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Before I got cut off by a bad connection this morning (ding ding!) I covered this front page story in The Age/SMH on ABC News Breakfast, and I wanted to say a bit more about it. https://www.theage.com.au/world/europe/germany-names-hydrogen-the-hero-of-its-post-coal-future-20200923-p55y7y.html
On the face of it, it's a pretty standard "two governments embark on a joint feasibility study" bla bla whatever. But it also points to *a lot* of the problems with what is happening to higher ed in this country.
There is the very obvious point that without the scientific research that happens in universities, we don't even know how to produce the "green" hydrogen that Germany wants. Ok but we know that already.
What it also points to is just *how much* we need humanities experts to make these things work. We *need* experts in German history, language and politics to understand how this agreement might play out on the German side.
We *need* experts in the history, politics and law of the European Union in order to understand and navigate any kind of agreement--the Australian govt constantly acts like the EU is irrelevant and treats it like an afterthought and that *will not work*.
We need experts in energy policy. Not scientific experts (though we need those too), but people who can navigate and explain EU policy in particular--that is what will shape the global renewable energy market in the future (given the US' absence and EU leadership aspirations).
We also need economists, regional experts, etc etc who will help ensure that this kind of investment stays in our communities--particularly regional communities--and is sustainable. That it doesn't just get shipped off to Europe and nothing comes back.
This expertise doesn't come from just doing a few hours of desk research in a parliamentary office. All of it takes years of study, and the support of academics and researchers in universities.
That's not a static process of studying and then leaving university for industry or govt. It requires ongoing and deep relationships, networks, and feedbacks. Decimate the university sector and all of that is lost. You're left with some poor kid at a desk and a useless agreement.
Anyway I'm not sure who I'm trying to convince here, pretty sure all of you are already on board. But thanks for coming to my TED talk.
