SCIENCE & RESEARCH LABOR S POSITIVE POLICIES WE'LL PUT PEOPLE FIRST

Transcription

1 SCIENCE & RESEARCH LABOR S POSITIVE POLICIES WE'LL PUT PEOPLE FIRST 1

2 A MESSAGE FROM BILL SHORTEN Australia s ecoomy is i trasitio, ad our future prosperity will deped o haressig the talet of our resourceful ad hardworkig people. That is why Labor has developed a pla for sciece ad research that elists our best ad brightest whatever their backgroud to the atioal project of keepig Australia at the forefrot of discovery ad iovatio. Research ad iovatio is fudametally about people. No extraordiary machies or astoishig discoveries ca be made without a skilled ad well-traied workforce. We caot be a iovatio atio without also beig a educatio atio. Labor s pla for sciece ad research will be uderpied by our ivestmets i schools, uiversities ad vocatioal educatio. We will deliver eeds-based fudig to every school i Australia; provide a Studet Fudig Guaratee to uiversities istead of forcig youg Australias to pay $100,000 for their degrees; ad protect the role of TAFE as the cetral public provider of vocatioal skills ad traiig. Sciece, research ad iovatio will be at the cetre of the ageda for a Shorte Labor Govermet. Our ivestmets will help grow the ew idustries that will drive Australia s ecoomy i the future, creatig more good jobs today ad for our kids i the years to come. O July 2, Australias will have a choice betwee Labor s positive pla to drive a iovatio atio, ad the Liberals itetio to iflict aother roud of destructive cuts to sciece, research ad higher educatio all so Malcolm Turbull ca give a tax cut to big busiess. I govermet, Labor delivered the framework for Australia s comprehesive iovatio policy eshried i a te-year iovatio ageda. Uder our leadership, fudig for sciece, research ad iovatio grew by 50 per cet to over $10 billio i , icludig record levels of fudig for the CSIRO. The Liberals have take us backwards with their attacks o sciece ad research, but I kow we ca get back o track. Labor s pla is the right oe for Australia, ad for a better future. I ivite you to read more about Labor s positive policies at Bill Shorte 2

3 SAVING CSIRO For 100 years CSIRO has bee a world leader i scietific discoveries ad iovatio from the ivetio of Aerogard ad polymer bakotes, to the developmet of 100 varieties of cotto ad the ivetio of Wi-Fi. But Australia s flagship sciece agecy has suffered uder the Abbott-Turbull Govermet, which has opely questioed the public beefit of sciece, the sciece of climate chage ad attacked reewable eergy istead of ivestig i it. Labor believes we caot grow the jobs of the future without strog ivestmet i sciece. A properly-resourced, idepedet CSIRO is essetial for buildig a smarter, fairer Australia. That is why we will restore CSIRO s capacity to help drive the atioal sciece, research ad iovatio ageda. THE LIBERALS ATTACK ON CSIRO I the ufair 2014 Budget, the Abbott-Turbull Govermet slashed CSIRO s budget by $115 millio, resultig i the loss of oe i five jobs the biggest staff cut i the orgaisatio s history. The Liberals also cut $84 millio out of Natioal ICT Australia (NICTA) whe they forcibly merged it ito CSIRO as Data61. Eve after realisig the short-sightedess of this decisio, the Liberals retured oly aroud half of that fudig i their Natioal Iovatio ad Sciece Ageda pla. The impact of these Liberal cuts cotiues to buffet the sciece agecy. CSIRO ow plas to cut well over 300 additioal jobs from across the orgaisatio, icludig the Oceas ad Atmosphere, Lad ad Water, Agriculture, Maufacturig, Mierals, Food ad Nutritio ad Data61 divisios. This icludes the loss of up to 100 climate scietists, whose world-leadig research has bee so critical to our uderstadig of climate chage ad its effects both i Australia ad aroud the globe. LABOR S PLAN TO REBUILD CSIRO The extesive job cuts uder the Abbott-Turbull Govermet have weakeed the orgaisatio ad put at risk its capacity to do high quality, public good research. A Shorte Labor Govermet will provide CSIRO with a fudig boost of $249 millio over four years, which will reverse the Abbott-Turbull cuts ad provide a additioal ivestmet to secure the orgaisatio s research capability i the years to come. This ivestmet will support CSIRO to operate essetial atioal research facilities that are curretly threateed with closure, such as the The Dish at Parkes ad to make full use of uder-utilised research capabilities like the RV Ivestigator. Additioally, Labor will protect the future of the Great Barrier Reef by ivestig $50 millio i CSIRO to coduct essetial climate ad reef research. ENSURING CSIRO S FUTURE The scale of the job losses at CSIRO is reachig crisis poit, which is why Labor has aouced we will ot allow the latest roud of over 300 cuts to go ahead. The Sciece Miister has the capacity to direct the CSIRO board o key issues of its operatio that affect the atioal iterest, ad we believe these cuts are so serious as to trigger the use of this power. Give Labor s itet to stop these cuts, we have called o the Turbull Govermet to put them o hold util after the electio. This will prevet further damage to CSIRO s reputatio ad the morale of its hard-workig scietists. The curret crisis withi CSIRO has also raised serious questios about its goverace ad ability to operate idepedetly of govermet. Labor will address this by commissioig a idepedet review of CSIRO s structure, maagemet ad fuctios. It has bee almost 30 years sice CSIRO has had such a review, ad Labor believes it is time to moderise CSIRO s maagemet ad cosultatio processes. 3

4 SCIENCE EDUCATION Iteratioal research suggests that 75 per cet of the fastest growig occupatios ow require skills i the fields of sciece, techology, egieerig ad mathematics (STEM). Employmet i STEM occupatios is projected to grow at almost twice the pace of other occupatios. The Australia Idustry Group has idetified the shortage of STEM graduates as a major challege for busiess. I 2014 the former Chief Scietist, Professor Ia Chubb urged the Federal Govermet to support the atioal iterest by maitaiig the pipelie of STEM graduates, ad icrease the recogitio of STEM educatio ad careers as a public good. He called for mechaisms to ecourage studet uptake ito STEM courses, with particular regard to presetly less popular core STEM courses ad subjects. That call fell o deaf ears uder the Liberals, but Labor has paid attetio ad will act. SCIENCE TEACHING The pipelie begis i schools we kow that uless studets are iterested ad egaged i STEM at a early age, they are ulikely to pursue a career i those fields. It is vital to esure that STEM teachers are equipped to teach with expertise ad ethusiasm to ecourage studets to pursue STEM subjects through to Year 12. Curretly this is t the case, with more childre droppig out of STEM subjects with every additioal year of study. May geeral sciece ad maths teachers do ot have a tertiary qualificatio i those areas. We eed to do more to support Australia s great teachers so that they ca deliver STEM courses i a way that will ispire ad egage youg Australias. Labor has a two-part pla to upskill teachers as a urget priority, ad create a pipelie of future STEM qualified teachers to joi the teachig raks. Labor will establish a five-year STEM teacher traiig fud that will support 5,000 primary ad secodary teachers a year to udertake professioal developmet i STEM disciplies, icludig codig ad programmig. The scheme will upskill aroud 25,000 existig STEM teachers i primary ad secodary educatio, takig their ew skills straight to the classroom. Labor will work with teachig bodies, TAFEs ad State ad Territory govermets to develop criteria for access to the scheme, ad the eligible courses ad uses of the grats. We will ivest $127 millio i reskillig teachers over four years, kickig off i the 2017 school year. Labor will also provide 25,000 teachig scholarships over five years to ew ad recet graduates of STEM degrees to ecourage them to cotiue their study ad become a STEM teacher. Our Teach STEM iitiative will provide a icetive paymet to attract more STEM graduates to become teachers. Studets that have just completed a STEM degree, or graduated withi five years, will be able apply for the icetive paymets. The paymet of $15,000 will be structured so that $5,000 is paid upo commecemet of the course of study, with the remaiig paid after their first year i the classroom. STEM AWARD DEGREES Labor will offer 20,000 STEM Award Degrees a year for five years. Upo graduatio, the etire HECS-HELP debt will be writte off, meaig these studets ca graduate debt free. This fiacial icetive for studets to complete a STEM udergraduate degree recogises the sigificat public beefit of growig Australia s STEM capacity. At preset, a average sciece graduate will take eight years to pay off the $44,000 HECS debt they leave uiversity with. A Shorte Labor Govermet will give the ext geeratio of Australias a icetive to udertake STEM degrees ad offer them a head start i their workig life, free of studet debt. This policy will take effect i the 2017 school year, ad is costed at $45 millio over the ext four years. 4

5 GIRLS IN SCIENCE At uiversity, wome remai uder-represeted i may STEM courses just 20 per cet of erolmets i egieerig, for istace ad this uder-represetatio feeds ito the workforce. I 2008, the participatio of wome i sciece, techology ad egieerig jobs was 45.1 per cet, represetig a icrease of just 2.8 per cet sice Sice 2001, the rate of wome erollig i a IT degree has actually falle from about oe i four to just oe i 10. Curretly oly 28 per cet of workers i the ICT sector are wome; ad oly oe i five tech etrepreeurs are wome. Labor s STEM HECS write-off will target wome ad other uder-represeted groups, but like other aspects of this pipelie challege, a comprehesive approach must iclude a focus o school-level egagemet. Labor will lauch Girls ito Code a $4.5 millio grats program to support orgaisatios that promote, ecourage ad ispire girls to lear code. The program will facilitate metorig ad access to role models, coect codig programs to schools, ad create opportuities for girls to build up their cofidece ad showcase their talet i codig ad ICT skills. CODING IN SCHOOLS Additioally, Labor will ivest $9 millio to establish a Natioal Codig i Schools cetre (NCIS) so teachers i Australia have the opportuity to develop their skills, ad every studet ca have access to excitig ways to lear codig. NCIS will collaborate ad lik with idustry ad experts to develop the materials ad cotet to support codig i schools. This will also boost the umber of girls egaged from a early age i codig. To esure teachers ad studets beefit from cuttig-edge virtual programs that set studets up for success at school ad i the workplace NCIS will: Develop ad promote iovative teachig of codig i our schools; esurig teachers i every school ca access practical hads o traiig i codig ad its itegratio ito the classroom. Parter with busiess ad idustry leaders to coect them with the teachig of codig i schools to help establish a culture of iovatio ad creativity while equippig studets with the skills that will be i demad i the future, icludig hads-o experiece. Provide ogoig egagemet with teachers across the coutry, to support the itegratio of codig ito their teachig with cofidece. A MORE ACCESSIBLE QUESTACON Questaco is Australia s premier sciece museum, caterig for the geeral public with a emphasis o sciece educatio for the youg ad very youg. Govermet fudig costitutes 55 per cet of Questaco s aual operatig reveue, the rest comig from ticket sales, retail sales, exhibitio hire ad sposorship. Labor is cocered that the high curret admissio prices $23.50 for adults ad $17.50 for childre preset a ufair barrier to learig about sciece to may i our commuity. This is ot oly a matter of social equity, but also a impedimet to haressig our etire atioal talet. Labor will provide $14.8 millio to allow Questaco to reduce prices by $7.50 per ticket, without ay loss of service. This will brig the price of admissio dow to $16 for adults ad $10 for childre. 5

6 RESTORING UNIVERSITY RESEARCH The Abbott-Turbull Govermet has used uiversity resourcig as a piggy bak, makig massive cuts to the teachig ad learig budget, cuttig equity programs ad slashig schemes to improve the quality of teachig ad learig. Labor is committed to restorig fudig i the teachig program, but this is oly part of the picture. The Liberals have pludered research block grats by reducig fudig to research studets ad strippig support for the idirect costs of research. They have attempted to charge fees for postgraduate research study, a measure that Labor has blocked ad will ot proceed with i govermet. They have allowed successful collaboratio programs to laguish, failig to recogise the value of developig research expertise i less research itesive uiversities, i idustry ad i the public ad commuity sectors. This damage will take some time to repair. Over the medium-term, Labor will pursue two objectives for research fudig: to esure uiversity fudig adequately reflects the full cost of research, ad to maitai globally competitive success rates i grat fudig. Labor will make a positive cotributio to these objectives i the short-term, by idetifyig areas of eed ad makig a start o fixig the Liberals mess. RESEARCH TRAINING FOR THE FUTURE The Turbull Govermet wats to hike up studet fees for PhD ad research Masters studets to make up for slashig the Research Traiig Scheme. This is yet aother attack o higher educatio from a Govermet that has prove by its actios that it is determied to make it harder for middle ad workig-class Australias to go to uiversity. Other tha iteratioal recruitmet, supportig studets through higher degrees by research is the sole pathway to supply the scietists ad academics that we eed to coduct cuttig-edge research ad to teach the uiversity studets of the future. Equally importat is the role that graduates with research higher degrees play i idustry, across the private, public ad commuity sectors. The importace of research-qualified workers will oly icrease as techological advaces cotiue to ope up opportuities ad preset challeges that demad high-tech skills ad advaced kowledge. Labor will ot proceed with this ufair pla because we believe higher educatio should be accessible to all, regardless of their icome. This is a basic matter of equity, but it is also smart policy. Australia eeds more, ot fewer, youg people pursuig advaced degrees to drive iovatio. Labor s ivestmet of $182 millio over the ext four years will uderpi our curret ad future success as a kowledge-itesive advaced ecoomy. 6

7 SUSTAINABLE RESEARCH FOR THE FUTURE I recet years, Australia uiversities have bee forced to cross-subsidise essetial research costs from other sources, icludig domestic ad iteratioal teachig ad learig reveues, as the full costs of research outstrip covetioal research reveues, icludig block grats ad direct competitive project grats. I govermet, Labor acted to reduce these pressures by itroducig the Sustaiable Research Excellece (SRE) program, desiged to help meet the idirect costs of research ad thereby relieve pressure o other reveue sources. The Abbott-Turbull Govermet has cut the program s fudig by over $250 millio over the period , with ogoig ramificatios beyod this period. While the reductio did ot discotiue the scheme, it reduced its effectiveess to a dagerous level. This regressive step reimposed impossible pressures o research budgets, with the kock-o effect of reitroducig a uacceptable level of risk to other aspects of uiversity operatios. The Liberals clearly ited to force uiversities to make up the differece by trasferrig the Federal Govermet s resposibility to udergraduate studets uder their miscoceived fee deregulatio ageda, despite the fact that it had already bee rejected by the Seate ad the Australia public. Labor will reverse the Abbott-Turbull Govermet s cut to the Sustaiable Research Excellece scheme. This will assist uiversities to fulfil their missio to the quality the commuity expects ad Australia eeds, to cotiue to improve their iteratioal stadig, ad to apply appropriate levels of teachig reveues to teachig ad learig activities. By relievig usustaiable pressure o uiversity research budgets, this measure supports Labor s pla for sustaiable fudig for uiversity teachig ad learig, ad reduces the sector s exposure to volatile iteratioal studet markets ad the Australia dollar exchage rate. COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH NETWORKS Australia s regioal ad outer metropolita uiversities do great research, but too ofte they lack the critical mass ad established research etworks to make the most of their discoveries. The Collaborative Research Networks (CRN) program established uder the former Labor Govermet showed that coectig these uiversities to their research-itesive couterparts helps to ope ew doors for regioal researchers ad places all Australia sciece i a stroger ad more effective positio. Workig with larger uiversities that have a depth of research excellece eables a less research-itesive uiversity to access ew kowledge, facilities ad etworks. A Shorte Labor Govermet will ivest $85 millio over six years to deliver two ew rouds of CRN, so that regioal, outer-metropolita ad o-research-itesive uiversities get a fair go whe it comes to research fudig. The program will fud collaborative research projects that aim to boost research capability i regioal, outer-metropolita ad smaller metropolita uiversities ad help them build research parterships with more established, research-itesive istitutios. We kow this program works. The Regioal Uiversities Network has described the program as trasformatioal for regioal uiversities which drive regioal iovatio ad are ofte the backboe of local ecoomies. CRN has proved to be a cost-effective way to achieve oe of the key priorities i research policy boostig collaboratio betwee uiversities, ad with iteratioal couterparts ad ed-users. Labor s policy will deliver more opportuity for PhD studets ad researchers i regioal ad outer-metropolita uiversities to build their skills ad etworks, ad to udertake excellet research that addresses local ad regioal eeds. The CRN iitiative complemets Labor s $16 millio Regioal Iovatio Fud, which will support etrepreeurship ad start ups through the establishmet of accelerators, icubators ad iovatio hubs i regioal Australia. 7

8 RESEARCH AND INDUSTRY Labor has always uderstood that research is critical to sustaiig moder idustries, growig ew idustries, ad trasitioig to the jobs of the future. We kow that a systems approach, seekig to build cultural chage ad trasform every firm, provides the best security for log-term job creatio. Sciece ad research ca help busiesses develop ew ideas, ew techology, ew markets ad ew jobs. That s why the previous Labor Govermet ivested i a targeted suite of measures aimed at deliverig agaist our Natioal Iovatio Priorities, as outlied i the 2009 Natioal Iovatio Strategy, Powerig Ideas. Oe of these priorities was that the iovatio system ecourages a culture of collaboratio withi the research sector ad betwee researchers ad idustry. Labor effectively delivered o this priority with programs that worked icludig uiversity-based Collaborative Research Networks, the Idustrial Trasformatio Research Program, Researchers i Busiess, Eterprise Coect, Commercialisatio Australia ad more. Buildig a culture of collaboratio takes time, but Labor s approach was workig. More uiversities were comig together to collaborate o research, while busiesses were learig the capabilities ad value that Australia sciece ad research has to offer. This progress was udermied by savage cuts imposed by the Abbott-Turbull Liberals ever sice their 2014 Budget. Labor is determied to udo this damage to the collaboratios betwee idustry ad research by restorig prove measures. COOPERATIVE RESEARCH CENTRES Labor established the Cooperative Research Cetre (CRC) program i Sice the, 211 CRCs have bee fuded, with the Federal Govermet committig more tha $4 billio over 26 years. CRC participats research orgaisatios ad ed-users have committed a further $12.3 billio i cash ad i-kid cotributios. The CRC program has a global reputatio as oe of the most successful mechaisms for brigig researchers ad ed-users together to build sustaied collaboratios that deliver sigificat real world impacts. Yet the Abbott-Turbull Govermet has badly mismaaged the program, strippig it of $107 millio, cacellig ad delayig rouds, removig public beefit from the assessmet criteria ad applyig a arbitrary maximum te-year lifespa o eve our most successful CRCs. A Shorte Labor Govermet will ivest $180 millio over te years $39 millio over the ext four years to deliver two additioal CRC rouds. This fudig will be sufficiet to support six ew CRCs for te years each, buildig kowledge ad skills for the jobs of the future. Labor will also restore the public beefit criteria for the CRC program, which will eable CRCs to be established with o-commercial ed-user parters, such as public health orgaisatios ad atioal security agecies. I additio, we will remove the arbitrary 10-year limit o fudig to esure that the best CRCs ca be supported, regardless of their age. This iitiative will support a program that has demostrated success i buildig collaboratio betwee researchers ad ed-users sice it was established uder the Hawke Govermet 26 years ago. 8

9 INDUSTRIAL TRANSFORMATION RESEARCH HUBS I govermet, Labor established the Idustrial Trasformatio Research Hubs (ITRH) program to brig researchers ad idustry together to desig ad egieer commercially ad techically viable solutios to some of our most pressig idustrial problems. The ITRH supports collaboratios of up to five years betwee uiversity researchers ad ed-users to udertake cuttig edge research o ew techologies ad ecoomic ad social trasformatio. The ITRH program has bee successful ad has the potetial to grow ad support trasitio ad moderisatio across a wider rage of idustries. However, the curret limited fudig is discouragig idustry parters from participatig i the developmet of future project proposals, with the umber of proposals received by the Australia Research Coucil fallig i To address this, Labor will ivest $24 millio to boost the Idustrial Trasformatio Research Program, to support at least four additioal collaborative research projects each year for five years. This will esure Australia idustries ca take advatage of ew opportuities, ad that ew idustries ca emerge through the applicatio of the excellet research produced by Australia uiversities. AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE FOR BIOSECURITY Maitaiig a strog biosecurity system is critical to esurig the log-term health of Australia s agricultural sector, aimal idustries ad atural eviromet. Australia has a strog record i biosecurity sciece ad research, ad it is vital that we maitai ad build o this capability to meet future challeges. I 2014/15, plat ad aimal productio i Australia was worth more tha $53 billio ad supported the employmet of aroud 280,000 people. Australia s competitive advatage i the food sector relies heavily o our reputatio as a provider of clea, gree, safe ad high quality produce. Protectig that reputatio is a importat ecoomic priority, as is addressig the cost to farmers ad graziers of tacklig ivasive weeds, aimal pests ad plat diseases. Lost agricultural productivity ad the cost of cotrol measures for pest aimals ad weeds aloe curretly represet a $5 billio a year hit to the ecoomy. Hudreds of ative wildlife species are at risk of extictio ad whole ecosystems are threateed whe ivasive species such as cae toads, pigs, cats, rabbits, dogs ad Europea carp gai a foothold i Australia. Further, the risk of social impacts of biosecurity failures such as threats to huma health will oly icrease, as climate chage ad globalisatio expose more people ad idustries to imported pests ad diseases. Australia s biosecurity challeges ca oly be addressed through strog biosecurity research coordiatio. Yet fudig for the Ivasive Aimals CRC ad the Plat Biosecurity CRC is due to expire withi two years, with o eligibility for reewal, ad the Abbott-Turbull Govermet has doe othig. A Shorte Labor Govermet will establish a permaet Australia Istitute for Biosecurity to maage the challeges of pest aimals, weeds ad plat disease icursios o the lad ad i our waterways ad oceas. The Istitute s primary role will be to maitai ad build o the existig etwork of research ad idustry parters across plat, aimal, aquaculture ad marie biosecurity, while securig critical research programs that are deliverig real beefits o the groud. The Istitute will work closely with leadig uiversity scietists, biosecurity researchers ad idustry. It will also work with the CSIRO s world-reowed Australia Aimal Health Laboratory where there is crossover with aimal disease threats. It will also esure that farmers, ecosystem maagers ad other ed-users are fully egaged i establishig research priorities, participatig i research, ad feedig their kowledge back through extesio activities, boostig their competitiveess ad local jobs. Local commuities will be egaged i citize sciece, icludig measurig ad moitorig icursios ad outcomes. 9

10 STARTUP YEAR Australia startups are crucial to buildig the jobs of the future. The Australia tech startup sector has the potetial to cotribute 540,000 ew jobs i the ext two decades. Labor will boost Australia s youg aspirig etrepreeurial talet by providig icome cotiget loas to studets to support their participatio i uiversity accelerators or similar icubators ru by successful etrepreeurs. Startup loas will be offered to 2,000 studets ad ew graduates each year that wat to establish a startup withi a uiversity-based (or similar) accelerator. The loa will cover the cost of the support provided to them by a accredited accelerator program ad accredited o-award programs ad iitiatives, up to the maximum aual studet cotributio level uder the HECS system. Deliverig ew startup loas through the existig HECS system will offer fial year studets ad ew graduates the optio of takig a additioal busiess-focused year so they ca develop their iovative startup ideas. It aims to ecourage systemic chage at uiversities through supportig the developmet of uiversity accelerators ad icubators. Over time this may assist i supportig more parterships with well-established ad leadig facilities such as Tak Stream Labs, Blue Chilli, Fishburers, ATPi ad equivalets aroud the coutry. This program will drive a competitive market as educatio istitutios seek ad develop the best talet ad draw i private sector metors ad ivestors. This will improve collaboratio betwee uiversities ad the ivestmet ad techology sectors ad stregthe Australia s etrepreeurial ecosystems. 10

11 PROTECTING OUR PRECIOUS MARINE ENVIRONMENT Australia is the world s largest marie atio, with our waters extedig from the tropics to the Atarctic coast. The eormous diversity of our marie eviromets icludes delicate coral reefs, deep udersea cayos ad polar ice shelves. These worlds host astoishig atural ecosystems, support burgeoig idustries ad ifluece our global climate i ways we have oly begu to comprehed. We are livig i the great age of marie research, ad Australia is at its cetre. MAINTAINING THE GREAT BARRIER REEF Labor recogises the evirometal, social ad ecoomic importace of the Great Barrier Reef to curret ad future geeratios of Australias. We also recogise that this icredible atural woder is a delicate ecosystem that eeds careful study, maagemet, ivestmet ad preservatio. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef ecosystem o earth ad oe of the best kow marie areas i the world. The Reef attracts more tha two millio visitors each year, cotributes $5.7 billio to the ecoomy, ad supports approximately 70,000 jobs. But the Reef is i trouble. Sice 1985, there has bee a 50 per cet loss i hard coral cover across the Reef, as it has bee impacted by multiple pressures such as climate chage, poor water quality (utriets, sedimets ad pesticides), coastal developmet, extreme weather evets, icludig freshwater iudatio, ocea acidificatio ad outbreaks of crow-of-thors-starfish. To seriously address all the pressures beig faced by this great atural woder, we eed a log-term, well-coordiated ad well-resourced strategy. Labor s pla for the Great Barrier Reef will be supported by a fud of $500 millio over five years, represetig a dow paymet o Labor s commitmet to protect this great atioal treasure ad the idustries ad jobs it supports. Labor uderstads that i order to protect ad sustai the Reef, ad protect the 70,000 jobs it supports, we eed to expad our kowledge of the Reef ad the evirometal ad climate processes that pose sigificat threats to its viability. The sciece ad research pillar of our pla will cosist of two compoets: A $50 millio targeted fudig boost to CSIRO to coduct Reef-specific sciece, icludig climate research. Up to $50 millio for Reef research, to be allocated through a merit-based process betwee Australia s Great Barrier Reef researchers at istitutes such as the Uiversity of Queeslad, the Australia Istitute of Marie Sciece, the Bureau of Meteorology, James Cook Uiversity ad others. 11

12 NEW AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE RESEARCH VESSEL The Australia Istitute of Marie Sciece (AIMS) is a global leader i tropical marie sciece with strog atioal ad iteratioal research liks. The Istitute has highly developed research capabilities i marie biodiversity ad its use, impacts ad adaptatio to climate chage, water quality ad ecosystem health. I particular, its ogoig discoveries i marie microbiology are providig ew isights ito how marie life adapts to evirometal chage. AIMS curretly has two research vessels the RV Solader ad the RV Cape Ferguso which were built i 2007 ad 2000 respectively. There is substatial excess demad from Australia ad iteratioal researchers for time o these vessels, somethig which hampers our atioal research effort ito marie ad reef health, resiliece ad adaptatio. At 35 metres log ad 415 toes, the RV Solader is capable of operatig i both coastal ad cotietal waters. However there is a clear eed for a larger vessel to take over research i cotietal waters, relievig pressure o the RV Solader ad allowig it to focus o coastal research. Labor will ivest $60 millio over four years to commissio a ew research vessel for the Australia Istitute of Marie Sciece. The cotietal research carried out by this ew vessel, ad the additioal coastal research coducted by the RV Solader oce the ew vessel is operatioal, will cotribute to the preservatio ad sustaiable developmet of our uique marie eviromet. This icludes improvig our uderstadig of the Great Barrier Reef so that we ca better care for it, with sigificat beefits to the commuities ad idustries that rely o it, like tourism, fisheries ad bio-maufacturig. Our ivestmet will help Australia meet its iteratioal scietific obligatios i climate moitorig ad research, ad exted opportuities to work with ad lear from iteratioal researchers. Labor will commissio the costructio of the ew research vessel through limited teders ivolvig Australia shipyards. This will create jobs for Australia shipbuilders ad suppliers durig the buildig phase from 2017 to The ogoig operatig ad sustaiig capital fudig after delivery i will also support more local jobs while stregtheig Australia s atioal marie sciece capability. RV INVESTIGATOR I govermet, Labor commissioed a ew blue water research vessel to replace the ageig Souther Surveyor which had bee sadly eglected uder the Howard Govermet. The Marie Natioal Facility, RV Ivestigator, was delivered i 2014 but the Abbott-Turbull Govermet chose to fud it to operate for oly 180 days a year, whe it is desiged to sped 300 days a year at sea. This meas the most advaced research vessel Australia has ever see speds half the year tied up i Hobart, for wat of operatig fuds. Short-chagig the state-of-the-art RV Ivestigator is the very defiitio of a false ecoomy. As part of our ew ivestmet i CSIRO, Labor will deliver $17 millio a year to eable the RV Ivestigator to coduct critical research to support our marie ecoomy ad eviromet at sea for 300 days a year. TROPICAL MARINE AND AQUACULTURE RESEARCH Labor will cotribute $31.7 millio to drive deeper collaboratio betwee the Australia Istitute of Marie Sciece ad James Cook Uiversity, with these fuds to go towards the establishmet of JCU s $100 millio Australia Tropical Marie ad Aquaculture Cetre. This ew idustry-orieted aquaculture research ad commercialisatio facility i cetral Towsville presets a uparalleled opportuity to forge closer collaboratio betwee two of the atio s most respected marie ad aquaculture research orgaisatios, with the close egagemet of key idustry parters. Towsville is oe of the world s pre-emiet marie sciece research hubs, ad there is also a sigificat opportuity to develop the aquaculture idustry to sigificat scale i the orth to grow more local jobs. Research capability i this growig ad profitable idustry has outgrow the existig facilities at James Cook Uiversity s Towsville campus, sparkig demad for the ew Cetre. 12

13 Labor s ivestmet will leverage Towsville s sigificat scietific expertise i marie sciece ad aquaculture, helpig to grow the idustry ad deliver ew discoveries i sustaiable food productio ad marie resource maagemet. Growig the aquaculture idustry will ot oly create jobs, but also support the developmet of a more skilled workforce, the ability to trasfer kowledge ad skills to the Asia Pacific regio ad the potetial flow-o effects to educatioal ad sciece tourism. This high-profile project will see orth Queeslad s world-leadig marie ad aquaculture research project assume a cetral presece withi a ew pedestria ad tourist precict. The research facility will ot oly take our research capacity to the ext level to the beefit of evirometal, fisheries ad biological research but will also costitute a livig sciece experiece for tourists, school childre ad the geeral public. The Australia Tropical Marie ad Aquaculture Cetre is part of the same master pla for the revitalisatio of cetral Towsville as the ew Towsville Stadium, to which Labor has committed $100 millio i partership with the Queeslad Labor Govermet. The Cetre will itegrate with the stadium ad other tow plaig elemets to completely reshape the cetre of the capital of the orth. 13

14 LIBERAL CUTS HAVE HURT SCIENCE AND RESEARCH Uder the Liberals, Australia s sciece ad research sector has bee pluged ito crisis. Hudreds of top researchers have fled offshore, some due to job losses ad others due to the Abbott-Turbull Govermet s outright hostility. Major sciece ad research parter orgaisatios aroud the world have respoded with alarm at our wilful abdicatio of our iteratioal obligatios. Taleted youg researchers have goe overseas because of the lack of opportuities ad ucertai future for sciece ad research uder the Liberals. This is the legacy of the Abbott-Turbull Govermet. Australia sciece ad research caot afford aother three years of Liberal attacks ad cuts. FUNDING CUTS Malcolm Turbull talks a big game o iovatio ad sciece, but his record tells a differet story. He supported every measure i Toy Abbott ad Joe Hockey s disastrous 2014 ad 2015 Budgets, which cut ivestmet i sciece, research ad iovatio by more tha $3 billio. His over-hyped Natioal Sciece ad Iovatio Ageda restored oly oe third of this fudig. Uder the Abbott-Turbull Govermet, fudig to Australia s sciece agecies, uiversity research ad iovatio programs was slashed across the board, icludig: $115 millio from the Commowealth Scietific ad Idustrial Research Orgaisatio. $84 millio from Natioal ICT Australia. $350 millio from the Iovatio Ivestmet Fud. $260 millio from Commercialisatio Australia. $75 millio from the Australia Research Coucil. $28 millio from the Australia Nuclear Sciece ad Techology Orgaisatio. $107 millio from Cooperative Research Cetres. $174 millio from the Research Traiig Scheme. $300 millio from Sustaiable Research Excellece for uiversities. $16 millio from Geosciece Australia. $20 millio from the Bureau of Meteorology. $120 millio from Defece Sciece ad Techology. $298 millio from Idustry Iovatio Precicts. 14

15 UNDERMINING PUBLIC CONFIDENCE The Liberals sigalled their cotempt for sciece ad research by ot eve appoitig a Sciece Miister. They lauched a aggressive assault o ew techology that did ot accord with their ideological objectives, such as alterative meas of eergy productio. Uder Turbull, the iovatio matra has bee reletless, but it is hollow you caot have a iovatio atio without vibrat sciece, research ad educatio. The Liberal Govermet has stood by while uecessary ad destructive job cuts take place at CSIRO, while it is reshaped ito a glorified cosultacy ad prepared for privatisatio. Climate scietists i particular, but scietists geerally, have bee attacked ad scored for their expert opiios by ideological ad igorat Liberal ad Natioal politicias. Humaities scholars ad social scietists have bee opely ridiculed i ways ot see sice the depths of the Howard years. Public good research has bee deigrated, eve proscribed. Public uiversities ad research istitutios costitute a itegral part of the machiery of civil society. The Liberal Govermet s uwilligess to respect expertise, to uphold academic freedom ad scietific idepedece, or to ecourage ope discussio based o evidece, costitutes a failure of democracy. Labor will restore the stadig of scietists, researchers ad scholars i the public discourse, recogisig that govermet s role i the social cotract is to esure that experts are give the space ad respect to share their iformed opiios, eve o ucomfortable matters, to guaratee that the society that sustais us all politicias, public servats ad researchers alike ca beefit from the fruits of their specialisatio. 15

16 A UNITED LABOR TEAM WILL PUT PEOPLE FIRST From the day Bill Shorte became Leader, Labor s team has remaied uited, with a sigle-mided commitmet to deliver those policies that put people first. A healthcare system uderpied by Medicare. A educatio system that gives every child i every school more idividual attetio Public, Catholic or Idepedet. Uiversity ad TAFE that is accessible for all. WE HAVE PUT FORWARD OUR POSITIVE PLANS. WE ARE UNITED. WE ARE READY. WE'LL PUT PEOPLE FIRST Prited ad authorised by G. Wright, Australia Labor Party, 5/9 Sydey Aveue, Barto ACT 2600.