Chief Scientist: an unwelcome precedent

David Obendorf
HAVE YOU seen the advertisement for the Tasmanian Government Chief Scientist advertised this weekend?
This is, I understand, an attempt at the rebadging of Dr Hamish McCallum’s, Senior Scientist position to the Devil Facial Tumour Disease Program. Dr McCallum is leaving and his former SS position was another joint-funded State Government-UTAS employment position.

As an independent scientist, I am extremely concerned that this sort of amalgamation of the University with the State Government will further diminish the independence of science and the reputation of UTAS as an independently-minded academic institution. It is a very unwelcome precedent and will again politicise science even more broadly that is currently the case.

Already the State Government has a far too many MOU arrangements with UTAS in various field of biological science, medical science, mineral research, IT technology, agriculture, aquaculture and forestry.

I fear this is another el supremo job that is designed to filter and ‘gate-keep’ a vast territory. The University will be further held hostage to the whims of a State Government . Let the Government employ such a person out of their own revenues, but for goodness sakes UTAS do not compromise your integrity & independence by solidifying such a compromising arrangement!

Science needs to be independent and unfettered by monied affiliations between the Tasmanian State Government and the state’s only tertiary institution, The University of Tasmania. It does the reputation of the latter organisation no service.