Science and Technology Australia wants government “strategic investments” in manufacturing

STA president, Jeremy Brownlie suggests the COVID-19 crisis, “should be a reminder about the essential equipment, supplies and technical knowledge we should always have onshore, so we aren’t so heavily dependent on off-shore suppliers and open transport routes to meet our critical needs.

“While it would always be in Australia’s interests to be an outward-looking, globally-engaged trading nation, so too was having greater sovereign capability. The two objectives are complementary,” he says.

Associate Professor Brownlie (Griffith U) adds a research translation fund is a way to “direct strategic investments by government in key capabilities.”

“The dividends it would return on investment to our economic recovery would be profound, but it would also secure Australia’s longer-term self-sufficiency to weather global social and economic upheaval.”

Aspro Brownlie suggests supporting such a fund with savings the government wants to take from the R&D tax incentive.