Member Login - Account - Logout

Science and Technology Australia
  • Home
  • About STA
    • Who is STA?
    • Our history
    • Alliances and Partnerships
    • Board and Executive
    • Governance
    • Work for us
    • Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan
    • Policy Vision
  • News and Publications
    • Latest news
    • Reports and publications
  • Our Programs
    • Science meets Parliament
    • Science meets Policymakers
    • Parliamentary Friends of Science
    • Superstars of STEM
    • Science Policy Fellows Alumni
    • Super STEM communicator workshop
    • STEM Ambassadors
  • Events
    • STA events
    • Member events
  • Membership
    • Our Members
    • Why be a member?
    • Member Benefits Program
    • Join STA
    • Member How-to Guides
    • Login to member portal
    • Register for member portal
  • Contact
    • Media
  • Home
  • About STA
    • Who is STA?
    • Our history
    • Alliances and Partnerships
    • Board and Executive
    • Governance
    • Work for us
    • Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan
    • Policy Vision
  • News and Publications
    • Latest news
    • Reports and publications
  • Our Programs
    • Science meets Parliament
    • Science meets Policymakers
    • Parliamentary Friends of Science
    • Superstars of STEM
    • Science Policy Fellows Alumni
    • Super STEM communicator workshop
    • STEM Ambassadors
  • Events
    • STA events
    • Member events
  • Membership
    • Our Members
    • Why be a member?
    • Member Benefits Program
    • Join STA
    • Member How-to Guides
    • Login to member portal
    • Register for member portal
  • Contact
    • Media
6 November 2019

Walking hand in hand with Australian Science

SmP parliament house

As Science meets Parliament approaches, Australia’s Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel writes of what can be achieved when Government walks with science hand in hand.

Dr Alan Finkel AO
Australia’s Chief Scientist

December 1915 was a landmark time in our nation’s history.

Percy Grainger and Dame Nellie Melba were setting America alight with their musical talents. Mrs Edith Widdis was basking in the glow of having just become the first female owner to win the Melbourne Cup. South Australia’s William and Lawrence Bragg became the first, and only, father and son duo to be awarded the Nobel Prize. And, on December 22, the same day Australians learnt of the successful withdrawal of ANZAC troops from the beaches of Gallipoli, the course of Australia’s scientific endeavours was changed forever when Prime Minister Billy Hughes announced his intention to set up a national scientific institution, the forerunner to the CSIRO.

Hughes noted, “We must walk with science hand in hand; we must seek its aid in order to achieve victory; we must enlist its service in order to prepare to meet the conditions which will arise after the war. We must rise to this great occasion, turning a frightful calamity into a lasting good”.

This was the Little Digger’s challenge to us and, for over 100 years, we have set about answering that call – producing a great outpouring of discovery, enterprise and achievement that has benefited every facet of Australian society.

Far from being static, sterile agencies, our government-supported scientific institutions continue to be dynamic, living entities. They are a call to action, a proud expression of our tenets as a society, and a constant reminder of our determination to foster curiosity, invest in education and value science as fundamental to our national mission.

Science met Parliament, and the offspring was progress.

In the 1950s, work at a precursor of today’s Defence Science and Technology Group led to the invention of the aeroplane black-box. In the 1970s, it was at the CSIRO that the initial work to improve Wi-Fi technology was undertaken. In the 1980s, it was a small company called Cochlear, selected by the Department of Productivity to receive a $4 million start-up grant that developed the bionic ear. And in the 1990s, helped in part by National Health and Medical Research Council research grants, the human papillomavirus vaccine – the world’s first cancer vaccine – was developed and brought to market.

This is what can be achieved when Governments “walk with science hand in hand”, and it is a legacy that continues today.

Whether it be Geoscience Australia’s Alice Springs Ground Station – with its antennae proudly adorned in Indigenous artwork – continuing to help discover new mineral and energy resources, ensure our water security, and respond to natural disasters such as bushfires, cyclones and floods.

Or the emerging future Superstars of STEM, such as Dr Joanne Lackenby at ANSTO, Professor Asha Rao at RMIT, and Dr Kudzai Kanhutu at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Or the ground-breaking research led by Professor Mimi Tang, pioneering the combination of a probiotic with peanut-protein immunotherapy, to develop a revolutionary treatment for children with peanut allergies.

All across Australia, a new generation of innovators – the most diverse and educated we have ever known – continue to open up new worlds of possibility and transform all our lives for the better.

With all this history, all this potential, I encourage you all to join me at this year’s Science meets Parliament, where new opportunities are waiting to be revealed, and it is you who Australia is waiting to follow.

Science holds a promise like no other in human endeavour, but it requires more than a flash of brilliance to translate an imaginative idea into tomorrow’s thriving industry.

It takes time and hard work and patience; and it warrants the support of a nation.

Support for the promise depends on scientists shining a light on the future benefits that science can deliver, so that politicians can see them in all their glory among the myriad of other priorities clamouring for attention.

It requires creating a pathway for scientists and politicians to advance together and grow together, to make space for discussion within the wider ecosystem in which policy is developed, and to foster a mutual understanding and respect of each other.

It is why this event is so important, and why my office is running a Science Policy Fellowships program: offering a full year’s experience for mid-career scientists that leads into opportunities to work directly in government departments.

The pride we feel as scientists in our work and in our history – its hope and ingenuity, daring and determination – must motivate us to reinspire the society we live in today.

It must motivate us to cultivate the insatiable hunger for progress that has taken Australia to new frontiers, and to reawaken the clarity of vision and leadership Billy Hughes saw all those years ago.

What Hughes understood was the timeless character of the people he led: our resilience, our boldness, our distinctly Australian ability – demonstrated time and time again throughout history – to defy expectations, to rise to any challenge, to not settle for what is, but reach for what might be.

And he knew that we, as scientists, can do the big things. We can push boundaries, expand human knowledge, and make the world anew; so long as we take the people with us.

As he proclaimed in 1916, “science thus familiarised to the people will help them to clear thinking; to the rejection of shams; to healthier and better lives; to a saner and wider outlook on life”.

This is our mission.

 

Thank you to Department of Industry, Innovation and Science for being the Principal Supporter of Science meets Parliament 2019.

Share
Previous StoryScience & Technology Australia seeking new CEO
Next StoryScience meets Parliament supports Deadly Science

Related Articles

  • Marles_webstory_220809_2
    Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles' speech to launch National Science Week
  • Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic at the launch of National Science Week with STA President Professor Mark Hutchinson and CEO Misha Schubert.
    Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic's speech to launch National Science Week

ABOUT US

Science & Technology Australia (STA) is Australia’s peak body in science and technology. We represent more than 80,000 scientists and technologists. STA is an influential voice for evidence and expertise in public policy.

Recent news

  • Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles’ speech to launch National Science Week
  • Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic’s speech to launch National Science Week
  • Australians back science to stem tide of misinformation

Our members

  • All Members
  • Agricultural and Food Sciences
  • Aquatic Sciences
  • Biological Sciences
  • Chemical Sciences
  • General Science and Technology
  • Geographical and Geological Sciences
  • Mathematical Sciences
  • Medical and Cognitive Sciences
  • Physical Sciences
  • Plant and Ecological Sciences
  • Technological Sciences

Search for news

Most popular

  • Nominations open for the STA Policy Committee and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee
  • Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic’s speech to launch National Science Week
  • Australians back science to stem tide of misinformation
  • Outstanding science leaders appointed to STA STEM-sector committees
  • STA congratulates new Ministry

Sign up to our newsletter

STA PRIVACY POLICY

OTHER STA POLICIES

Twitter feed

  • This visually stunning story on some special Sydney marine animals featuring our amazing #SuperstarofSTEM… https://t.co/Q03fi4IcOY
  • RT @bronfox: Congrats to @CSIRO #SuperstarsofSTEM Rebecca Jordan and Erin Hahn who are wrapping up their terms at the end of this year – #T…
  • RT @_marstudio: Join us today, Tuesday 9 August, 12:30 to 1:30. Bring all of your questions about the program and application process 🧐 DM…
  • Do you know a ⭐ STEM professional who should be one of our next #SuperstarsofSTEM? 💫 This game-changing program giv… https://t.co/eKd1sZ7MWZ
Follow us
The Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS) trading as Science & Technology Australia (STA) is an association incorporated under the ACT Associations Act.

ABN 71 626 822 845
Registered charity logo
Click here for more info
  • HOME
  • News and media releases
  • Become a member
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

Copyright © 2019 Science & Technology Australia. All Rights Reserved