The Innovative Research Universities wants legislation “to protect against political interference” in funding decisions on individual basic research projects

The call comes in a nuanced submission to the Senate committee inquiry into a bill from NSW Green Mehreen Faruqi to protect ARC recommended grant funding from ministerial veto.

The IRU is also adamant in supporting basic research, presumably including from HASS disciplines, which three recent ministers have vetoed.

But it is careful to distinguish it from other grant programmes, “the generation of new knowledge is fundamentally different to other kinds of government grants programmes, where desired outcomes may be known in advance.”

Like applied research linked to economic outcomes, perhaps as set out in the new research accelerator programme. Thus the IRU, “supports the current government’s focus on industry innovation and commercialisation through new funding for fit-for-purpose programmes.”

The lobby also acknowledges that no government will give up power over public funding, “given that this is public money that is being invested, there must be appropriate democratic oversight, accountability and transparency … but this should be at the level of the programme or agency.”

All neatly done. Any lobby that does not speak out against the ARC vetoes will lose friends in the research community. Any lobby that does not state support for applied research funding will not impress STEM researchers who hope to gain from the research commercialisation strategy. Any lobby that does not acknowledge the authority of a minister will be noted by whoever the next one is.