On 16 May 2025, Prof Tony Haymet delivered a speech in Osaka to mark 45 years of Australia-Japan science and technology cooperation.

 

Thank you, Bobby (MC Dr Bobby Cerini, Deputy Director of Questacon).

As Australia’s Chief Scientist, and on behalf of the Australian Government, it is my pleasure to welcome you to tonight’s anniversary celebrations.

Firstly, I would like to acknowledge and thank Japan’s Keynote Speaker for tonight, Mr Toshiaki Sato, (JAXA Vice President for International Relations) and His Excellency, Justin Hayhurst, Australia’s Ambassador to Japan, and Nancy Gordon, Commissioner General, who will provide this evening’s closing remarks.

Can I also take this opportunity to acknowledge Professor Brian Schmidt, who is delivering one of this evening’s keynote addresses.

Professor Schmidt, a Nobel Prize winner, is an astronomer at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Australian National University, and we are very fortunate to have him here tonight.

As I am sure many of you are aware, he was a JSPS scholar (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science), which is an organisation that has also supported me.

So I’d also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and welcome all the JSPS scholars here this evening.

On a personal note, I am delighted to be here – Japan holds such fond memories for me.

In December 1994, as a young Professor at Sydney University, JSPS sponsored my visit to the Chemical Engineering Department of the University of Kyoto.

It’s hard to believe that was 30 years ago!

That visit had a profound effect on me, and I made lifelong friends as a result.

Of course, Japan has long been a leader in cutting-edge technology and that was certainly evident to me back in the 90s.

Often it was the little things that had the biggest impact on me.

For example, I distinctly remember seeing and using an ATM for the very first time during one of my early visits to this country.

I was astounded by this technology – a hole in the wall from which you could access your money 24-hours-a-day!  

And I have returned to Japan frequently over the years and have made many more observations like this. Too many to mention this evening, of course.

My most recent visit before today was back in October 2024, to lecture at Hiroshima University and for discussions with colleagues at JAMSTEC – the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.

Australia and Japan have a strong history of working closely together in a range of areas to the mutual benefit of both our nations.

We have been doing business with one another for centuries.

Japan-Australia relations date back to the late 1800s, when Japan began importing Australian coal and wool.

At around the same time, Japanese immigrants came to Australia to work in a variety of fields.

Now, Australia and Japan work together and apply our skills to new industries.

Japan is one of Australia’s most important collaborators in science and innovation.

We work so well together because Japan has a strong innovation ecosystem and prioritises science and technology within modern society – and Australia aspires to be the same.

It is why we are here tonight – to mark 45 years of bilateral cooperation under our Australia-Japan Science and Technology Treaty.

Happily, our relationship continues to strengthen.

I am reminded of one of the best examples of our close ties every time I am in the capital, Canberra.

And I’m sure this will resonate with our MC tonight, Bobby Cerini.

Questacon – Australia’s nation science and technology centre – was built with the support of Japan’s government and business community.

Japan contributed to half the cost of the building – a gift to mark Australia’s bicentenary in 1988.

It was opened by then Prime Minister Bob Hawke, who said Questacon would “justly stand as an enduring symbol of the friendship between Australia and Japan”.

And it has.

Questacon is now much more than a building – it’s an Australian icon, synonymous with Canberra and with science.

It draws half a million visitors each year and consistently wins national tourism awards.

In fact, visiting Questacon as a school student is almost a rite of passage for every young Australian.  

There are many other examples, but one in particular springs to mind because there’s a loose – but quite remarkable – personal connection for me.

In 2010, after a ground-breaking seven-year journey through space, Japan’s Hayabusa I asteroid probe successfully released its sample return capsule.

The capsule, containing samples from an asteroid's surface, parachuted down to the designated landing site in a remote area of South Australia.

That remote area was near Woomera, a tiny ‘village’ in the desert, about 500km from the state’s capital, Adelaide.

On landing, the capsule was whisked away by a team from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

The process was so successful that it was repeated a decade later.

In 2020, Hayabusa2 completed its six-year, 5.1-billion-kilometre journey, and once again released a capsule down to Earth in the Australian desert – in Woomera.

Here’s where there’s a personal link for me.

Woomera is a speck on the map with a population of less than 200.

Not many people can say they live – or have lived – in the red dirt of Woomera.

But I can say I know someone who has.

In fact, she just happens to be my wife, and she joins us here this evening.

I realise it’s a tenuous connection to a series of remarkable scientific feats, but it’s a reminder of the close links we enjoy and the partnerships we have shared over the years.

Science is at the heart of almost every aspect of our lives.

It is central to our capacity to deal with the challenges, disruptions and opportunities facing our country and our place in the world.

That’s why international collaboration on science and technology is so important.

Why partnerships with valued, trusted and highly capable partners like Japan are like gold.

We value our continuing work with Japan on many of the shared challenges that impact our region.

As we move forward, in what is sometimes a volatile and unpredictable geostrategic and economic environment, we will look to our robust friendship to stand us in good stead in challenging times.

Because it’s our scientists, researchers and innovators that are best placed to help us navigate these extraordinary challenges.

Thank you for your attention and please enjoy the rest of the evening, as we mark this major milestone for our respective countries.

ENDS

Image caption: Prof Tony Haymet delivers a speech in Osaka to mark 45 years of Aus-Japan science and tech cooperation.