Martin Ferguson (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Primary Industries, Resources, Forestry and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to take this opportunity to say what a great shame it is to see Australian scientists caught in the middle of what is clearly a major political debate. Our scientists have long been internationally regarded and are held in high esteem by all Australians and many international institutions. In recent days and weeks the CSIRO has been at the centre of criticism over its energy research program. Several senior scientists claim to have been gagged and management of the CSIRO is being questioned.

I do not seek to comment on the situation of former senior scientist Graeme Pearman and others, except to say that in the aftermath I hope that all understand that the institution itself, the CSIRO, and the calibre of its scientists should not be undermined by short-sighted politicians. Scientists are scientists. They are not politicians. If the claim is that CSIRO is being politicised, the attack should not be on the respected scientists that make up the organisation. The criticism should be directed at the government which sets the policy which CSIRO must follow according to its charter and which should provide it with the quality of independent management that it needs and deserves.

Unfortunately, the reality is that, under the Howard government, funding for this organisation has been so depleted that it is struggling for its very existence let alone to maintain its national and international reputation. As the peak science body the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies will attest, CSIRO is a diminishing part of Australia’s research efforts, with government spending as a percentage of gross domestic product at its lowest levels for 25 years. Neil Hamilton, Executive Director of the Forum for European-Australian Science and Technology Cooperation, the science body which the government has charged with the task of fostering collaboration with European scientists, said last month:

We are slowly but surely being pushed from the privileged position that we have held for much of the 20th century, when we were seen as a highly advanced country with excellent science, social science, and humanities researchers that European teams wanted to work with.

Added to the funding crisis is the lack of vision by the Howard government to provide any clear guidance as to the future of science in this country and how it is to be the source of new industry for Australia. Without such guidance and with the tightest of budgets, CSIRO is being severely constrained. It is within this context that the recent announcement by CSIRO on energy research must be understood.

Last month, CSIRO announced that it was increasing its commitment to energy research by five to 10 per cent, to be shared equally between clean coal technology and distributed energy generation, including renewables and natural gas technologies—all priorities for Australia which require government support and research assistance. CSIRO has shifted its focus to include clean coal technologies, which I support absolutely. But I stress that, contrary to what some people would have the community believe, CSIRO is not abandoning its renewable energy research. It can do both. In fact, it is looking at major new research and development in solar thermal technology, where it believes it can have more impact globally and where it has a competitive advantage.

The time has come for people to accept the reality that world energy demand will double by 2030. Our challenge as a community, across all political parties, is to stop the false war over the different energy technologies. This is not about coal versus renewables. To develop the best possible energy solutions to meet this demand, while advancing progress on greenhouse gas emissions, we need them both. The challenge to all political parties is to bring an end to the false debate about the use of one form of energy to the exclusion of another and to support all endeavours on all energy opportunities to improve our greenhouse performance. It is not about coal versus renewables, or nuclear versus renewables or coal; it is about how we as a nation and internationally solve the crisis in our energy demands. CSIRO must be involved in both the investigation of clean coal technology and research on renewables, not one or the other. Stop the cheap political point scoring.