Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the Higher Education Support Amendment (Australia's Economic Accelerator) Bill 2022. This bill amends the Higher Education Support Act to allow the education minister to make grants to support arrangements to increase industry-led postgraduate research and assist higher education providers to undertake research in sectors aligned with the areas of national security. The bill also provides legislative authority to establish a national industry PhD program, aimed at enabling PhD students to better translate university research into commercialisation outcomes.

The Greens are supporting this bill because we will not stand in the way of more funding for research. But I do want to emphasise that the bill represents a worrying continuation of the Morrison government's agenda of commercialising research and increasing industry influence while neglecting fundamental research. In fact, this bill is a reheated version of a February 2022 Morrison-era bill. Translational research is of course important, but pure curiosity-driven research is just as important, if not more so, often forming the foundation for applied research.

Research borne of curiosity holds infinite possibilities. The invention of wi-fi is one famous local example of astroparticle physics research. This research that created the technology behind wi-fi has changed our lives. It is therefore short-sighted to solely focus on translational research. As Professor Brian Schmidt, Vice Chancellor, ANU, states:

This short-term thinking fails to understand that the innovations we need actually come from the giant pool of ideas generated by curiosity …

I'm pleased that Minister Clare was quick to initiate a review into the Australian Research Council Act. Such a review was long overdue, with the past few years being particularly troubled for the ARC. Increasing political interference has damaged its integrity and independence.

Trust of the ARC amongst the research community has diminished due to acts of political interference, such as the vetoing of grants and the introduction of the national interest test as well as the rejection of grant applications due to their citation of pre-print publications. The review must address all these issues and must also enshrine the importance of fundamental research.

The government needs to make sure that researchers are supported and well paid, and I haven't been shy of raising that issue over and over. PhD students are increasingly struggling to make ends meet, with stipends falling well below the minimum wage and universities being relied on to top up these stipends. PhD students are also locked out of the government's Paid Parental Leave scheme, making it extremely difficult for them to have a family should they wish.

It is really disappointing that this morning the Labor government voted down the Greens amendment, which was very reasonable, to extend the Paid Parental Leave scheme to PhD students. Not only is it fair that researchers be paid a decent wage and have good conditions, but if we don't, there is a significant risk that Australia will lose out on talented researchers. The UK, Germany and Italy all offer stipends to PhD students that are closer to the average wage, whereas in Australia they are well below the average wage. Australia's public investment in tertiary institutions is also amongst the lowest in the OECD, ranked 31 out of 37 according to Universities Australia.

The solution to improving research in this country is not more commercialisation. We need to significantly invest in pure research. That's why I move the following second reading amendment:

At the end of the motion, add ", but the Senate:

(a) notes that this bill:

(i) provides a significant amount of funding for research translation and commercialisation, and

(ii) provides absolutely no funding for pure research; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

(i) recognise that pure research is a public good with immense value,

(ii) recognise that pure research is as important and worthy of funding,

(iii) commit to substantially increasing funding for pure research, which has fallen significantly over the past three decades, and

(iv) commit to a substantial increase in stipends, given PhD candidates are increasingly struggling to make ends meet with stipends falling well below the minimum wage".

I will also be moving amendments in the committee stage to ensure the Economic Accelerator Advisory Board's research commercialisation strategy cannot be inconsistent with Australia's greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. This will ensure that this significant new funding program cannot be used to fund research that could put our emissions reduction targets at risk and make sure that the research commercialisation strategy is consistent with Australia's greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. While this amendment does not go as far as I would have liked to get support for in expressly preventing the accelerator program being used to fund research which could contribute to the development of new coal and gas projects, I am nonetheless very pleased to work with the Labor government to embed a commitment to climate action within this bill.

The reality is that new coal and gas is simply incompatible with the survival of people and the planet. Australia is the third-largest exporter of fossil fuel. It doesn't matter where coal and gas is burned; emissions drive global warming and climate change everywhere. Conveniently, pollution that is released overseas, called scope 3 emissions, is not counted as our emissions. We wash our hands of the problem, but that is a dangerous approach which ignores Australia's true global contribution to climate change. Australian coal and gas are fuelling climate disasters everywhere, from the floods in Lismore to those in Pakistan, from the bushfires in the Bega Valley to the drought in the Horn of Africa. Research should contribute to progress and will be key to mitigating and surviving the climate crisis. At the end of the day, though, we must stop opening new coal and gas mines.