Universities back plan to boost clean energy industries but highlight workforce and competitiveness issues
The Australian government’s Future Made in Australia policy will require more funding for higher education and research, universities have said.
In a submission on 26 July to a Senate inquiry into two legislative bills to support the policy, the vice-chancellors’ group Universities Australia said that “while our members stand ready to support the delivery of this critical policy, we need funding and policy stability to protect the fundamentals of our research ecosystem”.
The Future Made in Australia policy aims to support new industries that will help Australia reach net zero and take advantage of new markets in the global energy transition. Its five priority areas are: renewable hydrogen; critical minerals processing; green metals; low-carbon liquid fuels; and clean energy manufacturing, including battery and solar panel supply chains.
The vice-chancellors said that Australia’s “challenges” include developing the skilled workforce, working with international partners, gaining community support and becoming competitive in certain manufacturing areas.
“Australian universities house the expertise to address these challenges, to support Australia in the clean energy transition and to grow advanced manufacturing beyond the five priority areas outlined in the programme,” they said.
However, “our research sector is suffering from decades of historic underinvestment. Australia invests 1.68 per cent of GDP in research and development, well below countries like the US and Germany, with strong manufacturing bases and sovereign capabilities, who invest more than 3 per cent of GDP in research and development.”
The vice-chancellors also highlighted the recent “crackdown” on international students, calling it “destabilising”. They said that while a promised review of research and development is welcome, it is unlikely to bring more funding over the next two national budgets.
The aims of the Future Made in Australia policy are “laudable” but there are flaws in the plan, the group said, including locking the National Interest Framework, which will be used to identify priority industries and guide investments, into legislation.
“These bills do not articulate the value of Australian research in driving Australia’s net zero transformation and the role of our university sector in conducting that research, in partnership with industry.”
Policy certainty
The Australian Industry Group said in its submission that while the structure of the Future Made in Australia plan had “a welcome degree of transparency and accountability”, further reforms are needed “if it is to genuinely deliver on its transformational objectives for Australian industry”.
It called for more “policy certainty to encourage private investment” in new industries, including improved tax credits.
The Centre for Policy Development, an independent think tank, used its submission to call for “place-based” initiatives to “bridge the gap between research and industry”.