The state’s surging resources sector has led to comparable growth in research and development expenditure in Western Australia, bucking a national trend of reduced R&D spending, and outstripping WA’s own economic performance.
The state’s surging resources sector has led to comparable growth in research and development expenditure in Western Australia, bucking a national trend of reduced R&D spending, and outstripping WA’s own economic performance.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, mining R&D expenditure in WA more than doubled between 1998-99 and 2004-05, from $844 million to $1.7 billion, an increase almost three times the rate of gross state product.
The ABS’s June quarter WA Statistical Indicators report showed WA’s powerhouse economy continues to surge ahead, recording the strongest growth across the states.
WA’s rapid rise in R&D expenditure is in contrasts to a slowdown in growth on a national level.
Bi-annual growth in WA’s gross R&D expenditure rose from 20.1 per cent in 2002-03 to 57.4 per cent in 2004-05, while Australia’s bi-annual growth fell from 26.8 per cent to 19.4 per cent over the same period.
The state’s resources sector had the largest impact on R&D investment, increasing expenditure by 130 per cent to $452 million between 2002-03 and 2004-05.
In the mining industry, the strongest growth was recorded in metal ore mining (up $134 million) and oil and gas extraction (up $64 million).
Resources-related industries also experienced growth in R&D expenditure, including machinery and equipment manufacturing (up $46 million) and metal product manufacturing (up $29 million).
The second biggest contributor to growth in WA’s R&D expenditure was the higher education sector, which accounted for 23 per cent of the total increase between 2002-03 and 2004-05 and was almost twice the national rise at 49.4 per cent.
Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA director David Parker said companies operating in the WA mining sector were reaping the benefits of significant investment into research and development programs.
Local developments, including the world’s smallest 3D underwater video camera, which is currently used by oil and gas explorers in the North Sea, leading-edge environmental technologies and state-of-the-art engineering capabilities, were also contributing to the enhancement of resource sector capabilities around the world.
“We have assembled some of the biggest names in global resources. WA is now recognised as a global hub for research and development for the resources sector,” Mr Parker told WA Business News.
WA’s state final demand, or level of spending by the private and public sectors, rose 2.3 per cent in the March quarter to $28 billion, following increases of 1.5 per cent and 2.1 per cent in the two previous quarters.
The state’s trade surplus grew 34.2 per cent to $8.6 billion million for the year to March quarter 2007, but was still 13.5 per cent lower than the record $9.9 billion surplus in the preceding period.
Not surprisingly, China was by far the main contributor, with the state’s trade surplus with China rising 52.0 per cent to $2,9 billion.
The labour market continued to strengthen in the three months to May 2007, with full-time employment rising 0.1 per cent to 776,100 people.
The number of job vacancies have risen for six consecutive quarters in WA, indicating employment should also continue to grow through mid-2007 as long as jobs can be suitably filled by the available labour supply, according to the ABS.
The state’s resources sector is showing no signs of slowing, with expenditure on mineral exploration up by 9.2 per cent to $217 million in the March quarter 2007, the fifth successive quarterly rise since December 2005.
