There doesn't seem to be one now, with all the funding cuts to the CSIRO it's clear the govt has little regard for science, innovation and training...
CSIRO says budget cuts will hold back money-making innovations
Cuts to the CSIRO will have long-term and detrimental effects on Australia's ability to innovate and form partnerships with leading companies, it has warned.
As the country's peak science organisation, the CSIRO generated $37.5 million in licence fees and royalties last financial year and $278.5 million in 2011-12 off the back of wireless technology royalties.
Home-grown inventions developed at CSIRO range from cotton seeds to contact lenses. Much of the income is returned to its research budget.
CSIRO general manager of business development and commercialisation Jan Bingley said the organisation's capacity to generate income risked being compromised if rumoured cuts were implemented.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/csiro-says-budget-cuts-will-hold-back-moneymak...
Federal budget: Industry portfolio takes big hit
Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane's portfolio will take a $2.51 billion hit over the next four years as the government axes industry programs, claws back millions from the pullout of car makers and cuts CSIRO funding.
Eight industry programs are to be cut from January 1, saving the government $845.6 million over five years.
The worst fears of CSIRO senior management, first revealed by Fairfax Media in April, have been realised, with $111 million to be ripped from the science agency over four years, although $13.4 million will be spent on National Science Week.
Cutting the Australian Renewable Energy Agency will save $1.3 billion over five years from 2017-18 and another $459 million set aside for carbon capture and storage will be saved over three years from 2017-18.
Ending the Automotive Transformation Scheme will save $618.5 million over eight years as car makers quit Australia, while a separate $215 million allocated to Holden will also be clawed back.
A ''tools for your trade'' program set up by Labor will go, saving $914.6 million, but that saving will be offset by a $439 million trade support loans program and $155 million for a six-year fund to help Victoria and South Australia cope with the pullout of car makers
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/federal-budget-industry-portfolio-takes-big-hi...
