AUSTRALIANS are keen to see the past emphasis on sport balanced by improved
scientific achievement, according to a recent opinion poll commissioned by
The Australian newspaper.
The survey found that about 60 per cent of people view sport as the field in
which Australia has been most successful in the past. Scientific achievement
ranked second, with 16 per cent. But academic achievement outside of science
attracted fewer responses than any other option, a miserable one per
cent鈥攂elow military, cultural and business success.
The view of the future, however, is radically different. A total of 40 per
cent want scientific or academic achievement to be the mark of Australia鈥檚
success, ahead of the combined total for business and agricultural production.
Even more remarkably for a sports-mad nation, only six per cent want to see
sport as the area in which Australia is most successful in the future. This
ranks sport below cultural achievement and only marginally above military
success. The result is the same for young as for old鈥攊t is a general view
of the community.
Advertisement
The findings are a wake-up call to governments in Australia and New Zealand.
In the past large amounts of financial and political capital have been invested
in sporting success. The achievements of the All Blacks or the Australian men鈥檚
cricket team may be good for our respective national psyches, but they do not
earn our keep in the modern world.
The Australian used its opinion poll as the springboard for an editorial
calling for serious investment in science and innovation. It quoted a
calculation by ABC science guru Robyn Williams that Australia would need to put
at least A$20 billion into science to match the recent investment in
R&D by Ireland, often the butt of condescending Anglo-Saxon jokes about
ignorance. 鈥淎n election year policy reversal to win votes will not be enough,鈥�
the editorial said. 鈥淭he Government needs to see how far we have slipped behind
at all levels of education, and commit itself to a smart solution.鈥�
And that smart solution needs to start with solving the problem of keeping
bright young scientists at home. The government鈥檚 Innovation Statement
(Antipodes, 3 February) tried to stimulate post-graduate study by turning the
present up-front fees into loans similar to the Higher Education Contribution
Scheme (HECS) for undergraduates. Although there are some advantages in doing
this, I don鈥檛 think the policy-makers have fully thought through the
consequences.
Graduates with shiny, new PhDs could emerge in a few years time carrying
seven years of accumulated HECS debt. If they stay in the country and take a
scientific job, they will have to repay this huge burden out of their taxable
income. If they flit overseas, the debt sits waiting for them at home so, in the
short term, they are better off. And if they never return at all, then they
don鈥檛 ever have to shoulder the financial burden. So the HECS idea of repayable
loans actually provides a significant incentive to young scientists to go
overseas and never return. I hear this is already a problem in NZ. It鈥檚 hardly
smart for Australia to follow down the same path. We need an education policy
based on life-long learning, not life-long debt.
LOCAL scientists will be watching today鈥檚 election in Queensland with unusual
interest. Although the premier, Peter Beattie, is a lawyer by training, he is so
enthusiastic about the potential of biotechnology and other science-based
industries that he weaves that theme into most of his speeches. More
importantly, he has been putting his government鈥檚 money where his mouth is, and
investing serious resources in research and innovation. It is unclear how much
of this attitude would survive a change of government.
ALONG with the political temperature, the UV levels are sure to be high in
Queensland today. But most of the populace will not be wearing a hat or using
sun-cream for their walk to the polling booth or afternoon game of cricket.
Unfortunately, this is typical of Queensland, which has the highest rate of skin
cancer in the world.
A recent survey found that 90 per cent of people are aware of the UV
predictions which are now part of regular weather forecasts. Only about 30 per
cent of men and 45 per cent of women, however, let the forecasts influence their
behaviour, according to Patricia Valery of the Queensland Institute of Medical
Research and her colleagues. Even those who regularly burn or have a record of
skin cancer are no more likely than average to take precautions. It鈥檚 a
worry.