Wakelin Associates Pty. Ltd.
Geology – GIS – Geomorphology
Spatial Investigations as a Core R&D Activity
A Submission to the Review of the R&D Tax Incentive Scheme
Dr. Gresley A. Wakelin-King, 26/02/2016
Summary:
The current descriptions of a core R&D activity best fit the type of experiment where a specific
hypothesis can be tested using a limited number of variables in a human-controlled setting. Largescale field studies in little-known areas cannot be researched in this way. The scientific method is
fully upheld in spatial studies, in which the subjects’ attributes and spatial relationships are
observed and analysed. In spatial studies, the ‘experiment’ already exists in the field, and the
researchers’ job is to identify and document the key processes. Example: fish species distribution in
Lake Eyre Basin reveals relationships between fish migration and Channel Country flow patterns.
The core R&D activity in this case is identifying fish populations in a geographic spread of
waterholes.
The desired outcome of this submission is that the definitions for core R&D activities be reworded
to include spatial studies.
With Respect to the Scope of the Review:
This submission is targeted towards dot-point #2: “… are there are aspects of the definition of what
is and is not R&D … that could be improved?”
Submission:
“An experiment is what you do to test a technical or scientific idea. The experiment is set
up so that the relationship between the idea's relevant variables can be tested and, as a
result, the idea proven right or wrong.”
“Was an experiment (or a set of related experiments) carried out?”
(www.business.gov.au/grants-and-assistance/innovation-rd/RDTaxIncentive/Eligibility/Pages/CoreRDActivities.aspx)
The current wording of the application notes and the website’s Core R&D Activity Tool best
describe the type of experiment that is a discrete event where humans control a situation in which
limited variables are altered and the results measured. The experimental design is informed by
existing knowledge, so that the hypothesis being tested can clearly target a specific set of variables.
This procedure is not the only way in which the scientific method is employed. The natural world
has many situations where the scale (in space or time) is beyond human ability to control. In such
cases, the researcher undertakes spatial studies, in which the subject’s attributes and spatial
relationships are systematically observed in order to derive an understanding of the processes at
work. The development of the hypothesis moves from the broadest possible statement (The
subject’s location and composition/behaviour have meaning) to more specific testable hypotheses
(Subject A was created by Process X; in a different location, Subject B will show these specific traces
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of Process X). This progression of understanding makes spatial studies particularly important
in ‘greenfield’ locations or disciplines. A researcher cannot identify specific testable
hypotheses for controlled experimentation without a pre-existing broad understanding of
the processes and relationships at work.
There are many examples of spatial studies which have moved from observation of natural
systems to testable hypotheses without having begun in a human-controlled experiment.
1. Planetary motion: It was understood that all celestial bodies revolved around the
Earth, which was the centre of the universe. Astronomers observed that the stars
performed orderly orbits, but the planets engaged in retrograde motion (paused in
their orbits, moved backwards, then continued in the original direction).
Documenting the planets’ spatial relationships (orbital patterns) led to the
knowledge that the Earth is a planet, and all planets orbit around the Sun. This was
the foundation work for modern astrophysics.
2. Geological mapping: In the late 1800s Australia’s geology was largely unknown. The
present body of knowledge began with sporadic investigations by interested
persons, such as the 1891 paper on marine fossils from the Finke River area by
pastoralist and geologist Charles Chewings. In the early to mid 1900s government
representatives commenced geological mapping, recording rock attributes
(lithology) and spatial relationships (stratigraphy.) As the recorded geological data
evolved from opportunistic observations to systematic programs, increased detail
allowed the differentiation of apparently very similar rocks (e.g. the Heavitree
Quartzite and the Chewings Range Quartzite in central Australia), followed by a
theoretical framework placing their formation at a specific age and context (the
Amadeus Basin and the Arunta Block respectively). From this point it is possible to
devise targeted hypotheses that are testable by controlled experimentation (for
example, age-dating).
3. Australian arid wetlands ecology: the waterholes of the Channel Country host fish
populations important to local inhabitants and the tourist industry. How do aquatic
ecosystems operate in such arid areas? A recent program of repeated catchmentscale waterhole monitoring identified waterhole and fish attributes (fish species and
numbers, water quality) and spatial relationships (waterhole locations with respect
to flow timing and connectivity). The results revealed the variety of ways in which
different fish species respond to drought and flood. This documentation of ‘boom
and bust’ strategies feeds directly into sustainable land management practices.
We submit that 1) the present wording of the R&D Tax Incentive Scheme could be
interpreted in such a way as to exclude spatial research, and 2) that spatial research is a
valid scientific methodology that should be eligible under the Scheme.
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