**Check against delivery
The Hon. Colin Barnett MLA, Premier
Minister for State Development
Mr Gordon Martin
Curtin Chancellor
Professor Jeanette Hacket
Curtin Vice-Chancellor
Ladies, gentlemen and distinguished guests.
I am especially pleased to be here today to launch the Curtin Minerals and Energy Institute, an integral part of Curtin University's Resources and Chemistry Precinct.
This facility is a major addition to Australia's resources sector, bringing industry and education together, so fostering the collaboration that has the potential to improve our capacity to exploit the nation's resources endowment.
For the past decade, the resources and energy sectors have been constrained by a skills shortage. This has limited Australia's ability to maximise the opportunities presented by the economic growth in China.
By bringing the best minds together from a variety of disciplines we increase our chance of making technological breakthroughs.
It's about working smarter - working smarter here at the Institute (where the research and breakthroughs will take place) and more productively in exploration and in mining so, maintaining our international competitiveness.
As the history of the Australian mining sector shows, breakthroughs increase productivity and also help create new businesses and export opportunities in mining and mining technology services.
As we have seen in the past six months, demand for world-class resource projects is increasing which means the demand for workers will also increase.
You don't have to look far to see where demand will come from.
The Gorgon Project here in Western Australia, the largest resource project ever proposed in Australia, will create around 6,000 jobs at its peak.
This is a welcome investment, but one which will place additional strain on the skills available.
And Gorgon is just one of around 80 planned or approved projects that are likely to see demand for skilled resource sector labour increase by 70 per cent over the next decade.
The Institute will help address the skills shortage by increasing Australia's capacity to innovate and develop new technologies and solutions.
This Institute will also add to the resource sector's productivity through research and innovation.
The Institute will undoubtedly make a major contribution to the further development of our mining technology services sector - an increasingly important export opportunity.
Mining technology is an unsung hero of the Australian resources sector.
The most recent data on mining technology services estimates the industry is worth around $4.5 billion a year, with exports exceeding $1.25 billion.
Conclusion
This Precinct is a vital step in maintaining - and then advancing - our lead in international competitiveness.
The skills and innovations developed at the Institute will provide the foundation for the productivity gains of the future.
Australia's success as a commodities exporter can be traced to our invention and adoption of world-class technology.
Ladies and gentlemen, if Australia is to make the most of increasing global demand, we need world-class, skilled employees and innovation.
With an eye to the future, it gives me great pleasure to officially launch the Curtin Institute of Minerals and Energy.