Great piece by Nicola Gaston. I would just add a bit of historical context from the Beattie Report (1986 equivalent of Te Ara Paerangi White Paper).

Nicola leads with:

Five years ago, the Labour Government set an audacious target of raising the total amount of research, science and innovation funding from 1.3 percent of gross domestic product to 2 percent by 2028.

The Beattie Report recommends the same thing in 1986. After almost 40 years, this recommendation has not been made real. Why not? What have we as a country missed out on by not following that recommendation?

From the Beattie report: