Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Senator Sinodinos. Given that tomorrow is the event Science meets Parliament, can the minister update the Senate on what actions he has taken to repair plummeting staff morale and reverse massive funding cuts to the CSIRO that have taken place under this government?

Arthur Sinodinos (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the shadow minister for his question because, yes, Science meets Parliament today and tomorrow. There are a number of activities going on. Scientists are coming to Canberra. I encourage all of you to interact with them. It is a great way for them to learn about the public policy process here and for us to learn more about the great work that they are doing in providing the platform for our future growth. The shadow minister asked me about science and innovation and the rest. Well, let me begin by saying that in this year, 2016-17, the government is providing $10.1 billion—

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator Gallagher, on a point of order.

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question was specifically around the funding cuts to CSIRO and what the minister is doing about that. The question was also about repairing plummeting staff morale. It was not about a broader innovation agenda, as much Senator Sinodinos might like it to be.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think we need to give the minister and opportunity there. He did mention, as did Senator Carr ask in the preamble to his question, Science meets Parliament. He responded to that and he has just started his response to the question so I think will give the minister a chance to respond.

Arthur Sinodinos (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I was beginning to say, in this financial year 2016-17 we are providing $10.1 billion in support for science and research. That is an increase of 3.55 per cent on the budget estimates of $9.7 billion in 2015-16. Over the last 10 years Australia's support for science in research has actually increased by 52 per cent. The annual appropriations for key science agencies are all increasing over the forward estimates. For CSIRO it will increase from $787.2 million in 2016-17 to $827.97 million in 2019-20. ANSTO will go from $183.3 million in 2016-17 to $211.2 million in 2019-20. AIMS will go from $41.5 million in the 2016-17 budget to $44.76 million in 2019-20. The increase in CSIRO's appropriation over the next few years is from what already is a record level of government funding. We recognise the importance of science and research. We are putting more resources into it and we are looking forward to great results in the years ahead.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Carr, a supplementary question.

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How do you justify the loss of 1,680 jobs from science agencies across this government since 2013?

Arthur Sinodinos (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am not aware of the source of the shadow minister's figures. I am aware that some figures have been thrown around which sometimes conflate scientists with other employees. In other words, you have to look at the mix of employees you are talking about. But if you are saying to me that the science and research sector cannot play a role in budget repair because of previous decisions under both Labor governments and coalition governments then I have to say that is wrong. We cannot have a situation with either side of politics saying that, because one sector is particularly important, it is always exempt from the budget repair. That is always on a case-by-case basis, but, in the last few years, this government has put more resources into science and research, and we have put the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy, for example, on a strong 10-year basis. We have provided a 10-year funding guarantee—an extra $150 million a year. That is what we inherited from Labor. We had increasing prices. We have put it on a long-term basis. We are now looking at the research— (Time expired)

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Carr, a final supplementary question.

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Given that the coalition has gone from having no science minister at all to having three in 12 months, when will the government rouse itself from policy paralysis and reverse its $3 billion of cuts to science and innovation funding and jobs?

Arthur Sinodinos (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When Malcolm Turnbull became Prime Minister one of his first priorities was to launch the National Innovation and Science Agenda. With Minister Pyne our helmsman through that period, we saw a $1.1 billion infusion to the Innovation and Science Agenda from day one of the Turnbull government. We have seen my predecessor, Mr Hunt from the other place, put climate science at CSIRO on the right basis. We have seen him take actions to provide a strong platform for me to now look at what further measures we take to promote innovation and science under this government. We will, this year, not only release a science statement—that is happening tomorrow—but we will also release a research infrastructure road map which will have real money behind it to help complement the work we have done on the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy. Later in the year we will be releasing a plan for 2030 for the evolution of the innovation of science system. We will have evidence based policymaking. (Time expired)

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is also to the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Senator Sinodinos. Can the minister outline the role science plays in building a prosperous Australia?

Arthur Sinodinos (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Smith for his question. Two Dorothy Dixers in one day. How lucky am I? This is good fun.

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And in sequence.

Arthur Sinodinos (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And in sequence. Let me begin by saying what I will be saying tomorrow at the Press Club—come along if you like—and that is that science is central to shaping Australia's economic future. This is a time of great change in the global economy. We need to respond to that change, Senator Smith, so that all of our industries can stay competitive. And by investing in scientific research and development, we can not only respond to change but we can also create change to our own benefit. All types of research, from basic to applied, are vital for scientific advances and for generating economic benefits. We believe in investing in fundamental science as well as applied research. It is very important for us to understand that while you do not get a short-term payback from fundamental research, often the biggest long-term advances have come from investing in fundamental research. So for us, both basic and applied research are priorities.

Recently, Innovation and Science Australia released a performance review of our innovation, science and research system. It points not only to some continuing problems we have to tackle but also to a number of strengths. The review found that as a nation we are good at coming up with clever ideas. We punch above our weight internationally when it comes to creating knowledge, but we need to work more on turning those ideas into a reality. We need to be commercialising more of our own great research here in Australia, creating jobs at home and creating Australian companies and maintaining their headquarters in Australia—a bit like what has happened with Atlassian, a great Australian example of this—and use that as an example to other parts of our economy. We need to improve on translating those ideas into real world products, building stronger links between science and industry.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Smith, a supplementary question.

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister further outline how the government is supporting science and research in this role?

Arthur Sinodinos (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I mentioned earlier, the government in this financial year is providing $10.1 billion in support for science and research, an increase of 3.55 per cent on the previous year. We are increasing the funding for the major science agencies, as I mentioned before. In the Innovation and Science Agenda, we secured the funding for the Square Kilometre Array—a major international collaboration, a lot of which will be based in Western Australia. It is very important for us to know that we secured the future of the Synchrotron, which is now being looked after by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation. We are taking a whole series of actions that are going to ensure we have a platform for research and development going forward, which creates global companies based in Australia.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Smith, a final supplementary question.

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister explain how the Turnbull government's National Innovation and Science Agenda is creating new opportunities for science and industry to work together?

Arthur Sinodinos (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable senator for his follow-up question. The National Innovation and Science Agenda is an important part of the government's objectives. NISA provides $1.1 billion over the forward estimates to support science research and innovation. NISA includes significant investments over the longer term, including $1.5 billion over 10 years and ongoing support for the operations of our national collaborative research infrastructure. The $520 million is for the Synchrotron over 10 years.

Senator Sterle interjecting—

I will accompany you on a visit down there personally, Senator Sterle, or anybody else who wants to go. There is $294 million for the Square Kilometre Array over 10 years. These measures provide the incentive for science and industry to work together to commercialise our high-quality science and research in Australia for the benefit of Australians.