Karen ANDREWS

Australian Government • Ministry for Industry, Science and Technology

After a career as an engineer and running her own industrial relations business, Karen Andrews was elected to parliament in 2010 as the Federal Member for McPherson on the Gold Coast. Following the 2013 election, she took on a leadership position as Chair of the House of Representatives Joint Standing Committee on Public Works – one of the oldest investigatory Committees of the Parliament, and a “watchdog” on Government building and works programs. She’s also served as the Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills and Assistant Minister for Science. In this role, Minister Andrews was one of the architects of the $1.1 billion National Innovation and Science Agenda. It’s this experience which saw her sworn in as Minister for Industry, Science and Technology in the Morrison Government Cabinet in August 2018. In doing so, she became the first ever female cabinet minister from Queensland. Since then, Minister Andrews has done significant work to help Australian industry to flourish, with commitments including the $160 million Manufacturing Modernisation Fund. She has been a key driver of Women in STEM initiatives and as the Minister with policy responsibility for space, has guided the Australian Space Agency through its highly successful first year, as it works to a goal of tripling the size of the sector to $12 billion and creating 20,000 new jobs by 2030. Sworn back in after the Morrison Government’s election victory in 2019, Minister Andrews is positioning Australian industry to thrive, in turn growing the economy and creating new jobs. She’s also leading discussion around technology, so Australia can embrace the economic potential of things like artificial intelligence and cyber security.

Events

International Astronautical Congress 2019

21-25 October 2019

Washington, United States

Participation: