Research grants to ‘break the cycle of Australia Day antagonism’: Dan Tehan
As the nation looks back at another polarising Australia Day in the rear-view mirror, a senior government minister said it’s time to ‘understand our past for ourselves’.
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A senior Morrison government minister has demanded that local universities and academics start focusing on Australian issues and stop treating “Australia as a field of research … as a second-class topic”.
Education Minister Dan Tehan said a lack of academic interest in understanding Australians was fuelling “ignorance” which drove the “cycle of Australia Day antagonism” rather than advance the cause of reconciliation.
He told The Australian Canberra will set aside $12 million for research projects “into our country and our people”, rather than the “exotic international topics” that usually dominated funding in a bid to impress editors of international academic journals.
A mere three per cent of Australian Research Council Discovery Grants were in the areas of Australian society, history or culture over the past decade.
“We don’t fund research to serve the interests of individual academics, we fund research to generate new knowledge that serves our country,” he said.
“The Australian taxpayer is providing record funding over the next four years for academic research through the ARC. This research is high-quality and innovative but we must ensure we continue to mould it for the benefit of the Australian community.
“We need more knowledge and information to help us understand our past for ourselves.
“Teaching Australian students to know more about our society, history and culture should be a priority for all Australian universities. I want to strengthen the connection between what happens at our universities and the communities that support them.”
Australians need “fewer people telling us what to think” and a better understanding of national issues.
“I worry Australian taxpayers are funding research projects into exotic international topics at the expense of studies into our country and our people. A successful nation should celebrate, develop and critique its society, history and culture, and understand its geography, music, arts, literature and politics.
“We need more knowledge and information to help us understand our past for ourselves. Knowledge of our history will help us break the cycle of Australia Day antagonism. Reconciliation will not come from ignorance.
“This Special Research Initiative will encourage academics to pursue research into Australian society, history, culture, literature, art, music, politics and geography.”
The initiative will fund about 40 projects in the range of $20,000 to $100,000 each year for up to three years.
Applications for grants open next month with funding starting from October.
This article is based on a report that originally appeared in The Australian.
Originally published as Research grants to ‘break the cycle of Australia Day antagonism’: Dan Tehan
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