THE HON BILL SHORTEN MP

LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION

MEMBER FOR MARIBYRNONG
SPEECH
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NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
NEW YORK, USA
THURSDAY, 24 JULY 2014
I am very grateful for this second opportunity to speak at the Australian-
American Leadership Dialogue.
And for the chance to thank all those who have worked so hard to make this
years dialogue another outstanding success.
There is always so much for us to share, and celerate, together.
!or more than two centuries, our national stories have een intertwined.
"ur two nations are like parted cousins, who went with similar dreams across
vast oceans to di#erent countries and ways of eing.
Australians and Americans fought and fell, side y side, in two world wars,
$orea, %ietnam, Ira& and Afghanistan.
A million '( soldiers passed through Australia, on their way to winning the
war in the )aci*c.
+,,--- rought Australian rides ack stateside.
And another +-,--- stayed in Australia to start and raise their families.
!or generations, American music has een the soundtrack to Australian
adolescence.
"ur actors and *lm directors have invaded your "scar nights, your great
picture palaces, your .roadway theatres.
"ne of our singers, /elen 0eddy, gave the American feminist movement its
anthem.
"ne of our writers, Tom $eneally, wrote modern classics on your 1ivil 2ar,
and the /olocaust that yet haunts so many of your citi3ens.
Americans and Australians died in the Twin Towers on 45++.
Australians and Americans were shot from the skies over 'kraine last week.
2e are onded, we are lood cousins, we share, as 0ick .laine said in the
favourite *lm of a million Australians, 6a eautiful friendship 7 in history,
literature, music, *lm and sport.
1ate .lanchett has played $atharine /epurn.
8udy Davis has played 9ancy 0eagan.
0ussell 1rowe has played 8ames 8. .raddock.
This year, the Dodgers and Diamondacks played at the (ydney 1ricket
:round.

Last month, )addy ;ills and Aron .aynes won championship rings with the
(an Antonio (purs 7 following in the footsteps of Luc Longley and Andrew
:a3e.
%ictorian Dante <=um was taken at pick *ve for the 'tah 8a33 while
>ueenslands 1ameron .airstow was taken in the second round y the
1hicago .ulls.
.en :raham played in an A!L :rand !inal for the :eelong 1ats 7 and in a
(uperowl for the 9ew ?ork 8ets.
(averio 0occa left the 9orth ;elourne $angaroos to ecome a punter for
the )hiladelphia <agles.
And <ric 2allace left 9orth 1arolina asketall for a spot at 9orth ;elourne.
Laver, 0osewall, 1ourt, 0after, /ewitt and (tosur have achieved the ultimate
success at !lushing ;eadow.
1onnors, 9avratilova, (ampras, Agassi, (eles and 2illiams have won legions
of admirers at the Australian "pen.
And for years, millions of Australians have set their alarms for Augusta.
2e have watched, leary-eyed, as :reg 9orman endured heartreak 7 and
Adam (cott asked in glory.
And in +@AB - four years efore the !irst !leet entered (ydney /arour -
:eneral :eorge 2ashington Coined soldiers in the 1ontinental Army at %alley
!orge in a game of cricket.
/e was on the winning side 7 of course.
Australia, like America, has a great tradition of stand-up comedy, of long,
ramling rhymed verse.
2e are multicultural societies that glory in good food and street dancing and
music and literature.
2e, like you, understand the diDculty of those coming urnt-out of terrile
wars and persecution into the forgetful tran&uillity of our suurs, ecoming
Australians, ecoming Americans.
2e, like you, do not underrate that diDculty.
2e understand the whole world is a melting pot now 7 and we celerate
that.
2e are two of the worlds oldest political democracies, ut in each case there
was not full su#rage till the +4E-s.
!or each of us social Custice has a way to go.
2e know that each of our countries could do etter, each of us can do more.
2e can do more to e=tend opportunity, to nurture the dreams of our citi3ens,
to give the ne=t generation a etter life and a greater chance.
This is our great shared goal.
This week, we have gathered in pursuit of all of this.
And today, at the 9ew ?ork Academy of (ciences, this monument to the
pursuit of knowledge, our focus is on science, technology, engineering and
mathematics.
There is no etter proof of Americas aility to look eyond the hori3on and
test the limits of the impossile than the way it has led the world in science
and innovation.
As Laors lead (cience and Innovation spokesman, I am very fond of ;ichael
(hermers de*nitionF
Science is not a thing it is a method a !"ocess a #a$ o% thin&ing'
Science is a (e") not a no*n'
Science is a method %o" *nde"standing the #o"+d a !"ocess that
in(o+(es e(idence "eason and es!ecia++$ testing c+aims',
Long efore (hermer said this, Americans emodied it.
They looked at the world around them and they sought to understand it, to
harness it for progress.
)eople like !ranklin, :oodyear, <dison, 2hitney, !ord and !irestone 7 driven
y a spirit of curiosity and en&uiry to uild a etter world.
Thats what needs to remain at the heart of our science curriculum 7 respect
for curiosity.
<ncouraging discovery.
Its what (ir )aul 9urse, the )resident of the 0oyal (ociety means when he
says there isF
a +itt+e )it o% the scientist in a++ o% *s es!ecia++$ #hen #e a"e $o*ng
chi+d"en,'
/es right.
1hloe and I have three marvellous children, one of whom is our four year old
daughter - and every day I am ama3ed y her limitless imagination and her
oundless curiosity.
(he shares a determination common to all young children 7 the desire to ask
why, and how 7 and to keep asking.
Thats the spirit of science 7 it is in-uilt, hardwired into our human nature.
"ur Co, as leaders, as policy-makers, as educators, as champions of science
and innovation, is to foster this fascination, and to roaden and deepen it in
our classrooms.
.ecause we all know the iggest factor in getting children to study science in
secondary school - and eyond - is the training their teacher has had.
2e all know that inspired teachers inspire children.
.ut, in the hands of hardworking, ut under&uali*ed, teachers who lack the
con*dence and knowledge to go eyond the set materials, (cience can e
re-cast as a dry, rigid series of rules, formulae and e&uations in te=tooks.
In reality, science is so much more than the accumulated weight of centuries
of discovery.
It is a cast of thought.
A way of thinking.
A mindset that allows our citi3ens to critically evaluate information 7 a skill
that has never een more important.
2e live in a time-poor, data-rich age.
2e carry in our pockets a more sophisticated computing system than the one
that landed Armstrong, Aldrin and 1ollins on the moon BG years ago this
week.
And ecause of this, no people in human history have had instant access to
the -*antit$ of information we do.
>uantity 7 ut not necessarily &uality.
In a world awash with self-pulished, self-proclaimed e=perts, a respect for
credile evidence helps us sift through the conspiracy theories and Dr
:oogles latest instant diagnosis.
A scienti*c mindset reminds us that uncertainty is not the enemy.
That framing the &uestion is sometimes Cust as important as seeking the
answer.
That dout drives discovery.
)reserving this spirit, encouraging this worldview will e Cust as critical as
nurturing our research institutes and higher education centres.
2ithout &uestion, many of the reakthroughs that will de*ne the ,+
st
1entury
will come from our university laoratories, our research centres and large-
scale collaorative proCects.
These research and development centres compete for limited private
investment and scarce government funding7 and they know that, more often
than not, the money follows 6results.
They need achievements to point to, enchmarks, milestones, proCected
returns.
This framework of accountaility is important.
The last thing we want is a grants system where investors are duped into an
investment in alchemy or ta=payer funds are frittered away on perpetual
motion machines.
.ut a short term cost-ene*t analysis should not constrict us.
9ot all research has an immediate, ovious commercial ene*t 7 and making
that the sole criterion sells short unknown potential.
!or e=ample, early Australian research on the a=on in the giant s&uid had no
demonstrale commercial potential.
?et it has deepened our understanding of the nervous system 7 priceless
knowledge.
9ot all ground-reaking discoveries will involve orderly, se&uential progress
toward a clearly sign-posted outcome.
And not every invention that changes our world will come from the
laoratories of 9?', (tanford, .erkeley or ;IT 7 or A9', '2A, ;onash or
(ydney 'niversity.
<ven in the ,+
st
1entury, great ideas, future-shaping change will come from
the workshops, garages and garden sheds, studies and school desks in our
suurs and country towns.
And it is our duty to ensure there is still room in our world for individual
innovation, for creative genius.
That it is still possile for an American or an Australian, to turn a great idea
into a successful start-up.
And to grow that start-up into a thriving enterprise.
9ot every new idea will e a good one.
9ot every new usiness will succeed.
The greatness of America is that it knows this.
It knows, thatF
the on+$ thing to %ea" is %ea" itse+%',
It was the same lesson I took from my visit to Israel in ,-+,.
Israel has made high-tech e=ports and entrepreneurship their point of
competitive advantage.
Israel, with a population of less than A million, fosters a thriving venture
capital industry that produces more successful start-ups than much larger
economies like 8apan and $orea.
Israels commitment to innovation - and commercialising that innovation - is
hard-wired into its key institutions.
Like America, the Israeli government emraces science and innovation - and
like America they understand that sometimes failure is merely a marker on
the road to success.
Investors realise that it is often an entrepreneurs second or third usiness
that will e their most successful.
I elieve that :overnments play a role in setting this tone, in creating this
culture.
9ot replacing private investment, or crowding it out.
.ut in supporting start-ups, nurturing creativity and rewarding ingenuity.
/ere again, America shows us the way.
Today - the rate of '( patent applications is at its highest level since the
Industrial 0evolution.
The 'nited (tates :overnment supports more asic research than the
private sector.
And a report from the .rookings Institute shows that patents funded y the
'( :overnment tend to e especially high &uality.
2hen the !ederal :overnment provides funding for small usiness research
and development 7 the result is higher metropolitan productivity growth.
In fact, the di#erence etween a high patenting and low patenting area is
worth more than HB--- in productivity per worker over a decade.
Aove all, the .rookings Institute 0eport shows us the value of collaoration
7 of innovation hus and integrated graduate research.
"f course, when science seeks to make history, or change the worldIthere
are always some risks that are greater than others.
(ometimes the price of failure is truly terrile.
9o country knows this etter than the 'nited (tates of America.
At EFJB pm, on !riday ,@ 8anuary +4E@, during a training e=ercise on the
launchpad of the 8ohn ! $ennedy centre, a Kash *re roke out in the
command module of Apollo +.

The *re only urned for J- seconds 7 ut it claimed the lives of all three
astronauts aoardF
Lieutenant 1olonel %irgil 6:us :rissom, a memer of the original ;ercury
(even.
Lieutenant 1olonel <dward 2hite, the *rst American to walk in space.
And 0oger 1ha#ee, who was preparing for his *rst space mission, were the
*rst Americans to die in pursuit of the grand national goal ofF
6+anding a man *!on the moon and "et*"ning him sa%e+$ to the
ea"th,'
Two and a half years later 7 and BG years ago this week 7 as 9eil Armstrong
and .u33 Aldrin prepared to leave the (ea of Tran&uillity, they reverently
placed the mission patch from Apollo + on the powdery surface.
There, amidst the 6magni*cent desolation, lie the names of :rissom, 2hite
and 1ha#ee.
0ememered forever, not for how they died 7 ut for why they lived.
2ithout Apollo +, there could have een no Apollo ++.
2ithout that terrile risk, there could have een no reward.
2ithout pioneers with the courage to risk it all, humanitys greatest Courney
could not have een made.
This is Americas e=ample.
This is Americas legacy.
It is from this that Australia takes our inspiration.
In science, in innovation, in discovery.

Thank you.
ENDS