Views of the Chief Scientist: A Tale of Two Partisans -- Senator Brown vs Science Minister Peter McGauran. (August 5, 2004)

    The two following media releases require no explanation:

Chief Scientist must go - Brown  [Media Release, Green's Senator from Tasmania Bob Brown]
 

Thursday, 5 August 2004

The Senate inquiry's finding that the Chief Scientist, Dr Robin Batterham, has a 'clear conflict of public and private duties' arising from his dual part-time roles means he should vacate the role, Greens Senator Bob Brown said today.

The report of the Senate Employment, Workplace Relations and Education References Committee inquiry into the Office of the Chief Scientist was tabled in the Senate today.

It also found that Dr Batterham used 'unpublished and unverified data supplied by Rio Tinto in a meeting of Commonwealth and state energy ministers, and failed to declare the source of the information', contributing to a perception of a conflict of interest which risks eroding public confidence in the independence of his advice.

"The Senate inquiry has confirmed that Dr Batterham has conflicting duties and that his circumstances 'fall squarely within any mainstream definition of conflict of interest'," Senator Brown said.

"The Australian Public Service guidelines, with which Dr Batterham must comply under his contract, require employees to 'take reasonable steps to avoid' conflicts of interest.

"Reasonable steps in this case would include operating entirely separate offices for the two roles, and refraining from advising on issues of central and specific concern to mining and energy company Rio Tinto. These steps were not taken and not required by the Minister.

"Dr Batterham operates as Chief Scientist from his Rio Tinto office in Melbourne and frequently advises government on energy policy and specifically the merits of the highly controversial 'zero emissions' coal concept.

"Dr Batterham also participates in decision-making as a member of the Cooperative Research Committee on the basis of a statement from Rio Tinto that a 'firewall' is in place, but no evidence was provided as to how the firewall operates in practice or if it even exists.

"Dr Batterham's situation is untenable and he must resign one of his two jobs," said Senator Brown.

CHIEF SCIENTIST INQUIRY A NON-EVENT [Media Release, Federal Minister for Science Peter McGauran]

August 5th 2004

The Senate Inquiry into the Office of the Chief Scientist has confirmed the Government’s confidence in the standing and integrity of Robin Batterham, and his performance as Chief Scientist.

“Despite intensive investigation, the Inquiry has produced nothing new. The Report serves only to confirm that there is no actual conflict arising from the part-time appointment of the Chief Scientist,” Australian Government Science Minister Peter McGauran said.

The Inquiry’s Report states:
    • “There was no evidence that Dr Batterham had behaved inappropriately or improperly as Chief Scientist”

    • “At no time during the inquiry was Dr Batterham’s character or his professional conduct questioned in the performance of his duties as Chief Scientist”

    • “this inquiry has not questioned Dr Batterham’s standing in Australia and overseas as a highly respected research scientist”

In a submission to the Inquiry on behalf of some 60,000 Australian Scientists, Bradley Smith, Executive Director of the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS), stated “... Chief Scientist is always faced with a potential conflict of interest, irrespective of whether they are full-time or part-time.”

“As well as the predetermined views of the Chief Scientist held by Greens Senator Bob Brown and Labor Senator Kim Carr, the Inquiry also relied heavily upon evidence presented by Greenpeace, the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), Greens staffers and the World Wide Fund for Nature,” Minister McGauran said.

“Even with the backing of such overwhelming ideological opposition to the Chief Scientist, the Inquiry still could not manage to discredit the performance of Dr Batterham.

‘It seems that the only way to satisfy the Greens would be to abolish the position of Chief Scientist altogether, and rely on the hysterical views of extreme environmentalists,” Minister McGauran concluded

Recommendations
 

Recommendation 1
The committee recommends that the conflict of interest guidelines included in the Australian Public Service Code of Conduct should be reviewed to ensure that the broader conflict of interest concepts examined in this report can be addressed more transparently and rigorously.
 

Recommendation 2
The committee recommends that in view of the responsibility and potential workload attached to the Office of the Chief Scientist, and in the light of the potential for conflict of interest associated in particular with a part-time Chief Scientist, the position of the Chief Scientist should be full time.
 

Recommendation 3
The committee recommends that guidelines, codes of conduct and procedures on dealing with potential and actual conflicts of interest, applying to holders of public office in the Australian Government, should be similar and consistent across all government agencies and bodies.
 

Recommendation 4
The committee recommends that the position of Chief Scientist should be appointed under public service conditions. In doing so, it also recognises the public education role of this position, and the possibility, given that science and scientific research is contestable, that the occupant of the position may express controversial views. The terms of the appointment should be such that the Office of the Chief Scientist will be subject to public accountability equivalent to that applying to other senior public servants.

Note, However, that the Government Senators' supplementary statement says in part:

Part-time Chief Scientist is the best option
Government senators support the current arrangement of a part-time Chief Scientist employed under a contract with the Minister for Science. Dr Batterham has demonstrated that a part-time Chief Scientist can make a high level contribution by remaining well connected with the science, technology and business communities. Government senators support the view of Professor Peter Andrews, Queensland Chief Scientist, that Dr Batterham has been able to use his experience and linkages to promote the importance of science and innovation to both government and industry. There is no evidence to show that a full-time position would translate into more practical and tangible benefits either for government or the science community.

Committee's full report (72 pages)