Former Industry minister Ed Husic delivered the best line of the week as he discussed the CSIRO’s decision to cut 300 to 350 research jobs on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing program.
The task at hand, he said, was to “… prize open the jaws of Treasury and make sure that our national science agency is funded in a way that is good for the country in the long term.”
“If you want to find the money, you’ll find it,” Mr Husic said. “I mean, we found $600 million for a football team in Papua New Guinea, I’m sure we’ll be able to find the money for our national science agency …”.
It’s hard to disagree with a point well made, although a cynic might say he’s the proverbial dollar short and a day late, given he was the responsible minister for the three years until May.
CSIRO chief executive Doug Hilton is a gentle man who has been cast into a role where he must speak softly and carry a big chainsaw – to paraphrase Ted Roosevelt – unhappily announcing cuts to 300 to 350 research positions.
That’s a tough place to be. No-one is happy. Dr Hilton should be given credit for getting in front of the media and arguing the case for the national science agency forcefully. This was done without histrionics and without assigning blame.
The funding shortfalls have been cumulative over decades and attributable to governments on both sides of politics, he said.
As if anyone needs reminding, Australia spends 1.69 per cent of GDP on R&D. The OECD average spend on R&D is 2.7 per cent. Just to be average, Australia would need to find a way to lift spending by tens of billions of dollars.
The likelihood of an R&D spending boost of this magnitude seems preposterous. But hey, finding $600 million to set up a rugby league team in PNG seemed preposterous too, and yet …
Also in this News Wrap podcast, we discuss the federal government’s plans to introduce a ‘duty of care’ regulatory regime to manage tech platforms, making them legally required to manage harms to users.
The planned legislated duty of care marks a significant shift in how platforms companies like Meta and X are regulated in Australia by not relying solely on individuals to report harm after the fact.
We also look at the latest efforts by US cloud, cyber and software firms to unwind Australia’s data localisation laws and to reconsider “sovereignty” goals, claiming the geo-bounding actually increases cybersecurity risks.
The Department of Defence has rolled-out the Microsoft CoPilot AI across thousands of protected-level computers, and US-based AI powerhouse Groq has unveiled a high-speed AI hub in Sydney.
In the news:
‘Sad day for publicly funded science’: CSIRO guts research teams – InnovationAus
Parliament, scientists demand CSIRO cuts explanation – InnovationAus
CSIRO chief defends job cuts amid fears for growth of scientific research in Australia – ABC
Govt moves ahead with digital duty of care – InnovationAus
SAP and Mistral AI: A New Alliance for European Sovereign AI – SAP News Centre
US suppliers swing at Australia’s data sovereignty rules – InnovationAus
Defence rolls out Microsoft Copilot on protected network – InnovationAus
US startup Groq unveils high-speed AI hub in Sydney – InnovationAus
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