HANSARD EXTRACT
|
Science and Innovation Committee Report
|
| 19 June 2006 |
Mr HAYES
(Werriwa) (1.06 p.m.)—I
very much support the presentation of the House of Representatives
Standing Committee on Science and Innovation report Pathways to
technological innovation. In the report the committee has
attempted to drill down into the underlying issues affecting
innovation—in particular, the make-up of an environment conducive to
innovation, the culture of support, the development of new ideas in
this country and any impediments. The inquiry looked for ways to
assist the strengthening of our pathways to make it easier to
commercialise innovation. I was very happy to be part of this
inquiry. There was very much a genuine and positive effort made by
all members, culminating in the unanimous report that the member for
Kooyong has just presented to the House.
The inquiry received over 100 submissions and
conducted 10 public hearings, receiving evidence from witnesses from
industry, technology development, innovation and academia. I
congratulate the member for Kooyong. Once more he has demonstrated
himself as being a very fair and inclusive committee chair, and I am
very proud to be part of the committee. I am speaking today in part
on behalf of the member for
Franklin, Harry Quick, who is the deputy chair of the committee but
who, unfortunately, has taken very ill and has not yet returned to
the parliament.
This inquiry received the total cooperation of
all members, who participated very fully with a dedication to the
cause. It would be remiss of me if I did not join the chair in
commending the efforts of the committee secretary,
Dr
Anna Dacre, and her team, consisting of
Dr
Alison Clegg, Lea Hill, Rachelle Mitchell, Emma Martin and Daniel
Miletic. Their dedication, professionalism and good humour was very
much appreciated by the committee members.
I will comment further on the report in the
Main Committee later today, but at this stage it is worth while
mentioning that this report attempts to identify not only the need
to develop an entrepreneurial culture in Australia but also the ways
that can occur and the impediments that need to be addressed so
those ideas can be developed. Innovation is the development of ideas
and technology transfers through to the actual process of
commercialisation. Therefore, innovation must be considered a
natural development, not simply a lucky strike, if I could use that
expression.
Interjection
The DEPUTY SPEAKER (Hon.
IR Causley)—Order!
The time allotted for statements on this report has expired. Does
the member for Kooyong wish to move a motion in connection with the
report to enable it to be debated on a later occasion?
In continuation in the Main
Committee
Mr HAYES
(Werriwa)
(4.00
p.m.)—Let
me say at the outset that I appreciate the consideration extended to
me from the other side on the Pathways to technological
innovation report of the House of Representatives Standing
Committee on Science and Innovation. I am under a time constraint,
and I do appreciate being able to juggle the order a little. In the
chamber, when the report was being introduced, I spoke about the
need to develop an entrepreneurial culture in this country.
Innovation, as I see it, is the development of ideas, certainly the
transference of technology, through to the commercialisation of the
process. Essentially, that is the basis upon which successful
countries have been able to articulate their innovation into action
and ultimately into the economy. It is a little late in the day to
simply sit back and wait for a good idea to materialise, hopefully
get a lucky break and crack the market.
One thing we found throughout our hearings was that, unfortunately,
not all our best ideas made it to the marketplace. One reason why
that has occurred is that it is not necessarily just scientific and
engineering knowledge that supports a good idea into the
marketplace; it is largely the development of the entrepreneurial
skills to be able to support innovative content. We should not
simply wait until people graduate from university to try and instil
that culture. Quite frankly, that should be extended from schooling
onwards. Therefore—as you would recall, Mr Deputy Speaker—one of the
findings of this committee is that this should be engendered in our
society very much from the earliest years, looking to develop
innovative content but also with a view to looking at the skills
necessary to make something happen; not just to dream something up
but to make it happen.
Innovation is not entirely based on the ideas, as I say—it must be
looked at in relation to its commercial possibilities and its impact
on society, business and the economy—but basically it is the
transition of good ideas into a commercial process. In its report,
the committee looked at the issue of entrepreneurial skills. The
committee effectively acknowledged the importance of entrepreneurial
skills to innovation, the transfer of technology and the
commercialisation process. Evidence to the committee indicates that
there has to be a fundamental reform in our thinking in that regard.
As I said, it must become very much a cultural shift. Quite frankly,
it is stooped in our education system. Therefore, in the opinion of
the committee, it requires a whole-of-government approach. Given
that there is a very clear link between entrepreneurship and
innovation, for this country to match the global efforts of our
competitors or at least to maintain our productivity and economic
wealth, we need to be out there promoting the development of a
cultural shift, and a culture of entrepreneurship must be consistent
with all that.
We found fostering a culture of entrepreneurship to be a critical
step in improving this country’s pathways to innovation. It does not
fall to any one group to do that, whether it involves innovative
support mechanisms, education systems or business as a whole. Quite
frankly, it is probably something that does require a
whole-of-government approach in order to coordinate a policy link to
assist in that regard. So formulating a program by which government
can assist such a cultural shift and engender a more entrepreneurial
culture requires the expertise of all those who assist in the
development of our students, not only in schools but also in
universities.
Throughout this inquiry much was made of the fact that we are simply
not encouraging people into sciences or engineering, and that some
of the people leaving school do not have the maths ability to be
able to cope with those areas. But that comprises only one leg of
this argument. Certainly, we do need to encourage our kids into
sciences and into engineering, and schools play a significant role
in preparing kids for those areas. But if that is all we are going
to produce, and we fall short on the issues of commerce and business
development skills, I am afraid we are still going to be exporting
our most valuable resource—that is, ideas. We do not just need to be
able to conceptualise our ideas; we need to be able to shift those
ideas into the marketplace. The committee addresses this point in
recommendation 5, where it says that a whole-of-government task
force should be established to investigate a suite of appropriate
policy program measures to foster a natural culture. I think it is
important that we do see innovation as more than just hatching a
good idea and that we look at the process that is involved.
On that theme, one of the things that the committee did notice is
that there is certainly a lack of data available for us to be able
to assess the level of business skills that we have. Despite the
fact that our business skills and our entrepreneurial nature are
critical to the development of commercial innovation, we found that
there was very scant material available in terms of business and
commerce graduates. That type of material does not appear in the
Australian science and innovation system annual statistical snapshot
put out by the Department of Education, Science and Training. The
committee recommends that that be addressed. We think that the
department should look very clearly at how we assess business and
commerce graduates to make sure that we do have the requisite
numbers. Without knowing that sort of data, we are not going to be
totally successful in promoting this partnership that we would like
to see eventuate between those in engineering and sciences, those
who are going to conceptualise ideas, and those who are going to be
out there with a view to commercialising those ideas for the benefit
of business and of the Australian economy. In recommendation 4, the
committee recommends that that data be captured and assessed by the
department.
Innovation is about growth. It is certainly the basis upon which
growth can occur not only in a business but also in the economy.
Innovation is therefore more important as we attempt to compete as
well as extend our position within our region and within our
marketplace. Internationally, innovation policy has become the key
element of industry policy and is, surprisingly, seen as the main
factor driving productivity and in turn economic growth. The path to
international innovation or competitiveness in this country, quite
frankly, can only be through those innovation processes. This
government has presided over about 49, I think it is, consecutive
monthly trade deficits. (Time expired)
Return
to Speeches Menu.
