Senate Economics Legislation Committee [Part 2], , 1:29:08 to 1:31:59
The Minister defends the government's funding record for CSIRO against claims of historic staff losses, emphasizing long-term efforts to stabilize the organization's position for future decades.
Topics: Government spending, Agricultural research and levies
Speakers: Senator The Hon Tim Ayres, Senator David Pocock, Unknown Speaker
>> Mhm. [clears throat] And Minister, you said that there's more work to do over the forward over after after the forwards uh after I kind of take exception to because there's so much work to do right now. >> Yeah. >> And the CSRO has lost more staff under the Albani Labor government than any government in history. So more than the Abbott government. How are we in a situation where under an Albany Labor government we lose more researchers from science from Cyro than any government in history at a time where it seems that we desperately need more investment in science and research to deal with the challenges we face.
>> Yeah. I think um having listened to the ex the evidence that um Dr. Hilton has provided to you uh about the um the work that is going on to keep the science capability contemporary uh and the funding additional funding support that the government has offered. Um what I was taking to you when I talked about work that needs to go on is um the work that needs to happen within the CSRO to uh to do the work that uh that Dr. Hilton has described but also to make sure that where there are facilities that they are, you know, in a position to really contribute uh that we're leveraging the most that we can in science and industrial research and commercialization terms from those facilities. Um they're making a real contribution. Um so when I talk about that kind of work like that I'm talking about the long-term effort that is required um and the work that we can do over the next four years to make sure that the organization is in a position >> to contribute in the 2030s and the 2040s like I'm just saying there is this is not a set and forget position from the government where it's just finding an allocation and then leaving it to the CSRO to do that work. I'm very engaged with uh uh Dr. Hilton and the board and the CSRO team because this work really matters for the country. Uh and we've provided uh additional support over the forwards to stabilize the position and to make sure the CSRO is in a position to make quality decisions, but I don't resolve from the fact that there's more work and more commitment that's going to be engaged over the coming years. We have we have backed in the organization in a way that previous governments haven't. Uh and we're going to keep