The Turnbull government is "flip-flopping on climate change" and doesn't know what it stands for, Labor says, after Science Minister Greg Hunt ordered the CSIRO to restore climate research as a core priority.
As Fairfax Media reported on Thursday, Mr Hunt has instructed CSIRO's executives and board to "put the focus back on climate science", just months after the national science agency slashed climate staff and programs.
Science Minister's climate revelation: Greg Hunt has revealed a plan to focus on climate science with millions more in investment that will create new jobs.
The cuts had prompted widespread condemnation, and fears that Australia was undermining global efforts to monitor and predict climate change.
The new strategy, which is yet to be fully devised, includes 15 new climate science jobs and research investment worth $37 million over 10 years.
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| Science Minister Greg Hunt was equivocal when asked if the CSIRO would reinstate climate scientists. Photo: Polo Jimenez |
In a statement on Thursday, Labor climate change spokesman Mark Butler and science spokesman Kim Carr said the government was "flip-flopping on climate change".
"[This] is just another example of a government that doesn't know what it believes in or stands for," the statement said.
"[Spending] $37 million over 10 years is a mere fraction of the $115 million that was ripped out of CSIRO over four years - it is grossly inadequate."
Labor said some of the world's best climate scientists had already been made redundant and were preparing to leave the agency.
"With them goes decades of knowledge and capability", Labor said, adding that the 15 new positions came "nowhere near replacing … around 300 CSIRO scientists who are still facing the prospect of losing their jobs".
Speaking on ABC radio on Thursday, Mr Hunt was equivocal when asked if CSIRO would reinstate climate scientists who had or would soon be made redundant, saying the government was "starting from where we are".
CSIRO chief executive Larry Marshall announced the job cuts in an email to staff in February, saying climate change had been established and the agency's focus should move to mitigation and adaptation.
Mr Hunt rejected suggestions that Dr Marshall's position was now untenable, saying the CSIRO had "embraced and endorsed" the new direction and Dr Marshall was an outstanding science leader "not just in Australia but around the world".
The CSIRO on Thursday would not comment on whether its board extended Dr Marshall's contract beyond December at its July meeting - despite his continued appointment being endorsed by cabinet before the election.
Greens deputy leader Larissa Waters said Dr Marshall's "complete disrespect for climate science" meant he should leave the organisation. She called on the board not to renew his tenure.
Senator Waters said Mr Hunt's directive to the CSIRO was "more gesture than substance" and called for him to fully reverse the funding cuts.
Andy Pitman, Director of ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science at the University of NSW, said the Turnbull government had made much of the "arms-length" role of CSIRO before the election but threw that principle out soon after the election.
On the question of reallocating funding to climate research from elsewhere in the CSIRO, Professor Pitman said: "You will not generate new income streams from climate science, so it's a problem for [CSIRO's] budget … what are they going to cut?"
Links
- Turnbull government orders CSIRO U-turn towards climate science
- Government offers hope by telling CSIRO to reinvest in climate research
- CSIRO staff sceptical of Science Minister Greg Hunt U-turn on climate change
- CSIRO: Greg Hunt instructs organisation to renew climate science focus, confirms new jobs
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