Budget 2023: Science city funding is ‘bigger than Wellington’

Friday, 19 May 2023

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins speaks to Stuff political editor Luke Malpass about Budget 2023.

Wellington has been chosen as the Science City, with $400 million set aside to start plans for three top-quality research hubs.

The Budget included $400 million of capital funding and $51 million of operational funding for the hubs, all based in the Wellington region.

Research, Science and Innovation Minister Ayesha Verrall said the funding would grow a high-wage, low-emissions economy and make the country more resilient.

Wellington was chosen as the location because of the number of strong science institutions already in the region, many of which needed capital investments in equipment and buildings.

Three hubs are planned, each with a different focus – a climate change and disaster research institute near NIWA at Greta Point, a technology and innovation hub near the Callaghan Innovation site in Lower Hutt, and a corridor of health research in Newtown, Mt Cook and Kelburn.

The Ferrier Research Institute at Gracefield in Lower Hutt is one institution that will benefit from the collaborative hubs, and director Gary Evans looks forward to more detail on the plan.

“It’s already a science city. We saw the opportunity to put some additional money down as government, and create a whole lot of extra value in terms of those connections and collaborations,” Verrall said.

Bringing talented academics and students together with Crown Research Institutes and industry would “bring possibilities to life for young people”.

“For the long term we really want our talented people collaborating at the same site and face to face, training the next generation of scientists together.”

Many of the details were yet to be determined with the business cases for the new hubs to be developed over the next year. The science institutions involved would be contributing to the funding as well, but Verrall hoped the funding gave the institutions the certainty to proceed.

The region’s science leaders welcomed the funding, saying it was a recognition of the value of science in New Zealand’s economy.

A map showing the sites of three planned hubs for science research in Wellington.

Immunologist and Malaghan Institute director Graham Le Gros said the funding was future-focused and “bigger than Wellington”.

The plan for hubs was “thoughtful, tightly-linked and breaks down silos that have been operating between institutions for many decades”.

Hubs would increase collaboration and productivity and allow researchers to work together to tackle the country's most pressing challenges and opportunities, Le Gros said.

'From building resilience in the face of future pandemics to investing in biotech, innovation and talent to help move New Zealand to a high-wage economy, we can rejoice in some much-needed infrastructure so that all New Zealand scientists have a place to really focus their energy and attention.”

Anthony Scott, chief executive of Science New Zealand (which represents the seven Crown Research Institutes), said the hubs needed to be “true hubs of excellence”.

“The investment recognises that attracting and keeping the top talent New Zealand needs, requires top-class facilities,” he said.

Research, Science and Innovation Minister Ayesha Verrall at the Ferrier Research Institute at Gracefield in Lower Hutt.

Science New Zealand enthusiastically supported the development of new fellowship programmes and applied doctorates.

“Research careers are no longer linear. They need support throughout early, mid and late stages, and for people coming from different life experiences,” Scott said.

GNS Science chief executive Chelydra Percy said that the inclusion of science funding in the “no frills” Budget reinforced the critical role of the sector.

The science city funding was “a fantastic opportunity for the creation of a supportive science and innovation ecosystem in attractive city that brings innovative and entrepreneurial minds together”.

Rebekah Campbell, who runs the tech-sector strategy at WellingtonNZ, said the sector was at a turning point with the new investment. This was an opportunity to bring the city's science and business worlds together.

A 'whole generation of new businesses' were coming through hubs including at Gracefield Innovation Quarter, so more of them would allow the city to grow its science ecosystem even further.

Gary Evans, director of the Ferrier Research Institute, said the funding was 'great news', but may have been a little shy of how much was actually needed.

The devil would be in the detail, Evans said – how the funding was split between the sites, for example, and how that could change over time.

The investment is also in line with the Government's goal of increasing spend on research and development to 2% of GDP by 2027 – which hinges on more businesses commercialising their science by putting products and services on the market.