News & Views item - September  2004

 

 

TFW First Placed this N&V Item on the Site Just Under Two Months Ago - We do so Again for an Obvious Reason. (September 1, 2004)

 

"Government investment in R&D is projected to fall to 0.62% of GDP in 2004/05 - down from 0.66% in 2002-03." -- FASTS President, Snow Barlow. (July 5, 2004)

        Although Prime Minister, John Howard, has yet to announce the date of this year's federal election the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies has put forward its election statement, Real Priorities: Science and technology for Australia's social, economic and environmental benefit.  

    Professor Barlow pointed out "Government investment in R&D is projected to fall to 0.62% of GDP in 2004/05 - down from 0.66% in 2002-03, and while this reflects the growth of sector GDP, this decline raises really important questions as to our national priorities."

    It is also true that the rise in GDP is accompanied by a growth in population so that a decline in the percent of GDP devoted to R&D reflects a decline in the per capita resources the nation has allocated for research and development. Not a particularly forward looking viewpoint or as Barlow puts it, "Investment in R&D spend as a percentage of GDP is an important indicator. It tells us a lot about how much of today's economic activity we are prepared to invest for our future and our children's future."

    Real Priorities expands on this view, "There is an important correlation between future economic growth as measured by GDP and current R&D intensity. Productivity is fundamental to economic growth. R&D, along with education, is a key driver of increased productivity.
    "It is well established that the rates of return on R&D are high, and produce a whole range of social, environmental and economic benefits."

 

While FASTS agrees that some of its stated priorities will require significant investment and policy changes, it believes "others can be readily implemented including, for example, fair HECS rates for science teachers and 100 new post-docs to encourage industry culture change."

 

The table below taken from FASTS' Election statement shows the resources of four nations and two groups of nations put into R&D and shows the outstandingly small proportion provided by Australian business. This fact coupled with the decline in percent GDP the federal government is prepared to allocate paints a depressing picture for the future if it is allowed to continue.

 

 

What is not clear is how government funding for R&D is apportioned in comparison to other nations, e.g. how much of public money is spent on the foundations of research on which development and innovation ultimately depend and how much on applied research and development with a view to obtaining quick returns, what might be analogised to investing in the dot com bubble.

 

Somewhat surprisingly while FASTS along with the AVCC acknowledges that the current OECD average for R&D is 2.33% of GDP (Australia's is 1.53%) and the EU as well as Canada have announced goals of 3% of GDP for R&D by 2010, it suggests a goal of 2.3% for Australia by 2010 (the AVCC has set its sights even lower at 2%).

 

However, FASTS has also issued a check list for its election priorities dealing with:

1. The National R&D Commitment,

2. Environmental Sustainability,

3. Science Education in our schools,

4. Industry R&D and

5. Public sector R&D

Below we highlight the last two; all are detailed in the full statement (see above).

 

Under industry R&D it ticks off:

While under public sector it lists: