Source: New Zealand Government
Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou. Kia ora mai tatou.
Good evening.
Thank you, Margaret, for your warm introduction, and thank you, for inviting me to join you today. Katrina, ko tēnei tatou mihi e tuku ora ki a koe. Ko tēnei te mihi, ko tēnei te mihi.
I’d like to welcome our overseas visitor, Dr Cathy Foley, who will speak later and to thank you for supporting New Zealand’s photonics and quantum sectors. I’d also like to extend congratulations on your appointment to the board of the new Future Magnetic and Materials Technologies Platform, hosted by the Robinson Research Institute.
I’d also like to acknowledge Professor Frédérique Vanholsbeeck, of the Dodd Walls Centre, for helping drive our photonics sector, and for your dedication to supporting our young researchers.
Frédérique wrote to me earlier this year on behalf of the Australian and New Zealand Optical Society.
In her letter, she reminded me of the importance of New Zealand’s photonics industry, and how a strong science sector will provide economic benefits for all New Zealanders. A message this Government wholeheartedly shares, and I’m sure, resonates with everyone in this room.
Let’s place this where we are amongst our progress towards delivering the largest reform to New Zealand’s science and technology system in over 30 years. An important part of this work is a clear vision: that advanced technologies, like quantum, are critical drivers of New Zealand’s future growth and prosperity.
And let me be clear – this Government is not simply observing the global race in emerging technologies. We are committed to developing capability and capacity to lead in areas where we already have great strength.
Prioritising investment in fields like quantum, AI, advanced materials, and synthetic biology will help to secure our economic resilience, creating high-value jobs, and ensuring New Zealand remains a nation that doesn’t just adapt to the future, but helps shape it.
This Government does want every dollar invested in science to create meaningful benefits for all New Zealanders. That’s why we’re reshaping the system to be more cohesive, forward-looking, and better aligned with the needs of our economy.
We’ve already reached several important milestones. Earlier this year, we announced the consolidation of the seven Crown Research Institutes into three Public Research Organisations. These new organisations are focused on key areas of national importance, including the bioeconomy, earth sciences, and public health and forensic science. Senior leaders in the previous CRIs have explained the delight in having cross organisation discussions without NDA like arrangements.
Just four weeks ago, we unveiled the fourth Public Research Organisation, the New Zealand Institute for Advanced Technology, which will supercharge our country’s economy through advanced technologies like quantum, AI, and synthetic biology. These are fields with the power to completely revolutionise science and technology as we know it.
To support this new organisation, the Government has committed an initial investment of $231 million over four years.
As the first part to this investment, I recently announced $71 million in funding for the Future Magnetic and Materials Technologies hosted by Robinson Research Institute, here in Wellington. This investment will leverage our world-leading expertise in superconductors, magnets, and materials, positioning New Zealand at the forefront of cutting-edge research.
By consolidating the Crown Research Institutes, we are encouraging greater collaboration, reducing overlap, and boosting performance.
To ensure our science investments focus on areas of greatest opportunity and economic impact, I am chairing the new Prime Minister’s Science, Innovation and Technology Advisory Council.
This Council brings together some of New Zealand’s most respected leaders in science and technology, and has already begun providing clear, strategic advice to the Government on where to prioritise our national science investments
We held our first meeting three weeks ago, and had exceptionally productive discussions on science priorities and critical emerging technologies. I look forward to continuing this momentum in shaping a new strategic approach for our science system.
Of course, science alone doesn’t create economic growth. It needs to be taken up, put to work, and transformed into products by Kiwi businesses. That’s why we are developing a national policy for intellectual property arising from publicly funded research especially in our universities.
Grounded in international best practice, this policy will boost commercialisation by ensuring researchers, have more agency in their inventions and are rewarded for their breakthrough work.
To further support the reforms, Minister McClay has also established Invest New Zealand. Designed as a one-stop shop for foreign investment, this new government agency is working with multinational corporations and investors to attract people, businesses, and capital into our national science and technology systems.
Overall, I hope this brief summary has given you a real sense of the momentum currently building to create a more productive, commercially driven, innovation-led, science and technology system. An improved system capable of generating sustained growth, and delivering economic benefits to all New Zealanders, for many years to come.
Importantly, these reforms will also help build national capability, and ensure critical skills stay within New Zealand.
Advanced technologies, like quantum, are very much at the heart of this strategy in which New Zealand has a long and proud history. I think today’s event shows that we are set to continue being a key innovator, and international partner, in advancing this exciting frontier.
Part of the challenge across all advanced technologies, is to envisage what part of what can be vast domains, does New Zealand already have international competitive and strategic advantage and therefore what should be maintained and what should be accelerated. That is the discission we are currently having around AI and I would ask the quantum community to also ponder this.
In closing,s a goal we believe in and will continue to prioritise investment in emerging technologies – because they are the engines of our future prosperity, the foundation for new industries, and the key to ensuring New Zealand stands tall in a rapidly changing world.
Thank you.
