Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Carr. In relation to the CSIRO wool scour at Belmont in Victoria, can the minister confirm that he gave an undertaking to the industry for a specialty fibre products industry audit to be conducted before the operation of the scour was released for tender so that potential operators would be informed about the nature of the industry and its importance to the 8,000-plus people involved in the supply and value-added chain for specialty fibres in Australia? Can he also now confirm that the tender was released without an audit being undertaken? Can he explain why there has been no audit and why he has not provided an update on that audit process since my request in the middle of June this year?

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for her question. I acknowledge her longstanding interest in the issue of the scourer facility at CSIRO Belmont. I draw her attention to an article which appeared in the Herald and Weekly Times this morning, which I presume she has relied upon for her question today. The article was wrong in many respects. Perhaps I should take this opportunity, in answering the senator’s question, to highlight the fact that CSIRO and my office have been working closely with representatives of the rare and natural fibres industry to discuss short-term difficulties which have arisen from the closure of the CSIRO wool scourer in Geelong and to examine ways to address the future of wool research needs.

The scourer will be operating there until at least 30 June 2009 on a cost-recovery basis. The article in today’s edition of Herald and Weekly Times is incorrect. As a result of negotiations with both CSIRO and the rare fibre industry, an agreement was reached that the CSIRO scourer at Belmont would remain open for batches of fibre from small producers until June 2009, and the scourer remains open for business to small producers on a mutually agreed basis. The article’s reference to the commitment I have made, that it would operate until December 2008, is wrong. We have gone further than that. It will remain open for small producers until June next year, provided that an opportunity for commercial solutions to the long-term operations of the scourer be explored and implemented. CSIRO’s primary function is, of course, to carry out scientific research. It can only justify secondary service functions, such as the providing of scouring facilities to industry, where that supports primary research.

In 2007, the CSIRO decided to close the wool scourer following consultations with its major funding body for wool research, AWI. In 2006, under the former government, Australian Wool Innovations flagged a reduction in their R&D portfolio in order to increase investments in marketing and promotion. CSIRO reviewed all tenders received in response to its invitation to tender and found that none were compliant with its terms of the tender requirements that the scourer operate in Australia for at least five years. CSIRO has entered into discussions with unsuccessful tenderers to conclude a sale of the wool scourer on mutually acceptable terms. CSIRO continues as a significant employer in Geelong and is strengthening its collaboration with Deakin University, providing the Geelong region with a powerhouse for future research.

In July, I opened CSIRO’s diagnostic allergic response laboratory in Geelong, providing Australia with a unique diagnostic research unit responsible for capacity and capable of managing even the most severe outbreaks of disease—like foot and mouth disease. So CSIRO’s commitment to Geelong is strengthening, not declining.

Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. That was a great diversion, Minister, from the question, which is: did you promise the industry an audit and why was the audit not done? I think the parliament would be very interested to know why the audit was not done. Because it is being sold, people in the industry want to be sure that whoever takes it over understands the nature of the industry. Secondly, in relation to access beyond next year, we also want to know whether the scourer and its associated dryer will be open and accessible to all members of the industry over the life of the scourer—that is, five years. So what about the audit, Minister, and what about the dryer?

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If further inquiries had been made rather than relying on an incorrect article, the senator would know that, in decommissioning the wool scourer, there had to be transitional arrangements on both a short-term and a long-term basis. As a result, there was a stakeholder meeting on 24 April. There was a commitment that the wool scourer would remain operational for a further 12 months after June 2008 but that CSIRO would operate the scourer on a cost-recovery basis, which was calculated at $250K per annum, and the industry representatives would seek to identify 100 tonnes of fibre for scouring at Belmont. That is the question of the audit. There was a commitment by the industry to provide an additional 100 tonnes of fibre for scouring at Belmont— (Time expired)