Gov must act on CSIRO job cuts: Bandt
Greens Deputy Leader and science and research spokesperson, Adam Bandt MP, says the government must boost CSIRO funding in the upcoming Budget to stave off possible job cuts.
The CSIRO Board have announced a cut of 5% to jobs and operating costs.
“The CSIRO Board is ringing the alarm bell and the government must listen. A loss of up to 200 jobs will be a blow to Australia’s research community,” Mr Bandt said.
“Research and innovation is crucial to our economic prosperity and CSIRO is the cornerstone of our national research effort.”
“In the last couple of budgets, funding for CSIRO has essentially stalled and so any changes in industry funding can knock them sideways.”
“The government needs to step in and boost CSIRO funding in the coming Budget.”
The Greens want the government to set a national target of 3% of GDP for public and private research and development funding, bringing Australia in to line with the top tier of the OECD.