The important work of CSIRO\u2019s flagship Energy Centre in Newcastle is being compromised by an arbitrary staffing cap.
\nFederal Member for Newcastle Sharon Claydon and Shadow Minister for Science, Employment and Industry Brendan O\u2019Connor met with Newcastle representatives from the CSIRO Staffing Association today to discuss the issue.
\n\u201cLabor is concerned that the Morrison Government\u2019s cap on public sector staffing numbers is hurting the CSIRO and undermining its role in advancing science and innovation,\u201d Mr O\u2019Connor said.
\n\u201cThe CSIRO staff association recently made a submission to a Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee inquiry outlining the impact of the 5,193 person cap on full time staff on Australia\u2019s scientific capability.
\n\u201cThe submission highlights reports of increased use of external contractors, which is putting a number of major projects at risk and is sidestepping secure local jobs.\u201d
\nMs Claydon said, \u201cThe Government\u2019s irrational Average Staffing Level policy has capped staff numbers at 2006\/7 numbers. This has essentially created a staffing freeze that is forcing CSIRO researchers to fill vacancies with external contractors at a premium price.
\n\u201cStaff have told me that job vacancies are being placed on hold even if projects have private external funding.
\n\u201cNot only does this mean that taxpayers are spending more to get less, this also undermines the pay and conditions of existing workers and locking a generation of\u00a0STEM graduates out of long-term scientific work.\u201d
\nMr O\u2019Connor said research and innovation like that at the CSIRO is under threat under the Morrison Government which is overseeing\u00a0an overall downward trend in R&D under their watch.
\n\u201cThis is the world-class institution that invented wifi, plastic bank notes and Aerogard, to name just a few,\u201d Mr O\u2019Connor said.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s foolish to shackle Australia\u2019s top scientists from making new important breakthroughs.
\n\u201cThe Morrison Government has no regard for scientists and this staffing cap is a clear continuation of their war on science.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The important work of CSIRO\u2019s flagship Energy Centre in Newcastle is being compromised by an arbitrary staffing cap. Federal Member for Newcastle Sharon Claydon and Shadow Minister for Science, Employment and Industry Brendan O\u2019Connor met with Newcastle representatives from the CSIRO Staffing Association today to discuss the issue. \u201cLabor is concerned that the Morrison Government\u2019s … Continue reading “GOVERNMENT STAFF CAP HURTING NEWCASTLE CSIRO”<\/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":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4441","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=4441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4441\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}