Hon Paul Goldsmith
Minister of Science and Innovation
28 March 2017 Media Statement

Synchrotron a trans-Tasman success story

Science researchers on both sides of the Tasman are benefitting from the Australian Synchrotron facility, visited today by Science and Innovation Minister Paul Goldsmith.

“As foundation investors in the Australian Synchrotron, we have given New Zealand researchers access to a sophisticated facility which can assist in the development of everything from forensics, to surgical tools, through to understanding environmental issues,” says Mr Goldsmith.

“New Zealand’s science and innovation system has benefited noticeably from our participation in the Synchrotron. It has helped improve the quality and impact of New Zealand research and there have been a number of international collaborations which have developed through research conducted at the facility.”

The Australian Synchrotron’s sophisticated scientific techniques provide benefits for diverse scientific and industrial fields and purposes, including:

• Biomedicine
• Defence
• Environmental technologies and services
• Food technology
• Forensics
• Manufacturing
• Minerals
• Natural resources
• Pharmaceuticals
• Scientific instruments

A number of New Zealand industries have benefitted economically from ongoing research. Discoveries made at the Synchrotron have led to new non-toxic leather tanning processes, with estimated annual contributions of $125 million to the leather and shoe industry.

New Zealand researchers are also using the Synchrotron to create a new high-fashion fibre that combines the special properties of gold and silver nanoparticles, with the feel of merino wool.

“The goal of the Synchrotron is to be the catalyst for high quality research and innovation in Australia and New Zealand. The Government is committed to investing in science that delivers excellence and impact, which is what our relationship with the Synchrotron delivers for New Zealand,” says Mr Goldsmith.

More information about the Australian Synchrotron is available on its website.

Mr Goldsmith is in Australia from 28-30 March to meet with his Australian counterpart and other key people in the science sector.

Notes for Editors:

The Australian Synchrotron is a world-class national research facility that uses accelerator technology to produce a powerful source of light – x-rays and infrared radiation – a million times brighter than the sun.

The facility has ten different experimental stations, or beamlines, which harness that light so researchers can see the fundamental structure and composition of materials, on scales ranging from the atomic to the macroscopic – with a level of detail, speed and accuracy not possible in conventional laboratories.

More than $15 million has been invested in the Synchrotron by the New Zealand Government and sector partners since it was established in 2006.

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