Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present the interim report of the Economics References Committee on Australia's automotive industry, together with the Hansard record of proceedings and documents presented to the committee.

Ordered that the reports be printed.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

I seek leave to continue my remarks given the hour.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.

I present the interim report of the Economics References Committee on Australia's innovation system, together with the Hansard record of proceedings and documents presented to the committee.

Ordered that the report be printed.

I move:

That the time for the presentation of the final report of the Economics References Committee on Australia's innovation system be extended to 25 November 2015.

Question agreed to.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

I will speak briefly at this time. This interim report is in the form of an issues paper that has been written by Professor Roy Green, who has been engaged by the Economics References Committee to assist the committee in its assessment of the innovation system, following the receipt of 181 submissions to the inquiry. It goes to the issue of what is innovation and why it is important in Australia, and why it is so significant for the future economic prosperity of the nation. The detail of that is contained in the report.

The report also identifies a number of impediments to the development of the innovation system. While the committee enjoyed a number of public hearings, it did work in a highly collegiate manner. As a consequence, I believe that this is a report of substance and when it is finally concluded, the report will be of lasting benefit to the Senate. I am particularly concerned to highlight the issues that go to the weaknesses in the innovation system and the obstacles to the development of the innovation system. They are detailed in this interim report. The issues paper itself identifies a number of questions which others may wish to comment upon, and I trust that they will. There will be an opportunity for further submissions to be received by the committee. I commend the report to the chamber. I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted.

Chris Ketter (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will attempt to be brief. Labor initiated the inquiry in 2014 to fill the government's policy vacuum when it comes to science, research and innovation. Australia does need to plan to build an innovation ecosystem so we can create the high-tech , high-skill and high-wage industries and jobs out of the future.

The Senate referred to inquiry of the innovation system to the economic references committee and, as Senator Carr has indicated, we have so far received 181 submissions and have held four public hearings. The committee has agreed to table this interim report and to request an extension to present the final report by 25 November 2015.

The context of the report is that the OECD has stated that the capability to innovate and to bring innovation successfully to market will be a crucial determinant of the global competitiveness of nations over the coming decade. The OECD has also noted that innovative activity is the main driver of economic progress and wellbeing. This report goes to a number of those factors and draws on a number of submissions, and I quote the Professionals Australia, who have noted that innovation is a driver of both productivity and economic growth as shown by the United States where half of the economic growth in the last 50 years can be attributed to scientific innovation, despite a decline in mining productivity.

The reality we have at the moment—and Senator Carr has touched on this—is reflected in some of the statistics that are contained in the report which reveal that only 1½ per cent of Australia's companies developed new-to-the-world innovations in 2011 compared with figures of 10 to 40 per cent for businesses in other countries. There is a need for some serious further work to be done on this issue.

There have been very constructive hearings in Brisbane and Melbourne. I will just touch on very briefly the Brisbane hearing at which we heard the CSIRO; Australian National Fabrication Facility; the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology; the Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise, who provided a very interesting submission; University of Southern Queensland; Queensland University of Technology, the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation; Russell Mineral Equipment, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Queensland, Cook Medical; Dr Geoffrey Garrett; and Professor Mark Dodgson.

As Senator Carr has indicated, the inquiry has identified a number of barriers to the flow of ideas, mobility and funding between private and public sectors which ultimately impede innovation—I will not touch on those. Australia needs a plan to build for our future. The purpose of the report is to generate further discussion and spark debate about Australia's innovation, and we look forward to reading the final report. I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.