The planned national research and development re-set review is out – Ed Husic anticipated one big issue it addressed as well as a cultural failing we are stuck with.
Australia has “exceptional research” the former Industry and Science minster told parliament last week, nominating quantum computing, medical technology, cyber security, fintech and AI.
But, “too often we invent here and commercialise elsewhere” the now Labor backbencher for the Sydney seat of Chifley said last week in a Parliamentary debate on appropriations, ahead of the release of the Strategic Examination of Research and Development. Mr Husic argued Australia must follow France, Canada and other middle powers, which “move fast on treating procurement as an issue of sovereignty and diversifying things such as digital investments.”
While too modest to mention his championing change when a Minister, Mr Husic welcomed last year’s simplified government procurement rules, “that deliberately nurture domestic capability … not as a cost but as a genuine investment to stimulate demand for new tech to support growth.”
“We are an open trading nation, but we want to benefit from global innovation and investment fairly and in a way that does not lock us in to being completely dependent on global supply chains that can reduce our independence as a result, “ he said.
The SERD panel agreed, proposing amending the decision focus from up-front price to value that includes economic benefits of buying Australian made.
However Mr Husic also called-out cultures that “stop us from scaling innovation.” There is, “a complete lack of support and faith in the corridors of Treasury and Finance, whose mindset is stuck in the nineties. They believe the best thing Australia can be is the customer of someone else's idea or product.”
“Technology markets tend towards concentration, which has been seen time and again. Network effects and scale advantages reinforce incumbency. Without deliberate counterweights, smaller domestic firms struggle to compete for large public contracts, regardless of their innovation or quality, he warned.
And he argued for an emphasis on locally-created science, suggesting it was essential to the Government’s Future Made In Australia investments. “We have invested in clean energy, advanced manufacturing, critical minerals processing and value-adding industries. But technology has to sit at the centre of that ambition.”
“Technology markets tend towards concentration, which has been seen time and again. Network effects and scale advantages reinforce incumbency. Without deliberate counterweights, smaller domestic firms struggle to compete for large public contracts, regardless of their innovation or quality.”