CLIMATE change scientists are campaigning to save their jobs in the lead-up to the 2 July federal election in the wake of up to 32 redundancies at the CSIRO’s research centre in Aspendale.
CSIRO Staff Association president Dr Michael Borgas says “quite a few people have been told they’re surplus to requirements” amid a restructure of the science body’s operations nationwide.
Scientists and research staff are handing out flyers to Isaacs residents as part of a Community and Public Sector Union campaign urging voters to “put the Liberals last”.
“A possible change of government would save the jobs,” Mr Borgas said.
Federal Isaacs Labor MP Mark Dreyfus, who holds the seat with a 3.9 per cent majority, said scientists around the world rely on data from the CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Centre in Aspendale to track the effects of climate change in the southern hemisphere.
“The Turnbull government’s cuts to the CSIRO look set to force this centre to close,” he said.
“The closure of this site, no doubt to lead to its sale for development, would be a disaster for Aspendale and for Australian science.
“Labor is 100 per cent opposed to these cuts to the CSIRO and Mr Turnbull’s planned closure of the Aspendale centre.”
Mr Borgas said the monitoring of an ice core from Antarctica, to track climate change, at the Aspendale laboratories is “being maintained at a lower capacity”.
“They were initially going to sack everybody … but there are still people being made redundant on the basis they’re working on that [the ice core].”
The air quality scientist said he could personally lose his job but his role as a union official means he is focused on helping his colleagues deal with redundancy.
“Myself and others that have been active are on the redundancy list and we’ll see what we do about that in due course,” Mr Borgas said.
CSIRO spokesman Huw Morgan said no decision has been made to close the Aspendale research centre in the short term but this will happen eventually due to ageing buildings.
“There has always been a plan to consolidate the Aspendale site and all our sites in Melbourne to Clayton.”
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 8 June 2016
