Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

You outlined to Senator Pratt, in response to her questions, that the proposal is, as I think you've agreed, absolutely critical for the future viability and reputation of Australia's universities; absolutely critical for the development of Australian research and the future prosperity of Australians; absolutely vital for the future of Australian businesses that need good quality Australian research in order to develop products and develop equipment and to lift productivity; and absolutely vital to our agriculture sector in particular, where the level of public funding for Australian agricultural research has fallen through the floor not only under this government but under successive governments at the Commonwealth and state level, leading to long-term problems, a crisis in fact, in agricultural research in Australia. Despite the importance of that regulatory assurance work, is it really the case that the government proposes no additional resources for the oversight body to perform that important work?