By linking higher education reforms to research funding, Christopher Pyne risks the closure of some of Australia’s most successful research centres

By linking higher education reforms to research funding, Christopher Pyne risks the closure of some of Australia’s most successful research centres





Driving down a brand new highway in Sicily in my teens, I almost went

over the edge when the road simply stopped; no explanation, no

alternative route.





The road was one of many that had been abruptly terminated when the

cash ran out. There were hopes that funding might flow again, but it

hadn’t happened, so the road remained half-built.





Coming from Australia, I found this hard to understand but comforted myself it could never happen at home.





But it may be about to.





Back in 2004, the Howard government launched the national

collaborative research infrastructure strategy (NCRIS). Announcing it,

the then education minister Julie Bishop said it was “essential to build

our national capacity to generate knowledge and use it to advance our

economic, social and environmental objectives”.





She was right. Over almost a decade since, the now 27 flourishing national research facilities have done just that.





They are used by the nation’s top researchers, from all sectors, to

tackle big challenges and and to address the issues that will determine

how successful we are in the 21st century.





These facilities – supercomputers, fabrications facilities,

ocean-monitoring programs – are the basic tools of modern science. They

hold the key to the progress of a modern nation. Without them, we have

no hope of competing with the rest of the world.






A

tiny snapshot of recent results from NCRIS programs includes a

nano-patch to deliver vaccines without the need for refrigeration,

making an obvious life-saving difference for remote Australians and the

health of our region; use of marine models and data to search for

Malaysian Airlines flight MH370; and the weather-prediction technology

that picked up the recent Northern Territory and Queensland cyclones.





I could go on, but while the NCRIS facilities may not be household

names, everyone seems to agree they are a good thing: building

capability, providing unique and cutting-edge services to industry,

helping to improve lives, making money and creating jobs.





So why worry?





While the facilities have bedded down and flourished, government

funding for operating them has been a little lumpy, the initial

seven-year commitment followed by less predictable terms and amounts.





But, until now, the funding has always come in the end.





Last May, the education minister, Christopher Pyne,

again found a last-minute sum – $150m to fund the facilities for

2015-16 – while initiating a review to identify long-term funding

options. Scientists were pleased with the move and have been supportive

of the review. The final report, which includes a decent set of

recommendations, will be submitted to the government in the next few

months.





The problem is that the $150m has not flowed, nor has a date been set

when it will. In fact, Pyne has indicated it may not be forthcoming

unless his package of university deregulation reforms are passed. Anyone

who has kept half an eye on politics in recent months knows that that

package may not pass at all and is unlikely to pass quickly.





This is a serious problem: the current NCRIS operations money runs

out on 30 June, less than four months away. Without certainty of

funding, staff are already looking for employment elsewhere, crisis

meetings are being held, and some facilities are measuring their

existence in terms of weeks, not months or years.





Research facilities such as these cannot be shut down quickly, a

phased shut down has to be planned for and implemented before the

funding runs out. Some will be expensive, if not impossible, to reopen.





If the government does not move very quickly to release the funds,

there is the very real possibility that a good number of the 27

facilities will close.





It is hard to believe that the government could allow a highly

successful, 11-year, multi-billion dollar capital investment to fall

over for want of an operating budget.





At a showcase for all 27 NCRIS facilities late last year in the Great

Hall at Parliament House, parliamentary secretary Scott Ryan spoke on

behalf of Pyne. He said:





There is no question about the impact NCRIS has in Australia and

internationally. This is well recognised by universities, research

facilities, state governments and industry, with NCRIS projects

leveraging a total of $1bn from across these groups.





The government will safeguard the future of Australia’s world-class

research and research infrastructure, and help prepare Australia and the

world for the challenges before us. I ask you to continue to work with

us in this endeavour.











Scientists want nothing more than to get on with the job of tackling

challenges and grasping opportunities – but they are facing a dead end.

Uncertainty over funding is corrosive, but things are much more serious

that that. If the government does not guarantee the $150m will flow, and

soon, Australia’s research effort will run off the road.