Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Cox, for the question. I'm sure she's not surprised to know this is not necessarily something of which I have direct, first-hand knowledge. I haven't seen the fracking fact sheet to which she has referred. But if she is referring to the partial funding that she described to CSIRO and industry partnerships, which I think has been in the media for some time, I would make the point that part of the mission of the CSIRO—which of course is an essential pillar of Australia's national science infrastructure and a great institution responsible for some enormous advances in research with very good liaison and engagement with members of the Australian community—is to work with industry.

I don't know if what the senator is complaining about or—sorry, I wasn't trying to minimise it—referencing is one of the industry partnerships. If she wants to give me more information about that I will be very, very happy to provide that. But if this is a reaction to the CSIRO working with industry, we've taken the view in government, and I did as climate minister many years ago, that it is a good thing for those at the forefront of research, both into climate science and into the response to climate change—how we deal with it—to work closely with industry. Industry has to be part of the solution not just yelled at. In fact, where we have done well as a country on energy, where we have done well as a country on renewable energy, it has been where governments and industry have worked together and the regulatory structure has incentivised industry to do the right thing.