We used to talk about Australia punching above its weight on scientific research.

Our scientists helped kick off the tech revolution with the invention of Wi-Fi. In health we invented the cochlear implant and helped develop the vaccine to prevent cervical cancer.

Our scientists have made vital contributions in the field of climate science, and our innovations in solar PV have helped transform the world’s energy system.

That was then. Now, according to the Australian Academy of Science, we are going backwards. You can see why from the chart below comparing Australia’s expenditure on research and development as a percentage of GDP compared to other countries, showing Australia’s sharply declining investment since 2008, while other countries have steadily increased theirs.

The Academy points out we now rank 40th out of 44 OECD nations for STEM graduates as a share of total tertiary graduates. We invest almost 40 per cent less than the OECD average in research and development, creating a $30 billion gap between Australia and the OECD average, including a $2 billion gap in government funding.

We’ve watched the number of climate scientists decimated in recent years at the CSIRO and elsewhere. The CSIRO is set to lose two-thirds of its climate modellers, threatening Australia’s ability to do its own climate modelling at a time when the US has drastically cut its own climate science program. If we don’t fund climate science tailored to the needs of Australia, nobody else will.

CSIRO has cut a staggering 800 jobs under this government, with up to 350 more to go in the crucial fields of health and biosecurity, climate, environment, agriculture and food. All are areas of research vital to Australia’s security and wellbeing.

Recent funding increases to some areas of science in the budget have not stopped the job cuts, which come almost entirely from cuts to science elsewhere.

Meanwhile, instead of Australia leading the fight to stop climate change, we are now one of the worst offenders fuelling it. While there is a lot of talk about increasing renewable energy, the modest falls in our domestic emissions are swamped by the damage fossil fuel exports from Australia are inflicting on the climate.

Our governments allow the export of vast amounts of coal and gas from Australia, which is cooking our climate. This drill, dig, and export mentality has seen Australia become the world’s second-largest fossil fuel exporter by emissions globally, playing a significant role in blowing the world’s carbon budget and undermining the Paris agreement.

The impact on ordinary Australians is direct and real. Australia’s fossil fuel exports are making Australia and the rest of the world hotter, increasing the frequency and extremity of fires, flash floods and other climate-related disasters, alongside melting the icecaps and acidifying our oceans.

This still wouldn’t be OK if Australians got rich from fossil fuel exports, but ironically, we definitely are not.

Unbelievably, it turns out the government literally gives away more than half the gas exported from Australia every year to a handful of global energy giants by not charging royalties. And it gets worse. It turns out none of these gas exporters had ever paid Petroleum Resources Rent Tax (PRRT), the main tax imposed on the gas industry for more than 30 years out of the tax put in place up to 2023. And even following recent government changes to the PRRT, the amount of total revenue is expected to fall!

Other big gas-exporting countries like Qatar and Norway don’t give their gas away for free. They tax their resources properly and make their citizens rich. Qatar for instance collects five times the amount of revenue as Australia for roughly the same amount of gas exports.

Leading Australian economists, including former Treasury secretary Ken Henry, former ACCC chair Rod Sims and former Deloitte partner Chris Richardson all agree that Australian governments are failing to tax our gas exports properly.

Besides the obvious failure of giving our national resources away, there is another even more insidious impact. When multinational oil and gas companies get such a great deal, they have more of an incentive to keep developing massive new export projects that are wrecking our climate.

Last year, the Australian government approved a 50-year extension of the largest, oldest and most polluting gas export project in Australia: Woodside’s North West Shelf Extension, which will add up to a staggering 4 billion tonnes of carbon to the atmosphere.

If these companies paid a reasonable tax on extracting our gas, their climate-destroying projects would at least be helping Australians better deal with the cost-of-living crisis. And better still, over time these climate-wrecking projects would less likely go ahead, which would be a good thing for our climate and the rest of the world.

That’s why we support the ACTU proposal for a 25 per cent tax on gas exports. Not only would this remove a major incentive for damaging new fossil fuel projects, but according to the Australia Institute and the ACTU, it would raise around $17 billion annually from the projects operating already. This could be spent on critical things Australia needs, including education, housing, health, science and our environment.

And if just $2 billion out of that $17 billion was invested in science, we would close the gap in government funding compared to the OECD average.

But let’s not just close the gap. We can make Australia a scientific powerhouse once again. We can regain our world-leading role in and research and development, setting Australia up for future prosperity while protecting our climate and environment … and still have billions more for better housing, education, health and childcare.

Scientia Professor Matthew England is the director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Our Future Oceans at the University of NSW

Mark Ogge is principal adviser at The Australia Institute. X: @markogge; Bluesky: @markogge.bsky.social