Last week’s Ambitious Australia report is exactly the kind of signal our nation needs. The federal government, industry and innovation minister, Tim Ayres, and everyone who has contributed to this work have put forward a clear and positive vision. It speaks to a more coordinated, better funded, and more purposeful innovation system.
It recognises something many of us have felt for a long time, that Australia’s future prosperity depends on how well we bring together research, industry, and investment to deliver real outcomes.
At FFS CRC, we strongly support this direction.
What struck me most reading the report was not just the level of ambition, but the opportunity sitting behind it. The opportunity to build on what already exists, and to ensure coordination happens not just in policy, but in practice, in the places where productivity is actually created.
For me, this is personal.
After my PhD, I was encouraged to go overseas, to follow the path many Australians take in search of bigger markets and more opportunities. Instead, I chose to stay. I moved cities, stepped into uncertainty, and chose a path that relied on challenge and creating my own opportunities. It was not easy. There were hard knocks, mistakes, and plenty of moments where leaving would have been simpler. But I learned my craft here. I grew up here. Australia is home.
That is why this moment matters so much- because we have a choice about what comes next. Whether the next generation feels they need to leave to realise their potential, or whether they choose to build their future here.
This is where innovation precincts and the broader way we think about collaboration become so important.
At FFS CRC, we have been working to extend our research into real world impact through innovation precincts. Not just as infrastructure, but as connected systems that bring together talent, capital, and capability. Places where ideas are not left sitting on the shelf, but are turned into companies, industries, and long term economic value.
And this is where I believe we need to think bigger.
Not just in individual projects or programs, but in how we design collaboration itself.
The report points toward larger, more coordinated, more ambitious national efforts. In many ways, it reflects the principles that have made CRCs successful, but it also challenges us to evolve that model. To think beyond single sectors and narrow problem statements and instead focus on the fundamental opportunities that sit across our entire economy.
Because this is not about marginal gains or simply finding new ways to grow exports. It is about something far more fundamental.
It is about bringing investment into this country, real and long-term. It is about creating high-value jobs and backing ideas, so they are built, scaled and anchored here. It is about giving people the opportunity to build a life, to afford a home, to see real wage growth, and to feel that economic progress is something they are part of.
This is the kind of thinking that can unlock a different future for Australia. If we can align national ambition with place-based execution, if we can connect the right people, ideas, and investment at the right level, then we can do more than lift productivity. We can shape the kind of country we want to live in.
I believe we can build an Australia where our brightest entrepreneurs choose to stay, or return, to build globally competitive companies headquartered here. Where vibrant innovation precincts support strong economies and strong communities. Where Australian-educated experts lead the industries of the future.
A country that is not only rich in natural resources, but rich in ideas, capability, and opportunity.
That is the promise of this moment.
And it is one we should embrace, together.
This article first appeared on Future Food Systems.
Future Food Systems was established under the federal government’s Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) Program. Its goal is to drive collaboration across Australia’s agrifood sector through cutting-edge science, technology and data-driven solutions that drive innovation, resilience and excellence across the value chain.
