Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Prime Minister for the opportunity to inform the opposition about some of the facts to do with the funding of research and science and innovation and higher education following the Leader of the Opposition's question. Of course, before I held this position as Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, I was the minister for university education. Before I deal with innovation, I will start by explaining that, when I became the minister for higher education, I immediately had two funding cliffs left by the Labor Party, who asked this question about cuts to research. The National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Scheme was left without any funding at all—an undeniable fact; the Future Fellowships program was left without any funding at all—an undeniable fact—both of which I fixed with the support of the then Treasurer and the then Prime Minister. In fact, this government put more money into research and universities and science than Labor had left.

The Leader of the Opposition asked specifically about CSIRO. It is remarkable that he has not done his homework or that his staff have not done their homework or perhaps, indeed, the member for Grayndler is supplying today's questions pack, because it has been so disastrous for the Leader of the Opposition—

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