{"id":23260,"date":"2023-10-05T21:57:21","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T21:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=23260"},"modified":"2023-10-05T21:57:21","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T21:57:21","slug":"senate-inquiry-exposes-australian-antarctic-division-in-turmoil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2023\/10\/05\/senate-inquiry-exposes-australian-antarctic-division-in-turmoil\/","title":{"rendered":"SENATE INQUIRY EXPOSES AUSTRALIAN ANTARCTIC DIVISION IN TURMOIL"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/media.greens.org.au\/t\/y-l-xlydity-ikjrmhyir-y\/\">Senate inquiry<\/a>&nbsp;hearings into Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) funding mismanagement have exposed the Division is in turmoil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A staggering level of incompetence in the Division&#8217;s governance has been identified, resulting in harrowing impacts on science staff and capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Damning evidence to the committee over the past two days includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Revelations of a $42 million AAD budget overspend with an admission from the AAD of \u201congoing issues with Budget transparency\u201d, resulting in cost cutting and budget restraints that have impacted the delivery of science in the Antarctic.<\/li><li>Distress from AAD staff who \u201cdread\u201d coming into the office and face extreme stress in \u201ca hostile work environment where there is bullying and where funding is uncertain\u201d.<\/li><li>Frustration from UTAS and other scientists that no field work has been conducted in Antarctica investigating critical marginal sea ice movements for over a decade.<\/li><li>Alarm from CPSU delegates and members about a \u201cculture of secrecy\u201d, project funding being used as a bullying tactic, and \u201cat least half a dozen\u201d current AAD employees who had felt pressured not to give evidence.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Incredulity expressed by TasPorts on why the government didn\u2019t listen to warnings dating back to 2018 that its $528m ice-breaking research ship &#8211; RSV Nuyina &#8211; which resupplies Australia\u2019s three Antarctic stations and conducts crucial climate research was too big to safely pass underneath Hobart\u2019s bridge to refuel.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The inquiry was initiated following the Albanese Government\u2019s failure to set the record straight and address&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/media.greens.org.au\/t\/y-l-xlydity-ikjrmhyir-j\/\">rising fears about what science programs will be axed<\/a>&nbsp;as a result of a $25 million cut the AAD\u2019s operating budget..<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Greens spokesperson for healthy oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe knew going into this inquiry that certain matters relating to the AAD\u2019s governance were dysfunctional, but I never could have imagined just how toxic the situation had become &#8211; especially for our nation\u2019s Antarctic scientists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe AAD self-identified a shocking $42 million overspend and ongoing issues with budget transparency &#8211; and whether or not the Division likes to admit it, this has resulted in budget restraints that have impacted Australia\u2019s delivery of critical science programs in the Antarctic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDeeply personal witness testimony to the AAD inquiry has been devastating and has indicated a staggering level of incompetence in the Division\u2019s governance that has resulted in harrowing impacts on scientists and their critical work. People\u2019s lives have been dramatically impacted by the dysfunction of the AAD\u2019s workplace culture and historic poor decision making.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s now incumbent on the Senate to provide a strong majority report with recommendations that can fix this mess, and for the Government to listen and restore critical funding for Antarctic science programs, as well as implement long-term structural change.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMPs from across the political spectrum who attended the hearings were in solidarity about wanting to find a solution to this mess &#8211; but only the Government has the power to implement meaningful change.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senate inquiry&nbsp;hearings into Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) funding mismanagement have exposed the Division is in turmoil. A staggering level of incompetence in the Division&#8217;s governance has been identified, resulting in harrowing impacts on science staff and capabilities. Damning evidence to the committee over the past two days includes: Revelations of a $42 million AAD budget &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2023\/10\/05\/senate-inquiry-exposes-australian-antarctic-division-in-turmoil\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;SENATE INQUIRY EXPOSES AUSTRALIAN ANTARCTIC DIVISION IN TURMOIL&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23260"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23261,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23260\/revisions\/23261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}