neighbour, Indonesia. Indonesia's approach to industrial growth and clean energy is through the development of special economic areas like the Batam Industrial Zone and Kendal Industrial Park; these have attracted billions of dollars in foreign direct investment. These zones are not just industrial estates; they are clean energy and advanced manufacturing hubs backed by strategic government planning, infrastructure investment and incentives.
Building on similar models, governments have enabled opportunities for their countries' future workforce and what they can achieve. Singapore transformed Jurong Island into a global petrochemical and clean energy innovation cluster by investing early in industrial-ready infrastructure. Today, it hosts some of the world's leading firms in advanced materials, hydrogen research and sustainable fuels. This demonstrates how long-term planning can anchor high-value industries and position nations at the forefront of clean energy solutions, something that we need to do urgently.
Another interesting example is from Germany, where momentum has been built through hydrogen valleys and specialised economic zones, demonstrating how coordinated infrastructure investment and regulatory support can decarbonise heavy industry.
I am really excited that Western Australia is the very first state in Australia to have a 10-year science and technology plan. While we were developing that science and technology plan last year, there was a lot of engagement and learning from these global ventures, such as the Fraunhofer Institutes in Germany, and how we can utilise the same model to transform how we use research capacity in Western Australia's world-leading universities to deliver the solutions that are most required by our industries. It is a huge achievement. We are the only state to have a 10-year science and technology plan and we are the only state to have a road map that will evolve before anybody else can take those high-value industries.
Another example is India, and it is the reason that it is one of the powers in the world when it comes to economic diversification and building the most amazing unicorns in the startup ecosystem in that country. Three years back, I had an opportunity to travel with the Premier, Roger Cook, and one of Australia's biggest delegations of more than 120 businesses. We were trying to understand why, despite some of the most cutting-edge research happening here, we have not been able to translate all those ideas into products. Again, I did some back-of-an-envelope calculations during that trip to understand and unpack that question a little bit more. It is really important to have end-to-end ecosystems to be able to deliver something similar to what we are trying to achieve through our Kensington technology park and the newly announced medical precinct that we are building. When somebody wants to invest in an idea, they would like to see a product come from that investment. It is very important for a foreign investor to see an idea translate into a product and go through that chain without having to go through three different geographical locations or deal with three different government policies and regulatory operations. India achieved that end-to-end ecosystem beautifully. One of the most interesting examples we saw was Hyderabad's Genome Valley, at which the COVID vaccine was not only developed, but also delivered to the entire country. The entire chain was achieved in just one precinct. I have been the founder of a startup company. I tried to achieve that here in Western Australia but, as all members would understand, because of our location, which offers many advantages, the cost of doing business and research in Western Australia is always higher than that of our counterparts in the eastern states and other parts of the world. That is why it is only us who need to take care of this and build those ecosystems.
In Hyderabad Genome Valley, they have enabled a 16% guaranteed return on investment. That is a guaranteed 16% return on investment. Because of that, they were able to attract some of the biggest super funds from Canada to invest into those ventures. Do members know how they delivered a 16% return on investments? It was because a fully functional laboratory was costing a dollar per square metre. We can never achieve that here, and these are the things for which we really need to be visionary. We need to be able to build that infrastructure. We need to be able to deliver those precincts like we are looking forward to delivering the medical precinct, the Kensington technology park, the biggest telescopes in the world through our Square Kilometre Array project, and one of the biggest—and the world's fourth greenest—supercomputer, the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre. These have been enabled by previous investments by the federal and state governments. These are the very foundation infrastructures that are required to build a future Made in WA. With that, I would like to commend this budget to the house and the people of Western Australia.
Debate adjourned, on motion by Hon Lauren Cayoun.
