We need to perform better in R&D – Ed Husic

On Monday Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic announced that the Chair of Tech Council of Australia and electric car maker Tesla would conduct a year-long Strategic Examination of Research and Development (R&D) in Australia, and why national effort has been falling. Here are Husic’s opening remarks announcing the review.

“First, I just want to explain the motivations for this examination. Responsible governments think ahead. They think about how economies will look, they think about how jobs will be created, and they do so in a way recognising that today is certainly not going to look like tomorrow.

“R&D investment is one of those things that drives future economic strength. Intellectual property, ideas, will drive, sustain, strengthen economies. Ideas, innovation, know how matters, and R&D is something that we should be pressing for in our country and to improve the way we invest in it.

“Over the last 20 years, and especially the last decade, our performance has been slipping. There has not been a thorough comprehensive examination of what has happened and how we can improve things. This is particularly concerning for Australia, because we’re a scientific powerhouse. Our researchers regularly come up with new know-how that changes the world, not just for Australians but for people across the globe.

“One of the key recommendations of the Universities Accord, for example, that was announced by Education Minister Jason Clare, was to look at the way, for instance, research funding is put on a more predictable, sustainable footing. So that’s one thing we’ve asked Robyn and the panel to look at.

“We also want to review why our strong performance in science is not translating into a stronger R&D performance. What’s holding us back? How can we link up business, academia and government much more powerfully? It’s going to be a big job, because there are big, difficult questions to answer, but I’m confident we’ve chosen the right panel to help drive this examination.

“Obviously I’ve announced Robyn is going to be joined, is going to be chairing the panel, and will be joined by some eminent Australians: Professor Ian Chubb, former Chief Scientist, former ANU Vice-Chancellor, and will be known to many as a hugely powerful champion of our world leading research; Professor Fiona Wood, a former Australian of the Year, whose work to invent spray on skin became well known after the horrific Bali bombings where she treated burns victims in a way that was not previously imagined, and she’s still involved in translating top shelf medical research into new products and techniques; Dr Kate Cornick, a well-known figure in the startup world who’s had a deep connection with early-stage innovation, and a group that has a big interest in the value of research and development, being involved in a startup of her own, now CEO of LaunchVic.

“Now before I invite Robyn to say a few words, I just want to end on this: as I said, governments have got a responsibility to think ahead, have a vision of the nation’s future.

“This R&D is crucially about that. Australian ideas, our know-how, our ability to get things done, this will be vital for driving future growth, improving the range of jobs that we produce and creating secure, well paid work for people well into the future.”

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“And if I can emphasise too, again, this is not – while I appreciate the question with respect to the R&D tax incentive, this is about fundamentally looking at everything that has to do with R&D in the country.

“It’s not an exercise in saying, “You have to do better” or finger-point and blame-shift. I think there’s a recognition that we all need to perform much better, and I think it will be important for us to work together on that front.

“The different elements that make up our overall system will be looked at. I want this it be wide-ranging, but I also don’t want us to make presumptions at the start, assumptions about where we get to, because clearly, we can do better.

“The R&D tax incentive, which we’re proud on our side of politics to have championed for many years, did play a big part in lifting R&D investment. I think the critical year, David, where things turned was about 2008, post GFC, and it’s just kept sliding.

“And we need to find out across all those things what’s important, and critically to the way the panel’s been set up is, obviously, we want industry to be able to express themselves clearly about where we should head, but also tap in to the Ian Chubbs, the Fiona Woods, and also, from an early-stage perspective, the Kate Cornicks, in terms of early-stage innovation, and be able to cover the board, cover the field, as it were.”

Further reading:
Robyn Denholm to lead national R&D review

Towards 3% R&D, Australia’s R&D slide – download our e-book

Government and business R&D stagnating

Government says Australian R&D is strong – it is not

Towards 3% R&D – budget responds to slump in Australian innovation effort

Picture: Ed Husic