Business investment in research in Australia is pathetic.

A clever country, no we're not so clever and we are slipping.

Even though Australia has slipped backwards somewhat in the rankings, it is obvious that the private sector in this country is very slack.

They are happy to let government funded research do all the work. For years and years they have expected the government to do all the heavy lifting.

Compared to other countries our companies are not clever, successful companies see the value of research a and innovation.

A clever country maybe, sort of, not quite. Scientific research is crucial, mathematics, engineering and science is not just the realm of government.

Australian business feed research not just suck the blood of research.

A heavy investment by business would encourage more of our young to be become involved in these key areas.

At the moment even those students that go down the science path have to leave the country to further their career because there are few opportunities in Australia.

http://www.theage.com.au/technology/sci-tech/australian-science-and-innovation-in-six-charts-20141130-11wg87.html