Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Hansard source

CSIRO has a responsibility to ensure that research is undertaken. It is aligned with the evolving strategic priorities both of CSIRO and, more particularly, the groups of people it has to deal with, including the Australian public. As a consequence, it has to make difficult decisions about stopping some research activities in order to solve new challenges that are facing the country. On 23 November, CSIRO announced a reduction of 30 staff positions across the Ecosystem Sciences Division and of 10 to 12 staff positions at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex at Tidbinbilla. The changes to the division of ecosciences will allow the division to evolve its research capabilities and activities to address new national challenges and up to 27 new appointments will be made in priority areas. In the case of the deep space tracking communications complex, the changes have been made as a result of budget cutbacks that were actually undertaken by NASA. NASA, as I recall, has been funding this research for 47 years, so I think it has to be seen in the context of who has been paying for that particular research. The proposed changes are to ensure that staffing levels within CSIRO are contained within their budget allocations and will not lead to a net reduction of CSIRO staff in regional centres.