Source: New Zealand Government
Good morning everyone.
Today, we celebrate the welcoming and deepening partnership between New Zealand and the European Union.
I want to acknowledge Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič , Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Ministerial colleagues, EU Ambassadors, and all our guests from Europe and New Zealand. Thank you for joining us.
I want to talk about science, innovation and technology.
New Zealand and the EU are close, like-minded partners, united by shared values, and a commitment to science and technology for a better future.
Our researchers collaborate on health, environment, advanced technologies and agriculture – tackling shared challenges together.
These partnerships are possible because of the dedication of our people and institutions, supported by our governments – and there are always more opportunities to collaborate.
What is also true, is that New Zealand’s association with Pillar 2 of Horizon Europe has taken our partnership to a new level.
We are proud to be the first country outside of Europe’s immediate neighbourhood to join.
Already, New Zealand researchers are involved in 20 Horizon Europe projects, with a success rate matching our European peers – proof of the value placed on New Zealand science.
Our collaboration is delivering real-world impact. Today’s “innovation spotlight” videos showcase joint advances in AI for healthcare, plant health, and sustainable textiles.
With the recent establishment of New Zealand’s new Bioeconomy Science Institute as part of our science reforms, we have created the second largest bioeconomy research institute in the world.
New Zealand’s biodiscovery sector brings further unique strengths to this partnership.
New Zealand has 80,000 indigenous species, and only 35,000 have been scientifically described.
Somewhere in those 80,000 may lie the next cancer drugs, the next nutraceuticals, and the best part is we have a head start with indigenous knowledge and a multibillion-dollar Māori economy.
That’s why we recently announced $42 million for a biodiscovery platform, to be led by the Bioeconomy Science Institute, to support the commercialisation and growth of New Zealand’s already strong and diverse biodiscovery sector – which includes organisations such as the Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery. I want to reflect on the name of that institute for a moment.
If I say to you all, who discovered DNA, the template for humanity and structures, you will likely say to me Watson and Crick, Nobel Prize 1962. Actually, the 1962 Nobel Prize for discovery of the structure of DNA went to 3 people: Watson, Crick, and New Zealander Maurice Wilkins.
Meteorologists are telling us that the wind and rain that battered New Zealand this week is due to an Antarctic weather pattern in Antarctica last month. Antarctica matters to all of us.
Christchurch in the South Island is one of only five Antarctic gateways, and indeed is a gateway to Antarctica for several European countries.
We are investing in our Antarctic Science Platform to support science, amongst other things, on the impact of climate on Antarctica, including the Ross Ice Shelf, which, if it melts as part of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, will raise sea levels for all of us by three to five metres. Antarctica is a unique and fertile platform for collective science endeavours, and New Zealand has both a gateway, and science facilities at Scott Base. We’d welcome your further interest and collaboration.
Others will speak in more detail during the forum, but as the Prime Minister noted, since Rocket Lab’s first orbital launch in 2016, New Zealand has become the world’s third busiest commercial space launch site, and we aim to double the sector in the next five years.
So, we can get to space, and once there we can also do stuff. New Zealand’s Robinson’s Research Institute in collaboration with Victoria University of Wellington currently has the world’s first ever, high temperature superconducting magnet bolted on to the outside of the International Space Station. The next step in energy dense super conduction.
It’s that expertise that supported our $71 million investment in Robinson Research Institute, for a new science platform dedicated to future superconductive magnetic and materials technologies.
Like a few places in Europe, noticeably Iceland, New Zealand also has an area in the middle of the North Island, where the earth’s crust is thin, and coincidentally where the world’s second ever geothermal energy plant was constructed in 1958.
We already have 80 to 85 per cent renewable energy, but to power the huge data centres Microsoft, Google and others want to build here, quite simply, we need more.
So, as a Government, we have recently committed tens of millions of dollars to drill down four kilometres, to hit supercritical geothermal energy. This then is an invitation to join us on that exploration, and together to crack open that renewable energy source that is so tantalisingly close to commercialisation.
To summarise, opportunities for collaboration in space, quantum, geothermal energy and AI are expanding.
New Zealand also now has access to Horizon Europe’s restricted calls in these areas, and I encourage our collective researchers to seize these opportunities.
To our European friends: New Zealand is open for business and science partnerships, from advanced technology to agritech, from Antarctica to space, from geothermal to foiling America’s Cup boats.
Like Europe, we want to back science that will shape our future industries, build skills, and turn innovation into real-world products.
In conclusion, New Zealand may be small, but we punch above our weight, we are good partners, and we have some geographic advantages that we want to share with you.
Our collective success depends on strong global partnerships – like those we celebrate today. I hope you make valuable connections at this summit and throughout your visit.
Thank you for your commitment and collaboration.