… AS SCIENCE HUB AND CENTRE OF ANTARCTIC RESEARCH
After a tour of the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Science (IMAS) in Battery Point, Shadow Assistant Minister for Education Amanda Rishworth and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Water, Senator Lisa Singh have warned that the Abbott Government’s attacks on research and postgraduate education will undermine Tasmania’s status as a science island and a key centre for Australia’s Antarctic strategy.
“The work that I have seen being undertaken at IMAS is groundbreaking, and involves innovative research by PhD and Masters students who will be the next generation of Antarctic experts,” Ms Rishworth.
“But Tasmania’s role as a hub for the training of future scientists and researchers is threatened by the Abbott Government’s plans to introduce fees for postgraduate courses.”
Currently the majority of Australian PhD and Masters by Research students have their fees funded under the Research Training Scheme which will be cut by $173 million under the Abbott Government’s proposed legislation, as well as allowing universities to charge up to $3,900 a year in fees.
“The introduction of fees will stop many from undertaking research degrees, which already involve years of hard work and low pay.
“Tasmania, and Australia as a whole, cannot afford to lose the talents of these postgraduates, particularly at facilities like IMAS where the future of our scientific thinking is being developed.”
In addition, comments by Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane earlier this week that some Cooperative Research Centres would be terminated while others would be folded into Industry Growth Centres cast doubt on the status of the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre (ACECRC), which partners with and is collocated at IMAS.
“How can the Government be serious about having a strategy for Australian research in the Antarctic while it floats ideas about the defunding of important research centres in the area?” asked Senator Singh.
ACECRC is a research partnership concerned with the crucial role played by Antarctica and the Southern Ocean in global climate, and the impacts of climate change on Australia and the world, informing governments, the community and scientists about climate change to guide Australia’s future.
“Labor calls on the Abbott Government, and on Eric Abetz as a senior Tasmanian Minister, to rule out any cuts to Cooperative Research Centres in Tasmania and to guarantee ongoing funding for the important work of the ACECRC.
“While the Abbott Government likes to say that it supports Tasmania as a centre for Antarctic and marine research it often fails to deliver, such as its underfunding of the new research vessel, the RV Investigator which can only undertake 180 days of operation for science rather than the 300 days per year planned.”
THE HON AMANDA RISHWORTH MP
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR EDUCATION
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR HIGHER EDUCATION
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR KINGSTON
SENATOR THE HON LISA SINGH
SHADOW PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE CHANGE AND WATER
LABOR SENATOR FOR TASMANIA
Lisa Singh, Amanda Rishworth
