Scott Ryan (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the chamber. As Senator Carr himself, the then Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, said at Senate estimates on 3 June 2008 in relation to Labor cutting the CSIRO budget and closing CSIRO locations:

... the government has made the budgetary decision. The implementation issues are matters for the CSIRO and the board. The CSIRO board has to sign off on these decisions.

When asked about the shutting down of the CSIRO Rockhampton site, he said:

I have had representations on the site and a number of members of parliament have drawn to my attention the importance of the facility. The simple fact of the matter is that these budget changes have been made as a result of decisions of government and that $63 million over four years has to be found by the organisation.

The CSIRO is an independent statutory agency governed by a board of directors. The board, in conjunction with senior management, are responsible for operations, including staffing and setting the CSIRO's priorities. Advice from the CSIRO is that there will be no net job losses overall across the agency. There have been no changes in government funding to the CSIRO. Any suggestion that this was as a result of changes to the CSIRO budget is incorrect.