Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

That is a very good question from Senator Boyce, because, unfortunately, as well as ballooning deficits and debt, the previous government left funding cliffs everywhere in this area for some of our most significant research programs, so, not only are we working to repair the national budget; we have listened to the concerns of researchers about those funding cliffs which have been raised with us. What their record shows is that they cut the Sustainable Research Excellence in Universities scheme by nearly $500 million. Not a single dollar was set aside by Labor for the NCRIS beyond 30 June next year. There are 27 facilities funded under NCRIS across Australia, and 222 research institutions use these facilities. We have provided a further $150 million for NCRIS as part of our higher education reform package. But, similarly, they left no provision for any new awards from 2015 for our Future Fellowships program. (Time expired).