SABRA LANE: Federal Parliament resumes today after the long winter break. The Federal Government's launching its National Science Statement and listing its top five priorities today. Ed Husic is the Industry and Science Minister, he joined me earlier to discuss it. Ed Husic, thanks for joining AM.

ED HUSIC, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND SCIENCE: Good morning.

SABRA LANE: The subtitle of this National Science Statement is "Future Made in Australia", which is legislation the government wants through Parliament but doesn't have support yet. Are you trying to shame your critics into supporting this policy?

ED HUSIC: I think that the work we've done on the National Science Statement and the National Science and Research Priorities is a recognition that great ideas create great products and great jobs. They give us an edge to do things differently to nations that will be competitors with ours - of ours on the world stage. And as we are trying to confront challenges like transition to net zero, of which Future Made in Australia has its central focus, that lot of work, these pieces, are all important to be able to join up and be able to lever off the back of the work done by Australian scientists and researchers to help us as a country make the things that, for instance, will reduce emissions and create jobs in the process. So, it is all important and all interlocked.

SABRA LANE: The strategy says a diverse, skilled workforce will underpin this strategy, pointing out that half of all the jobs in the future will require a degree. Currently, only 23 per cent of high school students study a STEM subject, being science, technology, engineering and maths. That's a long-term trend. How are you going to change that?

ED HUSIC: Being able to line up a number of things, not just in terms of education, but in particular the way we hold onto talent when it's in the workforce too, and also at early years, inspire and engage kids as well. And a big part of what we're in this week, National Science Week, is about doing just that and engaging the population across the country about the value importance of science and technology to the country's future.

SABRA LANE: One of the priorities is protecting and restoring Australia's environment. In restoring it, who is going to decide what the goal should be in reversing the damage and decline and what it should look like?

ED HUSIC: We asked our nation's chief scientist to talk to our scientists and researchers about the priorities they thought were important for the longer-term good of the country. We let science drive the development of these priorities and scientists and researchers are saying we need to be able to focus on that work. Their efforts in terms of finding new pathways, going to the heart of your question, about how to protect and improve environmental outcomes are very important. The last time these priorities were updated, they were first introduced - I just want to say quickly - by Bob Hawke 35 years ago as Prime Minister recognised the value of science to both the economy and community. The last time they were updated was Tony Abbott. And the scepticism, climate scepticism of that government was very much infused in the last lot of priorities. We don't want that. We want the science and research community to be able to drive it and to be able to inform us on how to strengthen the environment, get us to net zero for the first time, too, recognise the buildup of First Nations knowledge systems in this nation and how it can improve the quality of life and also economic opportunity in this country. And finally, also to build a secure and resilient nation. In terms of those priorities, really important.

SABRA LANE: Just on that point, the policy talks about Australia will strengthen its democratic institutions and freedoms while addressing challenges from foreign interference and things like misinformation, disinformation. How can people actually believe that when, for example, we know that the government's just signed up to a renewed AUKUS submarine agreement and given political commitments that remain secret?

ED HUSIC: Okay, well, that's, I mean, to be frank, Sabra that is a stretch, taking one element from another part of the public fora and then stretching it into what scientists and researchers have raised here as a priority. The reason they raised building a secure and resilient nation is we lived through a pandemic. We saw through the course of that pandemic a lot of disinformation, misinformation, particularly when it came to the work that scientists did, to be able to scale up the development of a vaccine at a point in time it would have been unimaginable. And to do it so quickly, right? And then to have commentary suggesting that vaccines shouldn't have been used because the science shouldn't be trusted. I think scientists and researchers have learnt from that lesson and say we need to take progressive steps, ongoing steps, to build again the support for the value of science in this country, which is what we've tried to do here. But to attach it to AUKUS, Sabra, I think, is probably a big stretch in terms of what these scientists and researchers are putting forward in our science and research priorities. I think it's fair to say, without putting words in the mouth of the chief scientist, that the big focus here was trust in science.

SABRA LANE: Minister, thanks for joining AM.

ED HUSIC: Thank you very much. Sabra.