Robin Williams

One leader who could fulfil that role, in a way, she's been doing it for 10 years, is Academy CEO Anna Maria Arabia.

whose calm, brilliant authority has held the shards together so well that many have not been aware of the crisis.

And yet there is a deeper question.

How come Australia's scientific research really is so marvellous by any standards?

Indeed, Mark Oliphant, you mentioned, one of the very first people to head the Academy.

And he wasn't in the Oppenheimer film, whereas he was the person who actually took the letter

to America and made it happen.

And you mentioned the radar.

Well, this is miniature radar that would then fit in aircraft.

And if you're thinking, oh, that's very distant, go into the kitchen and there's a microwave.

Bingo!

Mark Oliphant, a dear friend who actually was a champion for peace.

Now, let me tell you a bit of a story about ways in which...

Perhaps the Academy has been ambitious, and that is, Professor Jagadish has said, given the lack of support in some quarters for science, we need a champion of science.

And that would be, I would have thought, possibly a role that you could play here.

Even more so on the way out, but what really would this champion of science do to make a difference?

Well, let me just tell you a brief story from way back.

Many of my stories are from way back, but this one is actually related to Canberra because we had a quantum program that came before Catalyst.

And we were going to celebrate aspects of science with the prime minister, a fellow called Hawke.

And he had agreed to come along.