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 Morrison, in an address to the National Press Club in Canberra, will
reflect on lessons learned from storms, floods and the Omicron
coronavirus wave that disrupted Australians' summer, according to
excerpts of his speech seen by Reuters.
He will also outline his government's focus on building health and
economic resilience, officials said.
Morrison will say efforts to boost manufacturing and supply chain
resilience in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic need to be linked to
world-class research at universities.
He will say that 85% of Australia's research is rated at or above
world standard, yet it continues to underperform in achieving
commercialisation outcomes.
"We need to find and develop a new breed of researcher entrepreneurs
in Australia," Morrison will say in the speech.
His government will fund a A$2.2 billion plan to commercialize
research, including A$1.6 billion for a programme to bridge a
so-called valley of death for early-stage research caused by higher
levels of risk and uncertainty about commercial returns.
"We know this is not insurmountable. Other countries have made a
better fist of solving this problem," he will say.
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 The science agency CSIRO will get A$150 million
to expand a venture capital programme backing
start-ups. Another A$296 million will be
allocated over the next decade to universities
to fund 1,800 PhDs and 800 fellowships with an
industry focus. Only 40% of
Australia’s researchers work in private industry – well below the
OECD average, he will say.
"This, together with low mobility between industry and the
university sectors, leads to culture and capability gaps that reduce
the ability of Australian businesses to innovate."
A Newspoll conducted for the Australian newspaper on Monday showed
satisfaction with Morrison's performance dropped 5 points to 39% in
January, the lowest since March 2020, amid criticism of his
government's handling of the Omicron outbreak.
An election is due in May or earlier.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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