Sophie Mirabella (Indi, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry and Science) Share this | Hansard source

In today's electronic media and several sources, the following comments were made. On some versions, this has been corrected. The first claim was that Simon McKeon had tried to contact me on Thursday and Friday last week to inform me of the decision—that being the reappointment of the CSIRO CEO. That is not correct. My office was contacted by Kimberley Shrives. It then goes on to say that 'Mr McKeon told Mrs Mirabella's office he had an important issue to discuss with her'. That is not correct. Kimberley Shrives was asked why I was requested to contact CSIRO and she refused to state what the issue was.

The report then goes on to say, 'When he was unable to talk to her he sent a text message directly to the Liberal MP, also stating he needed to discuss an important issue.' That is not correct. I received a text message on Friday after a missed call, informing me that there was a CSIRO issue that would be of interest to me. Then I was informed of the decision to reappoint Megan Clark for a further 12 months at about 14:50 on Sunday, about 40 minutes before it was made known to CSIRO staff.

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