The report is named after Sir David Beattie, a respected former judge and governor-general, whose seven-member committee was asked last year by Bob Tizard, the Minister for Science and Technology, to provide a national blueprint for R&D. The issue is an urgent one because New Zealand is seeking a successful financial niche following a drastic drop in its traditional export income from farm produce.
The committee is pressing for: a doubling in per capita R&D expenditure over the next seven years, from a current base of $250 million; much higher visibility for science, with a more powerful senior minister for science and technology, a cabinet committee, an external advisory board, and three research councils to disburse funds on a competitive basis; a 150 percent tax deductibility to encourage in-house R&D by industry (specifically, to catch up with a similar recent Australian scheme); increased support for universities and for basic research; ...
