Face to face with Professor Peter Andrews
Professor Peter Andrews
Professor Peter Andrews was appointed Queensland's first Chief Scientist in December, 2003. His brief is to raise the profile of the Smart State as a centre of scientific excellence, improve collaborations with business and other governments both in Australia and overseas, and maximise returns on Queensland's investments in research and development.
Professor Andrews (pictured) points out that Australia, with nearly 0.3 per cent of the world's population, does 3 per cent of the world's research every year.
"In that sense Queensland has been a very smart state for a very long time, but we've had no need to commercialise the results of that research," he said.
"The reason is that this state and nation are so richly endowed with natural resources that it didn't so much matter if we didn't reap the commercial rewards of our science.
"Australia invests more per capita on scientific research and development than many countries in the world. I've got to try to ensure that Queensland gets a reasonable return on its investment in research and development.
"We have to convert our discoveries into jobs and economic growth, into improving our health and making the environment more secure.
"One hundred years ago Australia and Argentina were the two richest nations on earth, per capita. We've been sliding down the scale ever since. Now we realise we must make the most of our discoveries in commercial terms to sustain and improve our living standards and create satisfying jobs for our people."
Professor Andrews said we had proved during World War Two that we could successfully undertake leading-edge manufacturing and design of, for instance, aircraft and optics, but when the need receded with the end of the war we reverted to our traditional reliance on commodities.
"Another reason we haven't made the most of the opportunities our science has given us is that our investors have been risk averse," he said. "Australians have tended to look for short term dividends rather than long term capital growth and our scientists and researchers have also tended not to look at the commercial potential of their discoveries.
"That has changed - we're spinning companies out of our universities here in Queensland and our political leaders really have taken the lead in adopting a long term approach to investing in the commercialisation of science."
Professor Andrews said Queensland shared some of its advantages with the rest of Australia, while others were unique.
The principal shared advantage was that Australia is a real research resource for the rest of the world.
That resource has two aspects, Professor Andrews said.
First, our scientists and researchers are among the world's leaders in their fields, while second, Australia's megadiversity is a very important asset. Queensland accounts for more than half of Australia's biodiversity and the state's reefs and rainforests have huge potential for important discoveries that could be applied to many different industries.
Australia has clear world leadership in managing tropical ecosystems like reefs and rainforests, skills which will be in growing demand throughout the world, he said.
The principal unique characteristic was the commitment of the Queensland Government to the Smart State agenda.
"That cannot be over-estimated," he said. "That commitment, and the commitment of Premier Beattie in particular, gives business tremendous confidence."
While scientific discoveries could form the basis of new industries, it was important to recognise their application to existing industries.
"Biotechnology can provide a launch pad to do a great deal more in our existing industries - for instance, we can use plants and animals to grow new products," he said. "The Smart State has great potential and it's great to have a government so truly committed to its realisation as this Queensland Government."
Email: chief.scientist@qld.gov.au
Last reviewed 19 January 2006