Mr VIOLI (Casey) (15:52): The member for Parramatta—I will give him credit: a very smart man—did not mention PsiQuantum once, did not seek to defend the Minister for Industry and Science once, did not seek to defend the process once. He spent his five minutes talking about the opposition. Let's be clear: he's been around this place for a long time. He's a very smart man. He knew exactly what he was doing, because he knows this process is not defendable—he knows this process cannot be defended. So I understand the member for Parramatta—as he walks out—didn't want to defend it. But it wasn't even just the member for Parramatta who didn't want to defend it. The minister for industry had 10 minutes to answer the questions that the member for Bradfield put to him, and he didn't. He spent 10 minutes talking about the opposition. As to what he did say, he said one thing repeatedly, multiple times: 'This went through a process.' Well, the minister is correct. And that's not the charge. The charge is not that it went through a process. The facts are that the process was set up to make sure PsiQuantum won this bid. Late last year, I received a phone call from someone in the quantum industry who was upset for a couple of reasons. They had been asked to be part of this EOI and, as soon as they read it, they knew the fix was in. So in November last year in the Federation Chamber, I raised concerns—their concerns; the industry's concerns—that the fix was in. And, lo and behold, in April 2024, it came to fruition that PsiQuantum won the contract. So we know it went through a process, Minister, but we know it doesn't stack up. I also know, from speaking to those in the industry, about the email that the PsiQuantum ownership sent to venture capitalists in April last year. It talked about the agreement that they had with the federal government, when they were seeking more funding to bridge the gap as they ran out of capital until the federal government money came in. The industry is well aware of this email. I've spoken about this before. The minister has never given an answer about this email, because, as I said, this process does not stack up. He also talked about the Chief Scientist. Let's quote the Chief Scientist, and in fairness to him I'll quote the first thing— Ms Sitou: It's a female. Mr VIOLI: In fairness to the minister! If you'd let me finish— Mr Rob Mitchell: She's a woman. Mr VIOLI: Maybe the member for McEwen could sit in his own seat and let me finish. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Claydon ): Just a moment please, Member for Casey. Mr VIOLI: Well— The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I'm asking you just to take a breather while I get the House in order. It's not fair that you are having interjections, and I want them to stop. And I would like to hear what you've got to say. Mr VIOLI: For the record, I was referring to the minister for industry. Last time I checked, the minister for industry was male. He talked about how the Chief Scientist made a quote at the start of the process and at the end of the process, and I said, 'In fairness to the minister, I'll quote both.' She said—the Chief Scientist, Cathy Foley: I was also put off by the "salesman" push and lack of detail in the information provided and how it was presented. I really dug in and was very negative giving the company a pretty hard time about this as an investment and where their capability had got to. She also said: This is a high risk, high return venture … That is what we're talking about. Picking one company as a winner is high-risk. It's like going into the casino and putting everything on black. What the minister should have done, what the industry wants and what the industry needs, was have a testbed strategy where you invest that money in the whole quantum industry. We go to the Saturday Paper and how they quoted Minister Husic. This is from an industry insider, who said: 'This is a minister who is a conviction politician, who gets very excited and very enthusiastic about big ideas that can potentially change the nation. But the downside is that when this same minister is presented with advice that goes against one of those big ideas, he really loses his mind.' And that's what has happened in this situation. Minister Husic got dazzled in Silicon Valley when he was over there. He decided that PsiQuantum was the place to go. He was prepared to put it all on black. He did not listen to any advice once he'd made his decision. He then set up a process to make sure that that decision was ratified. When there's a billion dollars of taxpayer money being used, you need more than a sham EOI process.