The knowledge drought intensifies

Another example of the low value we attach to Australian knowledge is the state of our scientific collections. Despite all the care and efforts of their guardians they remain fragmented, under-curated, unco-ordinated, badly resourced, under-utilised and neglected. Yet, together, they constitute the knowledge bank of Australia - for the remainder of our history.

If we took the same ad hoc approach to the Reserve Bank, there would be a national outcry. Yet because our collections consist of knowledge, most people - and most governments - care little. Most probably don’t even know they exist. For around 0.1 per cent of the national research spend we could combine these to create a “virtual” collection of everything that is important to our knowledge of this country: plants, animals, insects, soil biota, marine organisms, trees, fungi, minerals, fossils, parasites and pathogens. And we could put it online, for everyone to see, share and use.

These two examples serve to illustrate the deeper problem: Australia’s advancement as a society will continue to be hampered by our poor esteem for knowledge. We remain mendicants, reliant on other countries to solve most of our scientific, technical or innovation challenges and top-up our expertise as needed.

Australian kids are pretty astute. Instinctually, they have picked up on this disdain for the knowledge professions and are drifting away from the sciences and engineering. It may be that investing in science teachers, introducing more science into primary school, making science courses more user-friendly, communicating science better etc may stem the drift. But these are time-worn solutions and they have not so far had a perceptible impact.

In China and India, where science and engineering are held in universal high regard, students are storming the universities to get into SET courses. Luckily for Australia, as they now supply an undue proportion of our PhDs and postdocs. But even China and India cannot furnish all the future specialists in Australian knowledge.

The national disregard for knowledge remains this nation’s single greatest character flaw - and the one most urgently in need of remedy.