Last week the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported state and federal government expenditure on research and development dropped $446m from $3725m in 2012-13 to $3279m in ‘16-17 (CMM July 6). However yesterday the ABS reported employment in professional, scientific and technical services has just increased by over 13 per cent, the fastest of any industry in the economy. Sadly, they are not all in the lab the category includes lawyers and accountants.

Education also expanded; with a 1.5 per cent rise in employed persons and 0.5 per cent increase in hours worked.