A great article by Judith Sloan — thanks for posting, Dazza00....

A great article by Judith Sloan — thanks for posting, Dazza00.

50 years ago, and even more recently, CSIRO was internationally recognised, and deservedly so, as a world-class institution for scientific research and discovery. Some pockets of excellence still remain, of course, but the reputation of CSIRO as an institution has been sullied, as Sloan says — trashed, even — by conducting this third-class piece of ‘research’ to curry favours with its political masters.

If CSIRO were the great institution it once was it would acknowledge that its GenCost report and findings were matters of contention and dispute, and commit to debating its results at a public conference involving both critics and supporters of the report. Such a process would be properly ‘scientific’, exposing the issues, arguments, contrary views and most importantly, the evidence, in the interests of informing future policy development in this vital area. Is that likely to happen? No way — Bowen would put a stopper on it before it got to first base. So much for the ‘transparency’ of this government.