Howard's High Tech Boost To Unis, Research

Sydney Morning Herald

Monday January 29, 2001

Michelle Grattan, Chief Political Correspondent

A $1 billion loan scheme for fee-paying postgraduate students, and 21,000 new full-time university places in maths, science and technology will be announced in today's nearly $3 billion Innovation Action Plan.

The Government will also promise $34.1 million over five years for developing online curricula for school children.

The innovation plan will be unveiled by the Prime Minister in his Federation address at a lunch in Sydney.

It is the Government's first policy punch for election year, and is designed to gazump Labor's Knowledge Nation policies, which are mostly still being developed.

Today's measures concentrate on strengthening Australia's ability to commercially develop ideas generated here, and on reversing the brain drain by both retaining local scientists and attracting top researchers from abroad.

The plan contains a boost for industry research and development, with a 175 per cent tax concession for additional R&D.

There will be a new round of grants for co-operative research centres, with the focus on information technology and biotechnology. Extra money will be given to major research facilities expensive pieces of equipment and specialised sites for leading-edge research.

Funding for Australian Research Council grants now more than $200 million is expected to be doubled.

The $151 million for 21,000 university places will see places increase at a rate of 2,000 new entrants a year, to a maximum of about 5,500 as those students move through university.

The loan scheme, expected to provide about $995 million in loans over five years, will be available to an estimated 240,000 people. It extends the loan element of HECS to all fee-paying postgraduate non-research courses. At present students in only about half of postgraduate non-research courses can gain access to HECS loans.

The aim of the scheme is particularly to assist those who want to upgrade skills or develop new ones.

Repayments will cut in through the tax system when a student's subsequent income reaches a threshold. It is not known whether this will be different from existing HECS loans. Like them, while it will be adjusted for inflation, there will be no real rate of interest charged under the scheme.

The Government says its online curriculum initiative for schools will link in with measures al-ready taken to promote online skills in school children. The Industry Minister, Senator Minchin, said at the weekend the themes of the innovation statement would be increasing the nation's capacity to generate ideas, improving its ability to commercialise those ideas and addressing the critical issue of improving maths, science and information technology skills. He said it was important to develop stronger links between research institutions and business.

``It's always going to be difficult to prevent every invention from being commercialised overseas. Australian inventors have every right to get the best price. Our job is to maximise the prospect of those inventions being commercialised in Australia."

Labor's industry spokeswoman, Dr Carmen Lawrence, predicted the statement would be too little too late.

``Business and enterprise related research in Australia has declined sharply since 1996, when the incoming Howard Government cut research and development tax concessions for businesses... Australian researchers and industry groups are now rightly expecting John Howard to not only repair the damage caused by his short-sighted budget cuts, but to ensure Australia has a robust and competitive innovation framework into the future," she said.

INSIDE

INNOVATION 2001

Page 4 Scientists warn of last chance for vital funding $100m whopper would keep us ahead

Page 9 Michelle Grattan profiles the man in the spotlight, the Industry and Science Minister, Nick Minchin.

© 2001 Sydney Morning Herald

Back to News Index | Back to Home