Reasons why discrimination among and between researchers and research projects has become more important since 1989 in Australia are explored, and ideas about why a long view is needed now are advanced. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

This paper discusses the nature of the research priorities debate in Australia, and traces the working out of that debate over recent years. The discussion is embedded in an account of how the institutional structure developed to allocate funds for research and how mechanisms were put in place...