Michelle Ananda-Rajah (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator David Pocock and colleagues for moving this important motion on CSIRO. CSIRO is, indeed, a national asset. As it is a peak public institution in this country, devoted to science, we will always support it. This stands in contrast to the climate deniers on the opposite side, who now seem to have discovered a genuine interest in science. It's entirely hypocritical for them to be now clutching their pearls and their chests and wringing their hands in anguish over imminent job cuts at CSIRO. You have no credibility whatsoever.

The story of CSIRO is not one of government job cuts. It is, unfortunately, a story of mismanagement. Indeed, four days ago, a whistleblower declared to the Fairfax Papers that there were problems evident at CSIRO five years ago. The Morrison government, during the pandemic, injected an additional $459 million over four years into CSIRO. This funding boost led to a huge increase in CSIRO's headcount. The headcount swelled by nearly 1,400 staff between 2020 and 2024. In other words, CSIRO went on a massive recruitment drive with this additional funding. What also happened during that time is that employee benefits, CSIRO's largest expense, jumped—by 30 per cent since 2019. This is a quote from this former senior staff member:

There were no real projects for them to work on.

When 2024 clocked on, there was a funding cliff, and this near half-a-billion dollars that had been injected into CSIRO had been, effectively, squandered. The new management have come on under the stewardship of eminent scientist and fine Australian Professor Doug Hilton. He's had to do housekeeping; he and the independent board, which stands at arm's length from the government, have had to do some housekeeping.

I want to make it clear: any institution, whether it be scientific or otherwise, that receives public funds must be held accountable. CSIRO must be held accountable even though it is a peak scientific body. It is not a protected species. No-one that receives taxpayer dollars in this really challenging fiscal environment is a protected species. So the board did a review. It was the first strategic review in 15 years—and that tells you everything you need to know. It decided that there needed to be a realignment of CSIRO's priorities with the national priorities of this government. As a result of the mismanagement of the previous administration, unfortunately, a number of people are now likely to lose their job.

In terms of these people, bear in mind that this Albanese Labor government is establishing a number of statutory bodies next year. From January next year, the first ever Centre for Disease Control will kick off. That is going to require people with expertise in infectious diseases. Professor Hilton has already declared that one priority will be 'one health'—animal health as well as human health and environmental health. This will be an absolute focus of the CDC. There is no tackling infectious diseases unless you tackle threats to animals as well as the broader environment, because that's how pandemics emerge. In addition, provided this parliament works together and passes our environmental laws, we will be standing up a national environmental protection agency. So those workers who are likely to lose their jobs in the environmental sector of CSIRO will potentially be able to enter the EPA or Environment Information Australia, the EIA. We would need their expertise.

In addition to that, we have just announced the establishment of a national AI safety institute, a body that will rest within the department of industry. It will absolutely need scientists with expertise in AI, quantum and mathematics to be able to, again, scan the horizon for threats. So there are opportunities here for those scientists. (Time expired)

Steph Hodgins-May (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Science isn't failing; the government is failing science. They ignore warnings from climate scientists, they sideline experts and now they're letting our national science agency be gutted. Australia has a scientific legacy to be proud of, from pioneering global agriculture to world-leading Antarctic research and medical breakthroughs like the cochlear implant. First Nations people have stewarded land, water and biodiversity with scientific knowledge stretching back 50,000 years.

We are a nation built on science. CSIRO scientists carry that legacy today. They're on the front line of the biggest challenges of our time, from bushfire modelling to fighting antimicrobial resistance and breakthrough work on renewable energy. These are the people building our future, and what does Labor do? They hollow them out. This government should be buffering and celebrating Australian research, not bulldozing it—including by tackling one of the biggest structural barriers in the field: gender inequity in STEM leadership. If we want women to lead in STEM, we need to back them before they hit the glass ceiling. Programs like WILD for STEM show exactly what's possible when we invest early and properly: 100 per cent of participants stay in STEM. More than half secure new roles or promotions, and nearly a third land board positions within a year.

Australia's scientists punch way above their weight, even under insecure funding, gender gaps and a global political climate increasingly allergic to the truth. Scientists are the people who can pull us out of climate disasters, pandemics and extinction crises. They get us out of the messes that politicians help to create. So here's the message: you do not slash science. You protect it, you invest in it and you back the people who make Australia smarter and safer.

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What extraordinary contributions we have heard from the other side of the chamber defending these job cuts at CSIRO. They're quite extraordinary. The last speaker for the Australian Labor Party referred to the fact that the Morrison government had given so many hundreds of millions of dollars of extra money to CSIRO that they'd actually gone out and hired scientists to do scientific work. Therefore, it's the Morrison government's fault that they're now being made redundant. What an extraordinary argument. Then we had the minister attend this chamber and refuse to provide details with respect to these job cuts, but he did refer to the Abbott government.

Let me give you a quote from the CSIRO Staff Association of the CPSU. This is what they're saying in relation to these job cuts:

This is a very sad day for publicly funded science in this country …

They are now responsible for cuts to public science that exceed the Abbott Government …

These aren't my words; these are the word of the CSIRO Staff Association of the CPSU. They said:

They are now responsible for cuts to public science that exceed the Abbott government …

They said:

These are some of the worst cuts the CSIRO has ever seen.

They said:

We don't need a crystal ball to know these cuts will hurt—they'll hurt families, farmers and our future.

That's what the CSIRO Staff Association of the CPSU are saying. I wonder what former senator Kim Carr would say about this. He railed against the job cuts and the cuts that were introduced by the Abbott coalition government. He railed against them. What must he be thinking to hear the contributions from those opposite? He must be absolutely aghast, as a senator who served in this place and was such a strong advocate for public science.

I want to read to you a quote from Senator Pearce from a speech he gave on 11 June 1926, speaking to the legislation which actually established the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. He talked about the importance of CSIRO, he talked about the importance of science for the public good. I want to read you this quote:

The need for the establishment of a Council for Scientific and Industrial Research has been discussed on many occasions, and the arguments for national research are well known. In all civilized countries it is recognized that from time to time national problems arise, the solution of which can not be left to private enterprise.

This is me having to inform those opposite of the need for public science funding. He goes on:

The problems are of such magnitude and of such general interest and importance that their investigation is appropriately regarded as a matter for governmental action.

That was the case that was made for adequate funding of CSIRO back on 11 June 1926, when legislation was introduced establishing the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. And yet we have those opposite blaming everyone except themselves for these catastrophic job cuts.

I admire the contribution that Senator Whish-Wilson made. Senator Whish-Wilson has been a very strong advocate in relation to public science, and he outlined the important areas of research which need to be funded, including in the environmental space. It is extraordinary. These job cuts are extraordinary. We're looking at 300 to 350 full-time-equivalent positions. It's just extraordinary. And this is coming from those opposite, who railed against lower cuts that were introduced by the Abbott coalition government. And we now have the CPSU, the CSIRO Staff Association, actually calling out a Labor government with respect to the dramatic nature of these cuts. It doesn't really matter in relation to other statutory authorities that are going to be set up. CSIRO, when you read the speeches leading to the establishment of CSIRO, the senators referred to CSIRO as the nation's national laboratory and talked about the importance of public science to support our industries, to deal with biosecurity threats and to deal with the whole range of issues which merit an investment in public science. I say to the government that they need to consider these cuts very seriously.

Question agreed to.