Speeches
Thursday, 13 August 2026
Morning tea for Japan Space Delegatio
Rod and I warmly welcome you all to South Australia for the second phase of the Japan-South Australia Space Dialogue.
I trust you enjoyed the first day of your visit.
It was my pleasure to visit Japan in June and to be present at the first phase of this dialogue.
I’m pleased to engage again with Professor Fujimoto, Professor Tsuda, Professor Muratani and Dr Kitagawa, to meet new delegation members, and to extend to you all the hospitality of Government House.
In Japan we enjoyed a productive conversation on how we can both capitalise on the value of closer cooperation.
I am confident your visit to Adelaide will further strengthen our ties and reinforce our state’s role as a trusted partner for launch capability and for alliances across space, defence, energy and critical technologies.
Our dialogue is also a fitting way to mark the 50th anniversary of the Australia-Japan Basic Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, celebrating half a century of partnership between our two nations.
As I said in Tokyo, South Australia is proud to be home to the Australian Space Agency and the Australian Space Discovery Centre, supported by world-class infrastructure — the Woomera Range Complex, the Whaler's Way Orbital Launch Complex, the Koonibba Test Range, and our Responsive Space Operations Centre.
We are also looking forward to a new Australian Space Common User Facility at Lot Fourteen, right here in the heart of Adelaide – which you will visit this afternoon.
Our state leads in space research and innovation, through SmartSat CRC, our university research hubs, and our world-leading work in space agriculture — all backed by a $33 million commitment from the South Australian Government to grow our space ecosystem.
None of this would be possible without our enduring partnership with Japan.
We are proud to have hosted the historic Hayabusa 1 and 2 asteroid sample returns at Woomera — missions that remain a source of great pride for both our nations, and whose legacy lives on in the JAXA-gifted launch rail still in use at our test range today.
That partnership continues to grow.
Through Artemis III, Adelaide University's Andy Thomas Centre for Space Resources is contributing to JAXA's Lunar Dielectric Analyser mission, helping pave the way for a sustainable human presence on the Moon.
And we look ahead with real excitement to JAXA's Martian Moons eXploration mission, with the hope that Woomera may once again welcome samples home — this time from Phobos.
Friends,
I trust your visit to Adelaide will provide a practical platform for strengthening institutional relationships, fostering industry collaboration, and identifying opportunities for future joint projects.
Enjoy the rest of your time in South Australia. I look forward to the outcomes of our continued cooperation.