canberra

Tony Staley, president of Australia's governing Liberal party, has challenged a government report on industrial policy that recommends cutting funding for the 65 Cooperative Research Centres. The CRC scheme forges partnerships between universities, government agencies and industry for targeted research and development.

In a letter last week to John Moore, the Minister for Industry, Science and Tourism, who commissioned the report from David Mortimer, a businessman, Staley said the cuts would “destroy the CRC programme”.

The government is also investigating making CRCs “more self-funding”. At present they receive an annual government budget of A$146 million (US$108 million), which Mortimer says should be reduced to A$20 million and used only for “public good” research.

Staley accuses Mortimer of “lack of understanding of the CRC programme”. This programme has been successful, with much of the research directed to industrial innovation, he says. Influential businessman Sir Arvi Parbo also criticized the report in a letter to the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences.

Australia's 36 universities hit out at Mortimer's view that they should depend more on funds from industry. The Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee demanded the government “reject totally Mortimer's recommendations concerning R&D”.

The committee says “swingeing cuts” to research in universities, CRCs and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation would make Australia's economic growth “critically dependent on research owned offshore”.