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It is a great pleasure to be here in Adelaide at this special function to launch an important new instrument: Geoscience Australia's Radiometric map of Australia.
The radiometric Map will create detailed new maps and provide mining and exploration companies with fresh insights into the mineral potential of our vast continent.
This is another world first from Geoscience Australia.
No other continent has been so extensively mapped or mapped in such detail.
And few countries have the benefit of an organisation as focussed as Geoscience Australia - or as important to their future economic development.
Some of the most important challenges facing Australia today - the discovery and development of mineral and energy resources, management of the environment, community safety and the protection of critical infrastructure - are all within the scope of GA's work.
As is a particular interest of mine, energy security.
GA has just completed its largest ever continuous marine survey down the west coast of Australia under the auspices of the Energy Security Program.
Pre-competitive data such as this is vital to industry and the Australian Government in our pursuit to secure Australia's future energy and the policy settings to bring it about.
Today we welcome their latest innovation - the Radiometric Map of Australia.
This will be a powerful addition to information used by companies exploring for energy and other minerals.
You will see in a moment how the data can be collated into layers to provide a complete 3D image of radioactive elements present in the landscape.
You'll also see how it can be integrated with other information such as gravity data to help explorers target potential mineral and energy sources, including hot rocks for geothermal energy.
This type of technology and information is particularly important for Australia because of our country's strong reliance on the mining and exploration industry for our economic future and the strength of our regional social fabric.
Right now, when the Australian mining sector is contracting as a result of the Global Financial Crisis, it is important that we continue exploring for new mineral deposits.
We need to be ready for the next boom.
This means we must manage the downturn in the Australian resources industry with a view to recovery.
At a time of economic uncertainty, orders will slow and projects will be put on hold.
This has already started to happen.
However, it is a time for the Australian industry to look to the future.
For the past few years, bottlenecks reduced our ability to make the most of the Chinese and Indian economic miracles.
Today we can make the investments to make sure we don't miss a single opportunity.
The Australian Government is making these investments.
We will be ready for the next boom and we will be more competitive.
The Australian Government is working with the resources sector to make sure that it's ready to take advantage of future growth.
We are addressing infrastructure constraints and skilled labour shortages, reducing red tape, and providing an attractive and stable investment environment.
The Government has allocated $20 billion to the Building Australia Fund for infrastructure projects including energy, water, communications and transport infrastructure.
Resource companies operating in Australia will be major beneficiaries of these initiatives, further enhancing the business case for continued investment in the Australian resources sector.
However, it should be remembered that the Australian resources sector is supported by strong industry fundamentals and an international reputation as a reliable supplier and a stable investment location.
This will not change.
We are among the most advanced and efficient mining countries in the world, ensuring we are well positioned to respond to the longer term needs of the industrialising economies of China and India.
Export economies, including Japan, will also continue to rely on a secure supply of Australian commodities into the foreseeable future.
Mineral exploration is a long-term strategic investment - it is fundamental to the ongoing sustainability of the mining industry.
As Minister, I urge Australian resources and energy companies to remain committed to exploration.
ABS data show that expenditure on mineral exploration (including petroleum) in Australia was $5.5 billion in 2007-08, 39 per cent higher than in 2006-07.
In real terms, this is the highest on record and more than double the average of the past 25 years.
Precompetitive data, a specialty of Geoscience Australia, underpins this exploration investment.
It is true that higher expenditure on exploration was a response to high and rising world prices for mineral and energy commodities as world supply has not been sufficient to meet rising demand.
It is uncertain how recent declines in global economic conditions and world mineral and energy commodity prices will affect exploration expenditure.
Expected future prices are likely to be a more important determinant of current spending, hence, if explorers expect prices to remain low or fall further, expenditure on exploration is likely to decline.
However, I come back to my comments earlier: the global financial crisis will end.
The question is, which companies will meet demand and which will scramble?
That is why exploration undertaken today is so important - as are tools such as this new radiometric map, that will make exploration easier and cheaper.
The discovery of significant new ore bodies worldwide has been in decline since the Olympic Dam deposit was first drilled here in South Australia three decades ago.
To date, mineral exploration in Australia has been largely confined to areas of surface outcrop, but it is becoming increasingly evident that any large and profitable mineral discoveries will mean we have to dig deeper.
This presents a significant exploration challenge: searching for new deposits at increasing depths beneath land surface.
South Australia, in this regard, should be very proud that it is leading the world in deep mineral exploration with the discoveries of deposits like Prominent Hill and Carapateena.
The Map being released today has been developed from digital information collected by Geoscience Australia, State and Northern Territory geological surveys, and the private sector.
The task is almost beyond comprehension.
It is a world first.
Under the Onshore Energy Security Initiative, Geoscience Australia has meticulously stitched together 40 years' worth of data.
And what we now have is a tool which will allow mining companies, explorers, and land managers, to access a seamlessly-merged, single map of the whole continent.
The hardcopy map you can see here tonight displays all publicly available digital radiometric data contained in the Government's National Airborne Geophysical Database as at 1 August 2008.
Digital data associated with the map is available free of charge from Geoscience Australia's website.
There is no doubt that the work by Geoscience Australia in conjunction with their State and Northern Territory peers has provided industry with a new consistent, high quality geophysical tool that will benefit exploration in Australia for many years to come.
I congratulate everyone involved for the great pioneering job they have done and invite you to watch how this new data can be used.
I am delighted to release this new radiometric map which will contribute to the mineral and energy wealth of Australia.
Thank you.