Applied research is the go right now. There are bipartisan policies in place to support applied research and reduce funding dollars for science that takes years and may, or may not, come up with anything somebody can sell.
So, what does the prime minister think about that? Hard to tell really.
Announcing his science awards the other night, Mr Albanese spoke nice about new Nobel Prize Winner Richard Robson and the culture he comes from. “His achievement is the culmination of a 60-year career of scientific pursuit, of the distillation of his knowledge, of trial, error – and success.”
Plus, the PM ticked the acknowledge-the-apparatus box, “Uni Melbourne, ARC and the long past Australian Research Grants Committee.”
“Their support for Professor Robson is a reminder of the quiet, sustained way in which our public research institutions contribute not just to the life of the nation, but to the whole world.”
“Their investment in science, what it brings us, and how it shapes our world is immensely valuable.”
It is enough of a tick for long-term pure-basic Robson-style research to please, as far as anything can, a learned academy.
But the PM also talked about science as “key driver of our economy,” “whether it is harnessing the power of AI, generating and storing renewable energy, improving the way we grow our food or treat illness, or quantum computing.”
And he mentioned Robyn Denholm and colleagues’ Strategic Examination of Research and Development, “focused on harnessing Australian R&D to power economic growth, and boosting our industry at home.” Which is not first fave amongst advocates of discovery research, who fear they will be left out when SERD reports. As the Academy of Science put it last month, “Fundamental research is the wellspring of innovation. There is no ‘D’ without ‘R’”.
It is an argument way below the PM’s paygrade, which he would undoubtedly expect Industry and Science Minister Tim Ayres to sort-out. We will know how it is to be sorted when he responds to SERD, in the next month or so.
Like the PM, Mr Ayres appears keen on everything. In a speech last week, he mentioned the “importance of cultural change, building a national appetite for risk, experimentation and long-term thinking in the public and private sectors. “But there is a context for that, “Science and research are at the heart of building a more productive, resilient and sustainable economy that provides good jobs.”
And discovery research may, or may not do that.