Delivered 11 September 2024 at the National Arboretum (Canberra)
Australian Academy of Science President, Professor Jagadish AC
Seventy years ago, when Sir Mark Oliphant, returned to Australia after World War II, and established the Academy and the ANU, he did so at a time of great social reconstruction. When Australia was building institutions and structures necessary for a young nation to prosper. He recognised the value of evidence-based institutions critical for a stable and forward-thinking democracy.
At the time, HC Coombs—a public servant and first Governor of the Reserve Bank—spoke about the need to bring to bear the full power of the research and technology sector to meet our national ambitions. And the need for the research sector to step up to the national challenge.
From this era were born institutions like the Australian Academy of Science.
The Academy was established to bring science to the service of the nation. The mission has not changed in 70 years. If anything, it has become more critical than ever.
Many have likened the post-pandemic period to the post-war period. A time for reconstruction. A time when we must bring to bear the full power of the research and technology sector to meet our national ambitions.
To strengthen our national security. To grow our industrial base so we can diversify our economy. To decarbonise our world as rapidly as possible.
Friends, we live in a time when geopolitical tensions are escalating.
We live in a region at the centre of those tensions. And we live in a world of information ubiquity. Where evidenced based information is drowned out by mis- and dis-information. Where reliable and independent sources of knowledge are increasingly rare.
These conditions have shown us that we must again step up to the national challenge.
And step up, boldly.
The more polarised the world becomes, the more we need science. The more uncertain our times, the more we need robust, evidence-based institutions. The more volatile the world, the more we need science to guide our actions.
We make better decisions when we have science on our side.
The pandemic has shown us that in times of uncertainty, we relied on evidence. Evidence drawn from decades of investment in scientific discovery.
Patient capital that delivers when we need it the most.
The pandemic has also shown us how critical it is to develop sovereign capability.
To build a nation that is more self-reliant.
When we think of sovereign capability our minds often turn to the need to have advanced manufacturing plants on our soil, so we aren’t at the back of the supply chain queue.
That thinking has seen investment in mRNA manufacturing on our shores and unparalleled investment to seed a quantum industry in Australia.
But less often do we think of sovereign capability in terms of our people.
The scientists who will imagine, discover and deliver jobs and industries that will diversify our economy.
The scientists who will drive productivity.
The scientists who are needed to strengthen national security.
Those scientists are in this room.
A workforce brimming with scientists.
A workforce ready and able to bring to bear the full power of the research and technology sector to meet our national ambitions.
A workforce that jumped into collective action to step up to the challenge of the pandemic.
A workforce that delivered a vaccine in 12 months, and in doing so got people back to work and the wheels of the economy turning again.
A workforce nurtured and propelled.
Just as it was in the post war period.
Except, today, it isn’t.
Early career researchers in this room face unprecedented barriers to career progression.
Senior scientists—skilled and able to meet national ambitions—compete for a diminishing pool of funds and operate in a system that is fragmented, lacking in strategy and drowning in bureaucracy.
Winning a research grant is no longer a sign of success or an enabler to advance our nation.
Rather, it is a challenge to find additional funding sources to fill the gap created by indirect costs of research.
It can and must be different.
We have seen the philanthropic sector step up in bold and visionary ways.
Recognising the power and creativity that is unleashed when researchers are given seven years of funding and asked to do what they do best.
And what the nation needs them to do. And trains them to do.
Philanthropists like the Snow family, the Cumming family, the Perrin family and others are leading the way.
Gifts that support Australian scientific discovery, but also leverage international investment recognising that science is a global endeavour.
Generous gifts from individuals like Academy Fellow Professor Cheryl Praeger and her husband Dr John Henstridge who have enabled scientists in our region to spark collaborations in Australia.
They too recognise that science knows no borders and that we need all the available talent.
May I acknowledge Tom Snow who is with us this evening, as well as Cheryl and John.
These are visionaries who have stepped up to a national need.
They do not displace government investment, but they eloquently show us how it should be done, it can be done, and it must be done.
Speaking of science that knows no borders, may I also acknowledge the vision of Science Minister Husic in assisting the Academy lead scientific cooperation across the Asia-Pacific region.
I am pleased to share with you Minister, that through the Academy’s leadership role that you enabled via a $10.3 million dollar investment in 2022, we have made a significant contribution to the establishment of a Pacific Academy of Sciences that will give Pacific scholars agency and a voice in shaping their destiny.
A strong and stable Pacific means a strong and stable region.
And that is in Australia’s interests.
The Pacific Academy of Sciences will be launched next month in Samoa as part of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
And I am so proud of the Australian Academy of Science’s role in assisting in its establishment.
I am also proud of the amendments the Academy was able to achieve to the Defence Trade Control Act that was updated to enable Australia to meet its AUKUS obligations.
The Academy’s sustained advocacy has enabled Australia to strike a better balance between strengthening our national security whilst preserving open international scientific collaboration that benefits our nation.
Friends, I have spent some time recently visiting Fellows across Australia.
I did not find self-indulgent scientists, tickling their minds on the tax-payers’ purse in some disconnected way.
Rather I saw, time and time again, scientists across Australia talk to me about how they are solving real world problems experienced by everyday Australians.
I did not see ivory towers.
I saw humility.
Creativity.
A steadfast pursuit to make our world easier and cheaper to live in, and more sustainable.
A generation of scientists wanting to put Australia first.
A generation of scientists forging collaborations across the world in the knowledge that we can’t do it alone.
A generation of scientists making sure Australia has a seat at the table.
Positioned to take advantage of collective global knowledge.
Positioned, so when it matters, we aren’t at the back of the queue.
But a generation of scientists swimming against the tide.
And a generation starting to tire.
When our Academy began its calls for a comprehensive root and branch review of the R&D system in 2018, we did so because we need the conditions to bring to bear the full power of the research and technology sector to meet our national ambitions.
We can and we must.
Whether we will, lies in the hands of decision makers—some of which are sitting on my table.
We cheered loudly when Minister Husic, with the support of Treasurer Chalmers, enabled the budget measure that will see a strategic examination of the research and development system.
A once in a generation opportunity to look at the whole system—across government, business, higher education and philanthropy—and ask how can it be shaped for success?
What structures, systems, incentives, connections do we need to bring to bear the full power of the research and technology sector to meet today’s national ambitions?
We must get this right because businesses ready to advance their work rely on it.
Because an economy vulnerable to shocks, needs diversification.
Because flatlining productivity needs to be boosted by ideas and innovation.
We are a smart country with smart people.
Together we can do it.
You as legislators and funders.
Our Fellows as knowledge generators.
The Academy as knowledge brokers so that knowledge can help shape actions.
Together we can give hope to the next generation.
Together we can take the handbrake off scientific discovery and innovation.
Minister Husic and Mr Fletcher you have shown us you can do it.
Minister, you have delivered the National Reconstruction Fund to focus on science and technology priorities that will supercharge industry transformation and you are driving private investment to match government investment in these areas.
You are successfully seeding a quantum industry in Australia.
And other parts of the Australian Government are driving investment into large scale renewable energy solutions so we can decarbonise quickly.
We applaud these actions.
The Leader of the Opposition, as Health Minister delivered the Medical Research Future Fund.
Imagine for a minute the power of a long-term science-wide investment fund that supports all of research and takes the pressure off future budgets.
We are in terms of overall investment in R&D edging close to the bottom of the pack.
It is no place to be for a nation as creative, ambitious and prosperous as ours.
It is no place to be for a nation whose every single stated national ambition requires science and technology.
Our ambition to be a secure nation.
Our ambition to be a self-reliant nation.
Our ambition to be a sustainable nation.
This, my friends requires more science, not less.
And it requires the Academy to be the best it can be.
To continue to lead and lift the sector.
And to continue to bring science to the service of the nation.
Independently.
Reliably.
Respectful of all knowledge sources.
Basing our advice on evidence.
And championing excellence in science.
It’s the Academy way.
It is what we have always done
And it is what we will always do.
I invite you now to charge your glasses, and to be up standing to join me in a toast to excellence in Australian science.
© 2024 Australian Academy of Science
