The Chief Scientist’s address the National Press Club (25.3.15) Aspiring to something magnificent with science in Australia:
‘It seems to me that the future is everyone’s business, and so the science that allows us to shape it –- for better or worse –- should be too. Science at a global level, science for our nation, science for all living systems. Science that will preserve and nurture the planet -– the only home we know.
‘That would give us something to pass on to the coming generations that they might appreciate just as much, or maybe more than, a balanced budget.
‘Imagine our Australia if we had the courage to build that kind of legacy.
‘Imagine if all secondary students received a thorough grounding in the history and philosophy of science, and in the scientific method, from teachers we supported and celebrated.
‘Imagine if we had an education system that so fired our curiosity that nearly all year 12 students would take a science subject, understanding it to be critical to their future.’