Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

A very important component of the National Innovation and Science Agenda is the very long-term security and certainty it provides to our research sector. The Turnbull government has committed to invest $2.3 billion over the next decade in national-scale research infrastructure, including, importantly, sustainable operational funding for the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy.

Last year, I heard from many people who wanted funding certainty for NCRIS who wanted to be taken off the drip-feed that in particular those opposite had put NCRIS on with funding cliffs. So by providing this long-term certainty, we can be confident we will better retain research talent in Australia, better leverage industry engagement and funding, support the network of some 35,000 researchers through the 27 projects that employ some 1,700 highly skilled technical experts, including in all states of Australia—yours as well, Senator Back, in Western Australia like the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre.