Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I will just add a very brief comment to that. What Senator Macdonald does not seem to understand—and what, had he come along to the committees and listened to the evidence, he would actually understand—is that the modelling and measurement and monitoring work that is being done by the scientists, especially in the Oceans and Atmosphere division, where the jobs are at stake, is being used almost specifically for mitigation and adaptation work. It is not about proving that climate change is in. That was in 2007 with the IPCC international declaration that climate is changing and we need to do something about it. These scientists provide the data that is being used by research institutions, farmers and so many stakeholders right across the country and it is worth billions of dollars to our economy. The CSIRO is not making a decision to get rid of these people; it is a small handful of people within the CSIRO. I suggest the minister's office is very likely to also be on the same page in getting rid of climate scientists. In terms of mitigation and adaption, we have not heard any evidence that CSIRO have any solid plans for ramping mitigation and adaption strategies up, except perhaps for fugitive gases from the coal seam gas industry. That is an area where they see potential for future growth, not for cutting emissions.

I would like to thank Senator Carr for his vigilance and I recognise his contribution in standing up for climate scientists at CSIRO, especially in my home town of Hobart. They expect politicians to be bipartisan or tri-partisan on this issue. They expect all of us to see common sense and make sure that good policy is enacted. The Senate committee inquiry into scrutiny of financial advice that Senator Carr referred to is having another hearing with the CSIRO's Larry Marshall next week. That is why we need this information now. We are running out of time. We only have six days to meet with the CEO, so we need to get this information as soon as possible. The Greens add our support to his call for 100 per cent transparency on this issue.

Question agreed to.