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. Given the CSIRO’s announcement that some 40 scientists working on ecosystem research and space programs in the ACT and Brisbane will lose their jobs, can the minister ensure the Senate that public interest research such as maintaining biodiversity is a priority for the government rather than just privatising research that is likely to lead to direct commercial gain? If so, how does the minister explain the CSIRO’s decision to slash 10 per cent of the budget for its new Ecosystem Sciences Division?

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

CSIRO has a responsibility to ensure that research is undertaken. It is aligned with the evolving strategic priorities both of CSIRO and, more particularly, the groups of people it has to deal with, including the Australian public. As a consequence, it has to make difficult decisions about stopping some research activities in order to solve new challenges that are facing the country. On 23 November, CSIRO announced a reduction of 30 staff positions across the Ecosystem Sciences Division and of 10 to 12 staff positions at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex at Tidbinbilla. The changes to the division of ecosciences will allow the division to evolve its research capabilities and activities to address new national challenges and up to 27 new appointments will be made in priority areas. In the case of the deep space tracking communications complex, the changes have been made as a result of budget cutbacks that were actually undertaken by NASA. NASA, as I recall, has been funding this research for 47 years, so I think it has to be seen in the context of who has been paying for that particular research. The proposed changes are to ensure that staffing levels within CSIRO are contained within their budget allocations and will not lead to a net reduction of CSIRO staff in regional centres.

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

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister confirm that there is little financial imperative for these cuts, given that the CSIRO has record levels of government and external funding as well as access to the endowment fund created out of the significant court settlement over the ownership of the Wi-fi technology patent?

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

I would agree with the assumptions that you have made within the question, Senator. The fact is that the CSIRO budget has been expanding under this government. We will see an increase in investment in research for 2010-11 by some $21.4 million and a 50 per cent increase in expenditure on scientific equipment to $37 million. The prioritisation of research activity comes about as a result of the increased support for the capability development within CSIRO as a direct result of the increased expenditure that this government has provided for CSIO. You are right: on top of that, there is additional income being received from external sources, particularly from other government departments and from the Weiland decisions. The anticipated funding increase has to be seen in the context of the fact that there are increased costs, and the government acknowledges that. (Time expired)

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

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Given the minister’s answer that it is not a financial imperative, can the minister confirm that addressing Australia’s biodiversity crisis in the Sixth Extinction phase is not a government priority?

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

No, I cannot confirm that.

Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It sounds like it, though!

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

No, Senator Brown, that is not the case. What I have indicated is that the government has increased support for CSIRO quite substantially and it has encouraged, through the Super Science Initiative and other initiatives, a breadth of approach to scientific policy in this country that we have not seen in the previous generation. So it is simply not true to say that the government is narrowing its focus. It is true to say that we rely on CSIRO management to work within the scientific community to ensure that priorities are appropriate to meet the strategic needs of this country. We rely on CSIRO, which is our leading scientific agency, to ensure it is able to respond to the challenges that are emerging in this country. We simply cannot rely upon a presumption that what occurred in the past— (Time expired)