SMH Article July 25, 2006
There are others far more qualified than I to comment on the dearth of young Australians taking up science, but our attitude as a nation to the achievements of these bright young people cannot go unremarked.
We read ("Where have all the scientists gone?", July 19) and hear the Government is setting up a committee. But look no further than the ABC's recent documentary Battle of the Brains, about the biology team which represented Australia in Beijing at the worldwide Science Olympiad.
One hundred young people worked all through 2004, taking intensive courses and sitting exams in the hope of being selected in the biology team.
Twenty were selected and invited to a camp at the Australian National University over the Christmas holidays to compete for the four places available. They crammed the first-year university biology course into 16 days. Four young women were selected and invited to Canberra to be presented with blazers. The Prime Minister was "too busy" to attend the ceremony, and the handout to the press gallery, which informs journalists of the day's doings, never mentioned it.
I did some phoning around and was told by the education editor of one newspaper that "these students may well have done a lot of work, but we are not interested".
They competed in a world competition where 20 gold, 20 silver and a number of bronze medals were awarded. This team came home with a gold, two silver and a bronze - and the vast majority of Australians do not even know that there is such an event.
The students heard from contestants from other countries of how they were interviewed by the media, spoken to by politicians and heads of state before they left. Later, they heard from these contestants of how they were met by the media and heads of state when they returned home. This was across the board, including teams who won nothing.
The Herald ran a small article on two of the young women in the biology team. That, until the ABC's Battle of the Brains, was that.
What of the other 100-odd youngsters? What of the youngsters in the other science disciplines? These are the brightest young people in Australia. They have been given the message, loud and clear, that Australia and Australians don't give a damn about their incredible talent, their personal achievements or their achievements for Australia.
The public, the Government and the media need to get behind these youngsters, make sure that they get the recognition that they deserve and, if we hope to keep them in Australia, make certain that the funds and the facilities are available, including support for pure research.
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