Universities Australia
has launched a recent ad campaign decrying proposed funding cuts to
university research. This ad showcases the products of off-shore corporate giants which are
trying to destroy the Australian high tech industry.
The complicated scientific instrument pictured in the ad from 0:12 to
0:17 is something called a IMS-1280, manufactured by the American technology
amalgamation Ametek under the brand name of Cameca, a European tech company
which Ametek took over last decade. Ametek is perhaps the most aggressive corporate giant around in trying to leverage the recent high Australian dollar to
destroy the Australian technology industry.
Obviously, Australia
is only a mid-size country, and most instrumentation in Australian universities
is sourced from off-shore suppliers. But
many of these suppliers are good corporate citizens, who set up Australian
subsidiaries, employ Australian graduates, and work closely with Australian
agents, subcontractors, and scientists to sustain the high technology
industries that define advanced economies in the 21st century. Indeed, one of these companies, the Japanese
technology group JEOL, has an electron probe installed just across the hall
from where the picture in the ad was taken.
Ametek is not a good corporate citizens. Instead of collaborating with Australian
manufacturers, they hire foreign lawyers to block sales around the globe. While other companies reinvest in Australian
research they hire slick Morden-like spokespeople to belittle the achievements
of Australian academics. And instead of
helping Australian universities improve productivity and reduce costs through
co-developed hardware and software modifications, they lock their customers
into exorbitant service contracts, the proceeds of which allow them to underbid
Australian companies whose instruments are generally preferred by researchers all over
the world.
Every time one of the instruments pictured in this ad is
purchased instead of an Australian equivalent, Australian universities lose hundreds
of thousands dollars in direct payments from Australian companies and their
international customers. It also means that Australian companies cannot create jobs
for university graduates, such as those pictured in the first part of the ad.
The government is proposing cuts to university funding
because of a revenue shortfall. Revenue
is down because aggressive corporate tactics by companies like Ametek are
denying work to Australian companies, resulting in fewer hours worked, reduced
income for the employees, and reduced income tax payment to the
government. So the approach of
Universities Australia to showcase one of the most aggressive job-killers in
their ad asking for government money is incredibly callous to all Australian
trying to earn a living outside of the Ivory tower.
Are you going to talk to 'Universities Australia' and tell them about this?
ReplyDeleteI email them straight up.
ReplyDeleteFWIW, when I originally saw the ad (not associated with your post) I wasn't paying careful attention and thought it was a SHII collector. I guess the CCD for the microchannel plate should have tipped me off.
ReplyDeleteAnd the reversed chirality. (Which, by the way, leads to a great joke for a non-specialist audience who ask about the difference between a SHII and a 12X0 - you can blame the Coriolis effect)