Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Hansard source

I am aware that Senator Marshall understands that science and research have never been more important to Australia than they are now. This is a time of economic uncertainty, a time when our environment is at risk and a time when our families and communities are concerned about the future. It is at times like these that it is imperative that we harness the power of science and research to make us stronger, safer and more competitive. It is imperative that we draw on our best minds to create new economic opportunities and new employment opportunities.

This week the government announced the latest round of projects to be supported by the Australian Research Council’s National Competitive Grants Program. There is a total of 1,103 research projects that will receive more than $363 million in funding over five years from 2009. This includes $288 million for Discovery Projects, $71 million for Linkage Projects, $2 million for Linkage International Fellowships and nearly $1 million for Indigenous research development.

The Discovery Projects scheme supports research in all states and territories and in all disciplines. Physics, chemistry and geoscience will receive the highest levels of funding, followed closely by the biological sciences and biotechnology. These disciplines are critical to driving innovation in industry. The Linkage Projects scheme directly supports collaborations between universities and other organisations, including private companies. Partner organisations will contribute $129 million to these projects in addition to the Commonwealth’s contribution of $71 million. The social, behavioural and economic sciences will receive the highest level of funding under this scheme, followed by the engineering and environmental agencies. These disciplines are critical to Australia’s prosperity, to its social cohesion and to its environmental sustainability. The Linkage International Fellowships funding will enable 31 leading Australian researchers to collaborate with researchers in 28 countries on challenges of international significance.

If we want to boost our research effort and our innovation performance we need to harness creativity wherever we find it. This includes the creativity of overseas scholars. It also includes the creativity of Indigenous Australians. It is especially pleasing that five female and four male Indigenous researchers have been awarded funding under the Discovery Indigenous Researchers Development scheme. This scheme helps Indigenous Australian researchers and postgraduate students develop the expertise and experience they need to compete with other applicants for mainstream research funding.

High-quality research produces benefits for all Australians. It leads to new understanding, new knowledge and new technologies. It gives us a competitive edge in a challenging international environment. It can lead to the development of new industries and it can help us create high-tech, high-skilled, high-wage jobs for the future that will help us solve the big problems, such as climate change, and it can improve the health and the wellbeing of individual Australians. These are all great outcomes. (Time expired)