Ms CHARISHMA KALIYANDA (Liverpool) (19:02): I recently spoke in this place about the $700,000 investment into the Liverpool Health Tech Entrepreneurship Program to foster the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators in south-west Sydney by UNSW Sydney. Following a highly successful pitch night in the south-west that supported local entrepreneurs to develop their ideas and identify how they could progress them through a sometimes extremely competitive entrepreneurship ecosystem, UNSW also ran a panel event featuring female creators and entrepreneurs sharing their journeys, challenges and successes and using those experiences as role models for other young women within the community earlier in that journey.

I was then excited to join a collaboration between Spark Sydney and UNSW founders as the keynote speaker. I give a huge shout‑out to the team that brought the night together. It takes a lot of hard work and effort. In the words of Kamala Harris, such events do not just fall out of a coconut tree, especially when you are creating a culture of new infrastructure for entrepreneurship collaboration and innovation pretty much from scratch. When I was asked to speak, I thought about where many of the participants in the festival are now—full of enthusiasm but perhaps uncertain about outcomes, support and pathways. One reason the work is so important is because what is being done in partnership with UNSW, the Liverpool Innovation Precinct and other stakeholders will hopefully help serve the people of Liverpool with pathways to employment and opportunities for work in a range of industry sectors that we can only currently imagine.

All of that relates to what is called the innovation economy. Many have complicated definitions, but the one I like best is that it relates to "new ideas that turn into companies that change the world in ways large and small," as Professor Enrico Moretti said. The speed of technological change and increased global integration and competition has driven innovation, but the disruption of the supply chains during COVID showed the importance of fostering local innovation. New South Wales can make the most of positive opportunities and manage disruption by creating the right conditions for its innovation economy to succeed locally.

I came into politics as an occupational therapist who saw many people in my community with very similar issues. I could help them on an individual basis. I could work with groups of people and communities. But at its heart, people came to me with the same issue time and again. Innovators and entrepreneurs are very similar, but their way of enacting change is to innovate and create. That is important in other ways. InThe New Geography of Jobs, Professor Enrico Moretti says that the multiplier effect has a huge impact within the innovation sector. For every job created in the innovation economy, there are five jobs created in associated industries. It is not just about high-tech jobs or jobs that require a high level of education. It also has an impact for many others in our community. As the local member of Parliament, I want to see Liverpool booming. I acknowledge the work of the Liverpool Innovation Precinct and Lance Chia for progressing this work.

Ms Liesl Tesch: Hear, hear!

Ms CHARISHMA KALIYANDA: I believe he is a local constituent of the member for Gosford. The role of government is important. In May the Committee for Sydney released a paper calledThe Role of Government in Innovation Districts, and it identified the four pillars of government involvement. The first is having a shared responsibility and working with academia and industry so that all have skin in the game. The second is in leadership. Having a government with vision and governance that can coordinate strategy and be a customer and early-stage risk-taker is hugely significant. The third is in investment, funding and investment attraction. It has a role to play in infrastructure and place-making, as well as developing the talent and workforce required for the areas. Finally, government has a role to play in policy, in areas such as land use planning and the social agenda. Those areas cannot thrive without paying mind to issues like safety, building a sense of community and looking at where our people are coming to work. All of that is to say that our Government has a long‑sighted view in making Liverpool the best place for innovation, and I look forward to being a part of that journey.