I acknowledge that we're meeting today on the lands of the Gadigal people and pay my respects to their elders past and present.
I want to begin by reflecting on two pioneers of technology, one Australian, one Chinese, whose work has helped shape the conversation we're having today.
The first is an Australian scientist, Wilbur 'Chris' Christiansen.
For those who haven't heard of him, Christiansen's precocious achievements in electrical engineering and radio astronomy, especially, are so numerous and towering that they constitute a veritable mountain range in the history of Australian science.
Christiansen was fascinated with radio from an early age.
As a boy, in the 1920s, he experimented endlessly with old crystal radios.
Tinkering with how they worked and could be improved.
He collected a swag of prizes while at university, and then established himself as an inventive electrical engineer, improving short-wave radio technology and helping improve commercial radio broadcasting here in Sydney.
By the 1950s Christiansen was working for the CSIRO, using radio telescopes to survey solar radiation emissions, discovering the first radio proof that the Milky Way is a spiral galaxy, and building the world's first cross-grating interferometer - only around 40km from where we are now.
Affectionately nicknamed the 'Chris Cross', it provided the first two-dimensional maps of solar radio emission.
And he was developing links with scientists from abroad…
Links that allowed for collaboration and a grand journey of discovery.
Those links spanned the Americas and Europe and, in the 1960s, they came to encompass China.
Christiansen had a longstanding interest in and curiosity about China.
An aunt had been a matron in a missionary hospital in China.
As a youth, he'd devoured books and articles about Chinese history and life in China.
And, in 1961, he came to wonder if he could visit.
And so, in September 1963, Christiansen crossed the bridge from Hong Kong to the mainland and hopped on a train to Beijing.
Feeling — as he said — as excited as Marco Polo must have been.
And for good reason: Christiansen was the first Western scientist to visit the country in many years.
Christiansen had a slate of lectures to give, an itinerary for sightseeing, and — most pertinently — a diary full of meetings with young Chinese scientists.
Among them was a name doubtless familiar to many of you today — Wang Shouguan.
Born in Fuzhou, in Fujian Province, only a few years after Christiansen, Wang was already a leading figure in Chinese radio astronomy.
He had studied in the UK, returned to China to work at the Purple Mountain Observatory, and then Peking Observatory.
In time, Wang would lead the development of China's first radio astronomy telescope…
Train the first batch of doctorates in astronomy in China…
And oversee major and innovative projects for optical astronomy.
His work constitutes yet another mountain range of achievement and significance.
At this point, in 1963, Wang's reaction to news of Christiansen's visit was akin — as he said — to the happiness that falls from heaven.
The very man whom he and his colleagues most wanted to meet, he explained, was coming to visit them!
Over these weeks, Christiansen lectured and spoke widely.
He gave advice and lent insight.
He encouraged the scientists he met to keep going with their work and to come and visit him in Australia.
Remember, this is at a time where there were no diplomatic relations between China and Australia.
Nonetheless, Wang and a colleague made that journey the following year.
They stayed at Christiansen's home, in Wahroonga, and they toured the radio astronomy sites that Christiansen and his colleagues had set up.
They talked and made grand plans about how they could develop China's fledging radio astronomy sites and advance the field.
And, the following year, Christiansen returned to China, helping Wang and his colleagues to build a transmission system for antennas at Beijing Observatory.
These visits established a relationship that became stronger in subsequent years.
Exchanges, two-way traffic, collaboration, and joint projects followed.
It became so notable that Christiansen, on a visit in 1971, was introduced to China's then-premier.
Zhou Enlai greeted Christiansen with keen interest in the work he was doing: 'How's that telescope going?' he asked.
The relationships and collaborations struck over half a century ago represent a contribution to the links between our universities and scientific institutions.
And they inaugurated a co-operation between Australia and China that continues in our relationship today.
The work done on clean energy is a case in point.
Research done in Australia, in particular, here at UNSW, by Professor Martin Green, has increased the capacities of solar panels to capture and generate electricity.
This has become an area of Australia-China cooperation.
During the Prime Minister's visit to China last year, Australia and China agreed to establish a new policy dialogue on steel decarbonisation.
That dialogue is an opportunity to increase mutual understanding of policies and initiatives…
And to promote co-operation on low emissions economic growth, while highlighting the benefits of using renewable energy in manufacturing to build resilience and sustainability.
For us, here in Australia, with our extensive renewable energy advantages and domestic iron ore sources…
Production of 'green iron' has the potential to bring about long-term emissions reductions in Australia and China.
It's just one example of what we can do together, to our mutual benefit.
Of course, there are areas where our nations do not agree.
But Australia will co-operate where we can, disagree where we must, and engage in our national interest.
Co-operation, where it is possible, in recognition of the mutual benefits that result, is key.
Our Government remains committed to a stable and constructive relationship with China, which is in the interests of both our countries.
Australia and China have a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and benefit from deep economic ties, with our trade relationship underpinning supply chains, investment and livelihoods in both economies.
I'd like to acknowledge and thank the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations and the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics for hosting this event today.
At this forum, you too are exploring the genuine opportunities that exist for collaboration in clean energy.
At a time of geopolitical complexity, and in a context where climate action is urgent…
I encourage you to make the most of those opportunities, as Christiansen and Wang did all those years ago.
Thank you.