Signing Ceremony Between Monash University and Suzhou Industrial Park

I am delighted and proud to be here today.

Delighted to celebrate the renewal of the five-year collaboration between the Suzhou Industrial Park and Monash University.

And proud because – speaking as the former Vice Chancellor Monash University – I know how hard so many people worked to make this collaboration a success.

Looking around, I am reminded of the work that went into establishing Monash’s partnership with Southeast University China here in Suzhou.

In 2012, Monash became the first foreign university to be granted a licence to operate in China.

The graduate school Monash opened in partnership with Southeast University China has educated 2600 post-graduates since that time.

The Monash-Southeast partnership works brilliantly – as does the Monash-Suzhou Industrial Park partnership.

It works because it builds on Monash’s long association with Suzhou – and enables the best and brightest researchers to collaborate and work with industry on areas from sustainability to energy to medical technology and resource recovery.

Given the quality of the facilities and people associated with this Institute it’s impossible to predict what might be achieved during another five years of research and development.

Anything is possible, I suspect.

In considering the future of this partnership, let me reflect on Victoria’s history.

At the height of Victoria’s Gold Rush in the 1850s – a gold rush that was greater than the California gold rush of the 1840s – one-in-five adults in Victoria were Chinese.

Those Chinese pioneers faced many hardships – but they persevered and they succeeded.

Those pioneers had a name for Victoria. They called it Xin Jin Shan or New Gold Mountain.

It’s easy to see why those Chinese pioneers called Victoria New Gold Mountain.

After all, they saw the place as a land of opportunity.

Fast-forward 170 years, and the New Gold Mountain is not rooted in any one geographic spot.

It could be Melbourne. It could be Suzhou.

It could be both places.

The New Gold Mountain could be anywhere because the most precious gold of the 21st century is innovation – and innovation is founded on education and research.

Suzhou Industrial Park has a long association with innovation.

Monash has a long association with education and research.

The Monash Suzhou Research Institute is the combination of the strengths of these two Institutions – and, as such, it is bound to succeed.

With that in mind, let me leave you with a thought.

In Australia, Victoria is known as the education state.

We have eight public universities – with six ranked in the top 300 universities in the world and two ranked among the top 50 universities in the world.

We have world-class research facilities such as the Australian Synchrotron, as well as the iconic Parkville medical research precinct.

We are on the cutting edge of research, in materials and pharmaceuticals.

We produce 30 per cent of Australia’s STEM graduates.

And as one of the most diverse communities in the world – with almost one-in-three Victorians born overseas – we are always open to new people and new ideas.

Victoria a place where everyone is welcome, everyone belongs, and anyone can succeed.

We are always open to partners looking to make the next New Gold Mountain a reality.

Congratulations to the Monash Suzhou Research Institute. Speaking on behalf of the people of Victoria, I wish you every success.