Australia technology was on show alongside the G20 summit with some world leaders paying special visits to innovation hubs.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel attended the Sydney installations of the National ICT Australia (NICTA) at the Technology Park on Monday amid tight security. NICTA is home to Australia's leading digital technology scientists and entrepreneurs.
It has a close association with Germany's Fraunhofer technology research organisation and Dr Merkel is a well-known advocate for technology and innovation as economic drivers.
During the brief visit, the Chancellor, a scientist, saw a demonstration of a hi-tech mood light, by 11-year-old Esther Schulz, one of the Australian national champions at the March 2014 round of the Bebras Australia Computational Thinking Challenge (or Informatik Biber in Germany). It measures a person's mood on the basis of their body temperature. The light turned orange in the Chancellor's hands which NICTA says indicated a "warm body".
The invention won the Australian Young ICT Explorers competition in 2014, itself inspired by Jugend Forscht, a German youth science competition.
Dr Merkel also saw a demonstration of 13-year-old Michael Schulz's Star Trek- inspired scientific tricorder. According to science fiction authors, this device would only be invented in the 23rd century, but Michael's device is ready now. It combines integrated sensors and a computer into a mobile handheld device that explores the natural world.
The Labor opposition jumped on the visit, co-hosted by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, releasing a statement describing it as a "disgrace" that the government had turned its back on the organisation.
"Ministers Turnbull and [Ian] Macfarlane were happy to pose for photos with German Chancellor Angela Merkel when she toured NICTA's Future Logistics Living Lab this morning but haven't been as forthcoming when it comes to funding its future," shadow industry spokesperson Kim Carr said.
The federal government has cut NICTA's annual funding of around $45 million from June 2016, forcing the organisation to seek to operate self-sufficiently.
Dr Merkel wasn't the only world leader to pop into an Australian technology centre, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Queensland's University of Technology's Science and Engineering Centre while in Brisbane.
QUT roboticists showed him the new AgBot II, part of the university's farm program. It will autonomously seed, weed and fertilise crops in trials starting early next year.
Asked to write a message on the robot, Mr Modi wrote (translated from Gujarati):
"Research is the mother of invention. The development journey of mankind is a continuous stream of research. Science and technology is very important for agriculture."
While in Sydney, the Dr Merkel also addressed a German-Australian Chamber of Commerce event where German software giant SAP announced it would invest $150 million into an Institute for Digital Government in Canberra. It will aim to support Australian Government agencies in "innovating citizen-centric services" and will open by mid 2015.
