Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—Mr Speaker, as this is my first opportunity to do so, I congratulate you on your ascension to the chair.

I rise today to discuss one of the most exciting and important elements of public policy. As members of the House know, changes in technology and the global economy are presenting both unprecedented opportunities and challenges for Australia. In this context, and during National Science Week, it is worth reflecting on the role of science in Australia.

Science reaches into every corner of our lives—in ways we instantly recognise such as medical advances, and in other ways that are more subtle, such as the technology in our smartphones and exercise trackers or the advanced nutritional yield from our crops. Science is critical for jobs, growth and business success. It underpins our nation's innovation capacity. This is important because today's innovation is tomorrow's industry and tomorrow's jobs. And we do have a track record of success to build on, including prominent examples such as the development of cochlear implants and, of course, the invention of wi-fi.

Australia's science policy, and its connection to industry policy, has never been more important. The Australians who work in our labs, in the field and in research hubs around the nation are truly the foot soldiers of the future. Our policy settings need to ensure that Australian businesses are given every opportunity to compete and to succeed.

Our focus is on creating an environment in which Australia can weather the inevitable winds of economic change. The only way we can do this is by ensuring we have a broad base of economic strengths and the capacity to develop more as new opportunities arise. To succeed and to guarantee our future prosperity we need to harness science and innovation for the national interest. We must get a bigger bang for our science dollar. We must use science and innovation to drive a dynamic, entrepreneurial start-up system to secure future growth and jobs.

Economy in transition

Australia's economy is in transition, just as economies are changing in other developed nations. Our traditional industries such as agriculture and manufacturing have served us well and they will continue to do so—but in new ways that capitalise on changing technologies and evolving markets. To ensure Australia continues to make the most of our global opportunities, we must take a collaborative and long-term perspective. This is essential to sustain Australian jobs growth and economic prosperity into the future.

Our goal is productivity growth, which will in turn secure Australia's economic growth and increased living standards. While our productivity performance has improved recently, the gap has widened between Australia and those countries at the productivity frontier, such as the United States.

The key to driving productivity growth is innovation. The OECD has shown that innovation accounts for around half of total economic growth. Innovation contributes to productivity performance through the creation of new knowledge and technologies and through the diffusion of new processes and technology to firms across the economy. Innovation activities, such as R&D, spread from individual firms to the wider economy and improve productivity by demonstrating the benefits or lowering the cost of a new technology, and by spreading knowledge. It is estimated that, for every $100 million invested by business in R&D, a return of $150 million to $200 million is generated to the economy.

Despite the importance of innovation to growth, Australia's innovation performance has been patchy. Australia's position in the evolving economy relies on a realignment of industry policy which is now focussed on facilitating the businesses of the future and supporting the entrepreneurial spirit of Australians.

We are not shunning our traditional industries. Rather, we are embracing them to ensure we play to our strengths in new ways, using new technologies and new ideas. At the moment, our businesses do not invest enough in R&D and are less likely than our competitors to create new and improved products. We need to focus on creating the right environment for innovative, globally focussed start-ups to succeed.

Australia has world-class education, training and research systems to generate innovation and commercial outcomes for Australia, but we are poor at translating research into commercial outcomes. Our SMEs rank 29th out of 30 OECD countries on innovation collaboration between industry and research. Our large firms rank 30th. We must do better. We will do better.

Putting science to work in the national interest

We have the talent, the infrastructure and the support. Our challenge is to assemble these blocks and put science to work in the national interest. That is why science, research and innovation are now at the centre of industry policy. The Australian government has set out a clear pathway to ensure our nation's best researchers and our nation's most productive industries can work to mutual advantage.

Our pre-eminent science organisation, CSIRO, is at the heart of this process to ensure our nation's most respected scientists can work alongside industry to further enhance our record on collaboration and commercialisation. We continue to invest substantially in science, research and innovation—$9.7 billion this year—to support:

This substantial investment shows that the Australian g overnment is committed to supporting science and research — but we also want to be sure that substantial public investment is delivering benefits for all Australians. That is why we are working to better utilise our publicly funded research agencies. Our world-class agencies will increasingly work in partnership with business to identify and develop the science to address industry problems. The CSIRO, for example, is refocussing its commitment to building stronger connections with industry to encourage the application of research, especially where it drives improvements in Australia's economic competitiveness.

The expertise and infrastructure of our national science agency can be invaluable for industries and businesses. To cite one case study—the CSIRO and partners have seen an opportunity to further improve Australian seafood, boost the aquaculture industry and deliver improved, high-quality products to consumers. As a result of this collaboration with industry, there has been an estimated increase in the Australian farmed prawn industry's production from 5,000 tonnes to 12,500 tonnes per annum. The value of the industry will increase by $120 million per annum by 2020.

As we look to the future and focus on using science to create new opportunities for our nation we are developing a comprehensive science policy that will be underpinned by a strategy for a science nation: an Australia in which scientific thinking, and science in action, can be found in all sectors of our economy. A coherent national plan will maximise our separate contributions to the infrastructure, skills, human networks and entrepreneurial culture that underpin our science base and our economy.

We need a plan for the long-term — not a plan for a year or two. And a sustained approach needs our collective energy and goodwill that crosses the political divide. In taking this long-term outlook, I emphasise the importance of a bipartisan approach to industry and science policy so that the decisions we make today—whether they are in STEM, investment in research infrastructure or ways to boost our ability to commercialise research—can benefit Australia for decades to come.

It is important to get this right and, over the course of the last two years, we have been assembling the building blocks that will collectively form our national approach. We have reviewed the CRC program to ensure that it is the engine of innovative research to support the work of the new industry growth centres. We have consulted widely to develop ways to boost our national science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) capability. We are implementing new measures to boost the commercial returns from Australia's research. We have established national science and research priorities and identified associated practical challenges and are now examining closely the strengths and weaknesses of the relevant research capability. And we are finalising a review of how we can take a new approach to the funding of national research infrastructure. On the basis of these building blocks, we are building a science platform for Australia's future.

What we are doing — industry programs/initiatives

This government does not just talk about what might be done to bring science to industry. Internationally, countries with strong innovation cultures tend to exhibit high levels of cooperation between research and industry. The Australian government is building a culture of entrepreneurship through changes to employee share schemes, encouraging investment in innovative Australian businesses through reforms to the significant investor visa and regulatory reforms to facilitate access to crowd source equity funding. But there is still work to be done to lift the entrepreneurial culture of Australia.

Our Industry Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda sets out a new paradigm for industry policy with an emphasis on science to foster innovation and research. It has put practical measures in place to bring cutting-edge science and technology to Australian businesses. The Manufacturing Transition Programme is just one example. It is helping businesses transition into the new economy. Take Romar Engineering, which will use its $1.6 million grant from the Manufacturing Transition Programme towards a $6.6 million projectto develop and expand its advanced plastic and silicone moulding production to produce more complex and higher value added components for the electronics and medical devices industry. And the results are worth striving for—high value, high technology and high paid jobs.

Of course this is not just about grants from the government. We are moving away from the old model of industry assistance, to instead focus on supporting Australia's innovation potential by creating an environment that allows our firms to back themselves. Australia's best opportunities will come through playing to our strengths. Government has a key role in bringing the players together to set the strategic direction for their sectors and to get them to collaborate and to expedite the translation of breakthroughs in the lab or in the field to the global marketplace. That is what our Industry Growth Centres are about. These centres are the central element of the Industry Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda. Growth centres will be vital to boosting collaboration between industry and science. Each growth centre will set a 10-year strategy. They will help Australian firms link to global supply chains so we can export our innovations—not our innovators.

Exports associated with advanced physical and mathematical science activities are becoming increasingly important, and are currently worth around $74 billion. This is almost a quarter of Australia's total exports. CRCs will be the engine room of innovative research, supporting the work of the growth centres to drive productivity and competitiveness. Each growth centre will identify the research and technology gaps and priorities. They will ensure the science and research community knows industry's needs and commercialisation opportunities. This will improve the translation of research into commercial outcomes and better capitalise on Australia's large investment in science and research.

We are also encouraging businesses to innovate by providing the R&D Tax Incentive for eligible R&D investments and will ensure, through the tax white paper, that this $2.9 billion per annum initiative operates effectively and efficiently. And we are promoting entrepreneurship through the Entrepreneurs' Programme which helps firms with advice, business reviews and limited financial support for employing researchers and to commercialise new ideas.

This government appreciates that reducing the time from invention to drawing board to market is critical. That is why we have the Accelerating Commercialisation element of the Entrepreneurs' Programme. I recently announced $33.6 million in matched Accelerating Commercialisation funding to help 31 innovative Australian businesses turn their inventions into commercial realities. Smart Steel Systems Pty Ltd, of Yatala in Queensland, has developed a fully automated steel fabrication system, which has the potential to generate major productivity benefits for the industry. Accelerating Commercialisation support will be used to complete the final pre-production development and trial phase, with the outcome being a fully operational state-of-the-art commercial production facility. Air Tip, of Alice Springs, has developed an innovative air powered side-tipper trailer to replace the traditional oil hydraulic powered side-tippers for the mining and transport sectors. This solution will increase payload capacity, improve operation and commercial efficiencies, reduce environmental footprint and enhance employee safety. Accelerating Commercialisation support will be used to assist Air Tip commercialise this product both domestically and globally.

These are examples of businesses that in coming years will drive growth, create jobs and build prosperity. They are innovative and this innovation is underpinned by skills in science, technology, engineering and maths—STEM. They are just some of our entrepreneurs who are turning good ideas into innovative products that we can market to the rest of the world. In fact, around 760,000 jobs in Australia are directly related to the advanced physical and mathematical sciences. In the last five years around 70,000 jobs have been created to work in advanced physical and mathematical sciences. So these companies are just the tip of the iceberg.

We are focussed on replicating their success on a much broader scale. We have the plans and programmes in place to support this expansion. For example, the National Energy Productivity Plan will require innovative efforts and the development and application of new technologies from businesses and governments in delivering more efficient, lower cost energy services for consumers. This can also lead to new export opportunities for Australian businesses. This means leveraging our world-class research system, our creativity and inventiveness to support new innovative businesses. It also means encouraging our entrepreneurs. As I said earlier, we will harness science, research and innovation for the national interest.

Conclusion

Professor Suzanne Cory, one of the world ' s most distinguished scientists, said of scientific discovery: 'It's the excitement of being on the frontier.' I finish today by reminding the House that in placing science in the engine room of national productivity, from the lab to the global marketplace, we are entering a new frontier for Australia. This new frontier is not something that should unnerve us. Rather it is an opportunity that we should grasp. And we are doing just that. Australia has an unprecedented opportunity to align industry, universities, the research sector and the science community to turn great ideas and breakthroughs into great leaps forward for business, for industry, for local communities and for every Australian.

Scientists often work on long-term goals, patiently letting years of research finally deliver results that literally change lives for the better. That work should continue. But at the same time, we are acting now—through collaboration and innovation. The Australian government will continue to put in place the new framework for Australian industry—brick by brick. Our new structure is taking shape and I look forward to seeing our scientists and our innovators working with our entrepreneurs to create new local jobs and more global success.

I present a copy of my ministerial statement.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to respond to the minister's statement. At the very outset, I want to thank the caucus for giving up 19 minutes of their lives! If I did not already, I owe all of you a big thankyou. I welcome the minister's statement. There was nothing particularly wrong with his speech. I accept that the minister and the member for McPherson at the table have the very best of personal intentions when it comes to science. But the test in this area is not words but actions.

When it comes to science there is only one party in this parliament which is truly committed to matching its words with actions—the Australian Labor Party. Labor believes that the promotion of science and technology will create and maintain jobs of the future in this country. Labor believes that research, innovation and a fundamental respect for scientific evidence are at the heart of Australia's future prosperity.

Innovation is not just important to new industries; it is essential for all industries, both emerging and mature. They need to update, compete and modernise. Labor do not accept the false distinction between new and old industries and the role of innovation. We believe innovation is the lifeblood of future prosperity. That is why it is front and centre of our economic plans and programs for the future. We believe Australia should be a science nation, competing with rest of the world and winning. We share a national commitment to science and to an Australia that nourishes the intellect of our people to build a smarter, more creative and more agile economy.

Science gives us a new and better sense of ourselves—new energy, new spirit and a new concept of our place in the world and our future. Science demands that we are self-critical, dissatisfied with the status quo, intent instead on moving towards a more prosperous future. Science is the enemy of dogma and it is an instrument of progress. Science lifts living standards and it frees us from ideology. Science will develop faster, more accurate and less invasive ways of diagnosing patients and of treating them. Science will redefine the very cities we live in and the way we work, learn, farm and live. Science will unlock future sources of energy and design new forms of communication. Science will reveal things about our planet's past that will change the way we understand our world and our universe. Above all, science and technology will be the difference between Australians designing, refining, operating and maintaining the machines of the future and being replaced by them.

No government can predict or dictate future discovery. Instead the parliament's responsibility is to foster a culture of ideas and of inquiry and to respect learning and knowledge. But, in less than 'two great years', this government has tried to cut $3 billion from science, research and innovation. It was not 'two great years'! We have seen: the CSIRO cut by $114 million; the Australian Research Council cut by $75 million; the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation cut by $27½ million; competitive research centres cut by $80 million; the Research Training Scheme cut by $173 million; and Commercialisation Australia abolished, with $260 million cut. The National ICT Australia Limited is to be abolished, with $84 million cut. We have seen Geoscience Australia cut by $16.1 million. The Defence Science and Technology Organisation has been cut by $120 million. And do not forget that notorious low point, earlier this year, when the Minister for Education and Training went to war with NCRIS, holding hostage $150 million in funding in an attempt to ram through his unfair plan for $100,000 degrees. Holding a political gun to the head of some of Australia's most eminent researchers—that was the fixer's fix. Nobel laureate Brian Schmidt summed this up perfectly when he said:

… this is not the way a grown-up country behaves.

Make no mistake: the science race—the race for the jobs of the future; the race to the top—has begun. It is a global contest where we should aim to be up there with the top players. Given Australia is a relatively small player, some might argue, 'Why do research here at all? Let's just import all the technology we need in the future.' The answer, though, is that Australia must be able to continue to produce the brilliant discoveries and technologies that directly benefit us. We must be able to adapt research done overseas. It is only countries with a strong research base that can effectively import science, build on it and adapt it for their own purposes. This is why we have set a great national goal, aspiring together—government, universities, research centres and industry—to dedicate three per cent of our national GDP to research and development by the end of the next decade.

Three in every four of the world's fastest growing occupations require STEM skills and knowledge. In the United States, 60 per cent of their 2020 workforce will require skills held by just 20 per cent of their current workforce. Australia is better placed, but not much better. In classrooms today, about 40 per cent of our teachers teaching science and maths to Australian students between years 7 and 10 do not have a tertiary qualification in that discipline. In our schools, participation in science subjects has fallen to the lowest in 20 years, and maths and science literacy has fallen over the past decade. Just as importantly, countries in our region continue to improve their results. The world is not waiting for Australia; it never has. We need to lift our game.

We need a new cooperative engagement with science, research and innovation. This is why Labor will work to ensure that every school teaches coding—computational thinking. This is not just about introducing a new subject. It is not about making 11-year-olds go out to work, as the Prime Minister said in a particularly famous answer he gave to a question about coding. It is about giving the next generation of Australians a whole new mindset and skills set. Labor will support better training for 25,000 current science, technology, engineering and maths teachers, because we want our hardworking teachers to have the skills and the confidence to help more students fall in love with science. We will create 25,000 new scholarships for STEM graduates to become great teachers, because we believe in what Chief Scientist, Ian Chubb, calls sending the elevator back down—helping the next generation up. We will write off the student debts of 100,000 science, technology, engineering and maths students upon graduation, to encourage more Australians, particularly women, to have the opportunity to study, work and teach in these fields.

Labor's commitment to science travels right along the line—research, concept, discovery and product. It is true that Australia excels at discovery. In medical research, for example, we account for one per cent of the world's expenditure but produce three per cent of the world's output. Despite this success, we are second last in the OECD when it comes to research collaboration for small and medium enterprises, and we are last for large firms. We need to work together to bridge the divide between what our scientists discover and what our businesses use. We need to stop good ideas, unfulfilled breakthroughs and frustrated innovators falling into a void or—even worse—heading overseas. This means helping our businesses to harness good ideas and supporting our scientists to develop and deliver more of them. Labor will create a $500 million smart investment fund based on the proven success of the former Innovation Investment Fund, and we will establish a partial guarantee scheme, Startup Microfinance, to encourage crowd funding for new innovators. We want to ensure that great Australian ideas are born here, grow up here and create jobs here. In the 21st century, I believe that Australia can be a society of lifelong learning and innovation. With our remarkable open democratic culture and livable cities, we can be the new research centre of our region, the start-up capital of Asia and the science capital of the Asia-Pacific. It is time for us to seize this opportunity.

Science cannot be shunted away in one department nor viewed as a boutique industry for a niche market or an add-on to a title halfway through the first term of a government. Science needs a minister and a government that understand that it is the engine of productivity and jobs growth across all current, existing and future industries. Science will be at the centre of a Labor government, not just in words but in actions. Each year a Labor government that I lead will hold a cabinet meeting in cooperation with the Chief Scientist, the Commonwealth Science Council, the Australian Academy of Science and other relevant science sector representatives. We will break down the idea of an ivory tower. We will bring cabinet down from the hill and, together with scientists, really listen to each other and work with each other.

Whether we recognise it or not, science already pervades every aspect of our lives—every industry and every activity. We cannot separate the things that we dig out of the ground from science. Our resources sector is successful because it values and utilises science. In the future, this interdependence between science and everything that we rely on will continue to grow. Science will underwrite jobs in health, education, construction, ICT, mining and agriculture, as well as the jobs our children will do—in many cases, the jobs yet to be invented.

No conversation, discussion or statement about science—about our commitment to actions not words—could be concluded without testing a government's commitment to science. In particular, there is no clearer sign of commitment of a government to science than their willingness to adopt and use the evidence provided by science. Of course, I speak of climate change. You cannot claim to be seriously committed to science when you ignore the science of climate change. Labor take climate change seriously because we take science seriously. Just as science is essential to identifying the challenge of climate change, it is essential to developing the solution. That is why Labor are so disappointed in the announcements last week by the government.

Last week we learnt that the majority of the government's proposed emissions reductions will come from: an unspecified safety mechanism, an unknown energy efficiency plan and an unannounced vehicle efficiency policy; and there is a miscellaneous category called 'technology improvements and other sources'. The government say that they are banking on technology and innovation breakthroughs, yet the same government still intend to abolish ARENA, leaders in climate change and innovation. They have already tried to abolish the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, and now they are trying to dictate its work in a most unscientific manner. They are cutting the funding for the Bureau of Meteorology and the CSIRO, and they are slashing money from every Australian university. You cannot say that you are committed to science if you ignore the evidence and shoot the messengers. Instead, all that this reflects is a Liberal Party stuck in the past, captive to a nostalgia that things are about as good as we can reasonably expect and that any change is likely to be a bad thing. Despite what they believe, the world will not stand still. Science is the way forward—the lifting of the productive capacity of our economy and our people.

Labor believe in a better approach to science: new cooperation with states and territories; new collaboration with industry, fostering a knowledge-based culture in our workforces; new programs in our schools, TAFEs and universities; new engagement with the community, students, parents, teachers, employers, entrepreneurs, small and big business alike, city businesses and farmers; and new international partnerships. I want the next election to be a contest for the future of science in this country. I want it to be about competing visions for science in our schools and for research, innovation and commercialisation. I want Australians to choose Labor, because Labor has chosen science.