Senate Economics Legislation Committee [Part 2], , 1:12:48 to 1:18:48
CSIRO leadership discusses the organization's financial sustainability, budget allocations for disease preparedness, and projected funding shortfalls over the next decade.
Topics: Government spending, Agricultural research and levies
Speakers: Senator Susan McDonald, Senator The Hon Tim Ayres, Tom Maynard, Dr Doug Hilton, Speaker 1
representatives from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. I welcome Dr. Doug Hilton, chief executive of the CSRO. Uh, Dr. Hilton. Um, we have your opening statement here. Um, and it has been circulated to all senators present. So, we will consider it tabled. Um, and if you're happy, we can go straight to questions.
>> Yeah, very happy with that. Noting, uh, our thoughts are with Dr. Haynes. Uh, and her great support for science has meant a huge amount and we, uh, hope she's recovering well and, yeah, her family are doing the best they can.
>> Thank you very much. Uh, Senator McDonald, over to you.
>> Thanks, Chair. Lovely words. Um, thank you, Dr. Hilton. Nice way to start. Um Minister in the 2627 budget provides CSRO 387.4 million over four years and an ongoing component of $38 million per year from 203031. This was again confirmed in the government's response to the Senate inquiry funding and resourcing for the CSRO. Averaged over the four years 387.4 million is about 97 million a year. And then the CSRO's ongoing uplift drops from about 97 million a year to $ 38 million a year. Is that correct?
So, uh the $38 million a year ongoing is for the Australian Center for Disease Preparedness. Um you you're right about the commitment, [clears throat] the additional commitment over four years. Um your math is better than mine. very happy with the $97 million um analysis that sits on top of the billion dollars a year that is allocated by the Commonwealth to the CSRO. Um so that's a four-year commitment. Um uh the government, you know, over the course of the four years will make budget decisions about the CSRO in the normal way. But we have um because of the importance of that uh Australian center for disease preparedness investment and um construction work is well underway uh there. Um that's um that kind of locks in um the future of that very important facility.
At Senate estimates on the 2nd of June 2026, Professor Huntington said the CSRO, and I'll quote, would need to work to find an additional at least 80 million to $135 million perom over the next decade. That's around 800 million to$ 1.35 billion over 10 years. Have those figures been revised since June? And if so, what's the new figure?
>> So Tom Manyard, chief operating officer. So um in relation to to Dr. Huntington's evidence in um in June, that was uh uh what we would need to find after the government's uh commitment to us through the budget process. So with the $387 million over over four years, once we as you say an average of $97 million, once um that's short, that temporary component of that funding ceases, we would need to find 80 to $135 million beyond that.
>> Okay. So 135 million less. The government's 38 million ongoing from 2030 is 97 million short. That's my maths is about right,
>> Uh so we're still working through uh budget projections beyond the $387 million that the the government has provided us. Obviously that gives us some certainty over a period of time. Um and we'll work through with government on our budget projections beyond that
period. Beyond the forwards, there's lots of work to do on on um with the with the CSRO uh on uh future sustainment and their uh and the CSRO strategy. Um their package re really kind of builds a platform for that over the for that work over the next four years.
And I was applauding the government's long-term commitment to geosciences earlier this evening. So the government is able to make long-term commitments to important agencies. Um let's hope that CSRO turns out to be one of those.
>> Yeah, there's there's lots of work to do. Uh and um uh decisions to make uh the CSRO's got work to do there. uh that they are engaged uh they are fully engaged in uh we've got lots of work to do together to make sure that we've got the facilities and assets and and scientific resources and staff that deliver on Australia's priorities in the 2030s and 2040s.
>> Sure you'll get no disagreement from the CSRO. Dr. Hilton, the government has [clears throat] said uh that its funding will support the financial sustainability of the CSRO, but there is a funding discrepancy based on your own comments. Who's who's wrong? We should
>> I think minister captured it uh very well. The additional funding we received in myo and this year's budget put us on that pathway to sustainability. We have um a large amount of repairs and maintenance backlog, capital upgrades, cyber security investment that we need to do over the next few years and that we have in budget and then as the minister said over the forward estimates um that will be a a process for government over the next few years.