Senator Sinodinos was appointed on Wednesday, and the venue for his media conference was the Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources (NIER) at the University of Newcastle. Senator Sinodinos, who was born in Newcastle, graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the university. Not that he was here to reminisce; the Industry Minister designate wanted to talk about the future – his, the region’s and the country’s. 

“I’m a great proponent of the Hunter, I think it’s got a fantastic future, and I think what’s being done here will help to drive that future,” Senator Sinodinos said. He praised NIER as “a wonderful example of collaboration between industry, researchers and academia”, and that “in large part, it sums up what I want to be about in the industry portfolio”.

Senator Sinodinos said he wanted an “innovation mindset” across the economy, and he considered ideas the “new minerals and energy resources” of the nation.

 “We love what we’ve got now, we love the coal, the iron ore, we build on that, but the new coal and iron ore are the ideas in the heads of Australians,” he said. 

He acknowledged science funding cuts by “governments of both persuasions” in the past but asserted spending would increase. “The CSIRO, for example, will have its spending going up, it will have more jobs at the end of the next three or four years than it has today,” he said. 

One aspect of the Senator’s recent past was raised, with his appearances as a witness at two NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiries; Operation Spicer, investigating political fundraising, and Operation Credo, regarding infrastructure company Australia Water Holdings, which Arthur Sinodinos was chairman of, before he became a senator.

The Operation Credo report is yet to be handed down. Senator Sinodinos said the Operation Spicer report had made no findings against him, “and I’m confident that would remain the case in the future”.