Minister addresses CRC anniversary – but still no Peever Review

In a speech to the Cooperative Research Australia Innovation Showcase last week at Parliament House in Canberra, Minister for Science & Technology Melissa Price set out the importance of innovation, cooperation and commercialisation for a strong and growing, high technology economy. Her comments are reproduced, in part, below. 

But Australia’s defence community is still awaiting the release of the 2021 Peever Review of Australian defence innovation, commissioned by Minister Price last year in her role as Minister for Defence Industry. It’s understood this Review was completed by Christmas 2021 and it is hoped that the Minister will release the report and Government’s response to it, before the Federal election.

In her remarks to the CRC Association Minister Price said:

“Australia has world class universities and researchers. Eighty-five per cent of Australian research is rated at or above world standard.

“We’ve got a stellar record of innovations.

“We could all list them: the cochlear implant, spray-on skin, the Black Box recorder, Wi-Fi… the list goes on.

“But what we’re historically not great at – is getting our best ideas off the ground.

“Crossing what’s known as ‘the valley of death’ between early research and further development.

“In a word, commercialisation.

“The way to do it, and the reason we’re here today, is in another word: Cooperation. Linking research to the forces that can take its insights and inventions to the world.

“Because in truth, you can’t have one without the other.

“Industry without ideas stagnates pretty quickly.

“Ideas without industry have nowhere to go.

“The ideas around us today – well on their way to market – show what’s possible when ideas aren’t just left on the shelf.

“That’s precisely why the Morrison Government is investing more, to see more of these partnerships, and more commercialisation of great Australian ideas.

“Our Government has made it clear that securing our economic recovery from COVID-19 will rely heavily on our science and research community – in partnership with industry. That’s why we’ve announced a $2 billion University Research Commercialisation Action Plan. This Plan will increase and deepen the links between universities and industries. It will connect more of our brilliant ideas with waiting markets, our best minds with our most pressing needs.

“It’s all about focusing the power of our universities on the economic priorities of our nation. Backing our best researchers and their ideas to ensure Australia’s economy roars back even stronger in the future, with leading edge manufacturing at its core.

“We’re creating a new generation of research entrepreneurs. A new generation of Australian companies and products.

“We want to see great ideas out there, doing what every one of them has the potential to do – changing the world.”