Budget Reaction – Time To Back Science With Long-Term Investment

A thriving economy rests on four pillars: a strong science and innovation sector, secure property rights, a sound financial system, and efficient transport and communication networks. Science generates the ideas and knowledge that drive the development of new goods and services; property rights protect the fruits of innovation; the financial system enables growth and scaling; and transport and communications systems connect us to global markets.

These principles emphasise the significance of public investment in R&D for achieving long-term economic prosperity. Science funding is not a luxury or a cost - it is a core ingredient in economic success. Yet Budget 2025 underdelivers for science - at best holding funding steady in nominal terms, and at worse an actual reduction to health research funding, while inflation continues to erode our national science capability. New Zealand invests approximately 1.5% of GDP in science, while the average expenditure within the OECD sits at approximately 2.7% of GDP.

We urgently need a long-term strategic plan, along with associated investment, for science and technology. Agencies like MPI have created excellent roadmaps in areas like biotechnology and climate-smart primary production, but these strategies remain unrealised without funding. Strategic planning without resourcing is not a plan - it’s a wish list.

We applaud the new investment in advanced technology research at Robinson Research Institute. This kind of targeted funding is precisely what New Zealand needs: it boosts high-tech exports, strengthens connections between research and industry, and generates high-value jobs. But one initiative alone does not build a future. We need to see this approach expanded to other areas of advanced science and technology with the potential to generate real wealth for Aotearoa.

Without a step change in science investment, we risk falling further behind not only in global competitiveness but also in our ability to address the complex challenges facing New Zealand.

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