What Budget 2007 means for the science industry

The new federal budget released on Tuesday has received mixed support in the science industry, with enthusiasm over the endowment initiative tempered by concern over the lack of extra research grants or funding for cooperative research.

Science Industry Australia (SIA) sees the initiatives announced in the budget as going some way towards addressing the skills shortage, but nothing to cheer about just yet.

"There is nowhere near the required number of skilled graduates flowing into the system and the initiatives announced overnight will go some way towards redressing this shortfall," said Duncan Jones, executive director of the SIA.

"However, we need the skills now, not in two to three years' time, so we look forward to a continued and concerted focus in this area, not just a pre-election grab bag of funding promises."

The extra support for CSIRO does appear to be a winner, receiving high praise by SIA.

"Many players in the science industry have built their organisations upon commercialising CSIRO developed innovation and ideas," said Dr Geoffrey Burge, president of SIA.

"It is wonderful to see that CSIRO has received a meaningful increase in funding of 19.5% for the next four years rather than the CPI incremental funding adjustments they have had for the previous period."

The Labor government also welcomes the endowment initiative revealed in the budget; however, Senator Kim Carr, Shadow Minister for Industry, Innovation, Science and Research, says that it doesn't go far enough to stop Australia falling behind in science and research training.

"This government has no long-term vision in regards to the grants program and the research training program," he said. "We are falling behind by international standards and this government has no sense of urgency."

Senator Carr is also concerned over stagnant Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) funding. "The CRC program is effectively being ignored this year," he said. "Up to 15 CRCs have been forced to close, and the government has done nothing for the restoration of good CRCs."

By: Keiran Jones