The Surprise State
“So what does a Chief Scientist do? ~ My question, back in the middle of 2010, when Queensland’s first and excellent Chief Scientist, Peter Andrews called me. Seven years into the job and looking to ‘retire', he emphasised "it's the best job I've ever had!"
Personally, I've always been a fan of Queensland, and Queensland science – beginning with my first visits as a brand new Australian, to head up CSIRO, in January 2001.
We rapidly caught The Smart State vision of the then-Premier, Peter Beattie and his team, who were seeking to lay the foundations for a more diversified economy that went beyond the ‘rocks, crops, and beaches’ label. And they were ‘putting their money where their mouth was’ to back up that vision – $4.9 billion from 1998 through to 2012, leveraged through philanthropic and other fund matching to $8.8 billion. Major investments in new facilities, equipment and people, with 45 new and existing research institutes supported.
Quite rightly, this idea of translation has become a key theme in the state government's recent $180 million ‘Advance Queensland’ initiative, with the Premier
