Michael Forshaw (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

If you Google it, you will find something about the world-class researchers and specialists that the CSIRO has produced. My colleague Senator Hurley referred to how the current government has acted to safeguard research freedom in many ways, particularly in restoring the autonomy of the Australian Research Council by appointing an expert stakeholder group to advise it on strategy and policy. We have improved the whole process of Australian Research Council grants. We do not interfere and stand over and reject grant applications and then not publish the reasons why, as did former minister and opposition leader Brendan Nelson. In 2004 and 2005, for instance, he secretly vetoed 10 research proposals which had been judged worthy of support by independent peer reviewers. That was the record of that government. Dr Nelson did not publish the reasons why. Minister Carr has made it absolutely abundantly clear that we will have an open policy when it comes to the awarding of research grants.

Getting on particularly to the CSIRO, the government has introduced charters for our public research agencies, including the CSIRO. These charters guarantee the agencies’ right to pursue lines of inquiry, publish results and participate in public debate without political interference. These charters provide a framework for the civic engagement that we consider one of the research community’s core responsibilities. They set out not only the rights but also the responsibilities of the agencies and agency researchers. And each of these charters, including that of the CSIRO, affirms the contestability of ideas, supports open communication of research findings, encourages debate on research issues of public interest, recognises the role of individual researchers in the conversation, honours the independence of public research agencies in their research activities and acknowledges the government’s responsibility for formulating and implementing policy.

When it comes to the specific issue of Dr Clive Spash, I reiterate that the government has played absolutely no role in the discussions between the CSIRO and Dr Clive Splash. This is entirely a matter for CSIRO management.