CSIRO should halt the implementation of deep job cuts including to climate science programs until a "thorough review" of the process, a Senate committee investigating the agency found.
The scientific research agency announced in early February that it would slash 350 jobs - before re-hiring a similar number over the next two years - to shift CSIRO's focus to growth areas.
Criticism from home and abroad prompted CSIRO to trim the scale of the cuts to 275 out of about 5000 staff. Last month, it also announced plans for a special climate science centre of 40 researchers, and halved the planned cuts of climate scientists from up to 96 to about 45.
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| Listing: CSIRO's RV Investigator hits rough weather in the Southern Ocean. Photo: Pete Harmsen |
It also found that the loss of jobs in the Land and Water division, now expected to be about 70, was "directly contrary" to the plan outlined by chief executive Larry Marshall to shift resources away from detecting climate change to adapting and mitigating it.
"The committee believes that cuts to CSIRO's climate change adaptation work evidences a hasty and ill-advised attempt to reduce CSIRO staffing numbers," the report said.
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| Larry Marshall, chief executive of CSIRO, confers with deputy Craig Roy at one of the Senate committee hearings in April. Photo: Andrew Meares |
The committee, dominated by Greens and Labor senators, recommended that the CSIRO board delay implementing the cuts. It also called on the Turnbull government to halt the process "in light of the upcoming election".
In a dissenting report, government senators rejected the report's findings, calling the inquiry "a blatantly wasteful use of scarce Senate resources".
A spokesman for CSIRO said the agency would respond after "careful consideration" of the report. "We know it is a difficult time for staff and CSIRO will continue to communicate and consult with staff and other interested parties."
Janet Rice, Greens senator from Tasmania, told the Senate on Tuesday that it was clear from the evidence provided "the CSIRO board was not actively involved at all" in the cuts.
Kim Carr, Labor's shadow minister for science, also emphasised the limited involvement of the board, noting that one member had replied in an email, 'I don't think I approve'.
Most of the board had not joined when a so-called deep dive process to discuss the cuts was held, he said.
Senator Carr also said there was "very strong evidence of negligence" on the part of Science Minister Christopher Pyne, who had contended from the start the cuts were a matter for CSIRO as an independent agency to implement.
Mr Pyne was "hiding behind the legal fiction of independence" of the agency, Senator Carr said, adding he would intervene to halt the cuts if this party took office after the upcoming elections, expected to be held on July 2.
A spokesman for Mr Pyne said CSIRO was "an independent statutory agency governed by a board of directors".
"Advice from the CSIRO is that there will be no net job losses overall across the agency," the spokesman said. "There has been no changes in government funding to the CSIRO. Any suggestion that this was a result of changes to the CSIRO budget is incorrect."
CSIRO chairman David Thodey gave evidence to the inquiry in camera, and without CSIRO managers accompanying him. His comments do not feature in the committee's final report.
Links
- New Climate Science Centre Doesn’t Make Up For CSIRO Cuts: Experts
- CSIRO Sets Up Special Climate Centre But Doubts Remain Over Scale Of Cuts
- CSIRO Eyes Alternative Plan To Climate Job Cuts As Chairman Thodey Faces Inquiry
- Bureau Of Meteorology Plan To Take Over CSIRO Climate Change Research
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