Parliament House, Canberra
9.30 am, Tuesday, September 30 2008
KIM CARR: It's a great pleasure to announce the appointment of Professor Penny Sackett as Australia's new Chief Scientist. We promised at the election that we would make the position full-time and we have.
It will be great to have Professor Sackett's expertise available whenever it is needed. It will be great to have a Chief Scientist who has the time not just to advise the Government but to champion science in the community.
The Government searched internationally for someone with the special skills needed to fill this important position and we are delighted that Professor Sackett has agreed to take on the job.
She has a PhD in physics, she's a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and she is a qualified teacher. Professor Sackett is currently a Professor at the Australian National University's Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics. She starts her new job as Chief Scientist on 3 November.
Professor Sackett has a distinguished record of scientific achievement on three continents and she'll bring a valuable international perspective to the position. She will also be an important contributor to the Government's broader innovation agenda both as a scientist and as someone who understands the importance of good communication, skilled people, and sound governance to the innovation process.
Equally important will be her role as an advocate for science. Australians need to know more about the critical role science plays in improving our standard of living, increasing our personal wellbeing and tackling the big challenges such as climate change. The world needs to know more about Australia's capabilities, its achievements and its readiness to collaborate in science.
Young people need to know about what science has to offer. It is essential that we get more students doing science at school and university and more of them continuing to research and to, of course, move into teaching careers.
Australia has been blessed by its Chief Scientists. Professor Sackett will succeed Dr Jim Peacock who has made a fantastic contribution during his time in the job.
Jim's shoes were always going to be hard to fill and I know that Professor Sackett is equal to the task.
She may have started out in Lincoln, Nebraska, but she has made this entire universe her field of study and that's exactly the kind of ambition and imagination that we need in a job of this type. It's terrific to have her on board.
So, Professor Sackett.
PENNY SACKETT: Thank you. Thank you, Minister. Good morning. Today more than ever the challenges and opportunities facing Australia must be met with the assistance of science. Never has our understanding of the world been so great and the tools that we have created with that understanding been so powerful and yet, at the same time, seldom have the stakes been higher, the rate of change faster or the interdependency of our actions greater.
I believe that science has a unique and critical role in our nation's future, including generating and communicating new knowledge about the world around us and applying that knowledge and scientific thinking to tackle the big challenges ahead for Australia. Scientists can and should engage with government to inform national policy while effectively communicating with the people of Australia about the scientific issues that affect their lives.
We must compete and collaborate on the broader global stage and, very importantly, inspire and assist the nation's youth to equip themselves for our common future.
The next Chief Scientist of Australia will have the honour and the responsibility to provide independent advice to the Government on the key questions for Australia on the scientific side of the interface between science and policy; questions such as, how can we shape the nation's research effort to meet the related issues of water, climate and sustainable energy? How can we best innovate to add value beyond the primary industrial sectors? What must be done to confront health care and lifestyle issues arising from demographic shifts? And how do we reach and engage the youngest Australians to ensure that we have the scientific and technical skills that we need in this global and changing marketplace?
The solutions will require collaborating across sectors and innovating across traditional boundaries of the physical, the biological and the social sciences. No individual scientist could pretend to be an expert in all of these issues.
The title of my new post is Chief Scientist for Australia, not Chief Scientist of Australia. And so I will have many hats to wear, as a commissioner of expert studies, facilitator for innovation, a bellwether for the nation's most important scientific issues, a communicator and an ambassador and, perhaps most importantly, the Chief Scientist must be a strong and continuous advocate of evidence-based decision making.
It's an enormous honour and privilege to be given the opportunity to serve as the next Chief Scientist for Australia, a role that I am most enthusiastic and eager to undertake for the benefit of the nation.
Thank you.
QUESTION: Professor Sackett, you spoke about the need for evidence-based processes, because on climate change, scientific advice is that Australia should shoot for a target for 450 parts per million. The policy-makers and the Government, especially in the sort of economics, are advocating less ambitious targets. I'm just interested in your views as a scientist about the science of climate change and about the necessity for evidence-based responses to climate change.
PENNY SACKETT: Climate change is quite possibly the most important issue facing Australia today and, as you know, Professor Garnaut will deliver his final report later today, and I think we all owe him a debt of gratitude for providing independent advice to the Government on this issue.
Although scientists may disagree on the details the one thing we all agree on is that there is need for immediate measures to address climate change and I am sure that this is one of the issues that we will be taking up in November, when I take up the post.
QUESTION: Was it appropriate for an economist to look at this review rather than a scientist since so much, the crux of the issue, the climate change debate, is a scientific one?
PENNY SACKETT: I think climate change is clearly an issue that affects both the health and the wealth of the nation going forward, and so I think we have to call on all sectors of a society for their advice in how to move forward.
QUESTION: Ms Sackett, your position is now full-time. What do you anticipate you'll be able to do more of now than under the previous position?
PENNY SACKETT: I'm delighted that this position is full-time, because I think it recognises the importance of science to this country's agenda. And I hope that I can be a public face for science and the role that it can play, communicating with the public and I will certainly be using part of my full-time position to try and be a public advocate in a visible way for science in Australia.
QUESTION: Dr Peacock came under criticism for his role in the Gunns study, related to the Gunns pulp mill, and that was a study which he headed as independent and such. Do you see that - that role as basically coming in as a trouble-shooter on individual studies that the Government wants done on specific projects, is that a - is that going to be part of your role going forward?
PENNY SACKETT: I think it will certainly be part of my role going forward to address specific questions that Government would like addressed from a scientific and evidence-based perspective. So I certainly expect that that will be part of my role.
QUESTION: Was the criticism unfair then that perhaps it was [indistinct]?
PENNY SACKETT: I don't know the specifics of that. I haven't looked at the same evidence that Dr Peacock would have looked at in making his recommendation. But it is absolutely clear that this role is an independent one, and can only function best if it is independent.
QUESTION: [Indistinct] given that you will have a very important role in framing scientific communication and the Government's position?
PENNY SACKETT: GM is an important issue for Australia and as we make decisions going forward, it's important that we look at all of the opportunities, all of the alternatives and, most importantly, that the public has the opportunity to understand and speak to those opportunities. And I think it's only after that sort of consultative process, and looking at all the evidence, that we can make the decisions that are best for Australia.
QUESTION: Hasn't that been done already though?
PENNY SACKETT: I think it's an ongoing process, as we learn more and as our circumstances change, globally.
QUESTION: Back on climate change. It's pretty clear that the overwhelming [indistinct] as a scientist will you be pushing the Government to pursue that target? [Indistinct]
PENNY SACKETT: Again, I haven't read the final Garnaut report and so it would be premature for me to talk about specific numbers but certainly part of my role will be to find the best solution for Australia in a global context. I believe that action soon is required and I believe that this will be an issue that will not be decided once and for all but, indeed, will be under continuous review at…
QUESTION: Do some scientists balance the other competing aspect, the health of the economy [indistinct].
PENNY SACKETT: Scientists are people and I hope that one of the messages that I can bring in my role as Chief Scientist is that scientists are people and every person can be a scientist in their critical thinking. Science must play a fundamental role in this nation's solutions for climate change but it is only one of many elements that have to be taken into account.
QUESTION: Can I ask also, with the recent appointment of Dr Megan Clark as Chief Executive of the CSIRO, does this show that women are actually get to the top of the scientific community in Australia after a very long time?
PENNY SACKETT: I'm delighted that some of the top colleagues I'll be working with are women. It doesn't come as a surprise to me that women have been able to rise to some of the top positions. I've worked with the highest of calibre of scientists in this country, of both genders. I won't deny that it is a special delight, however, to see that some of my most senior colleagues will be women.
KIM CARR: Can I just add to that? We are delighted that we're able to appoint women to these top positions within the scientific community, leadership positions in the Australian community. I want to emphasise this, though, that we've made selections on the basis of the best available candidates. This is excellence in candidates.
The fact that they are women is an added bonus. And is a symbol of what we need to do in this country to get the very best out of our - the talent that's available to us. I'm delighted that Professor Sackett has taken the appointment but I want to emphasise this - she was the best candidate - the very, very best person for the job.
QUESTION: Why do you think women are so under represented in [indistinct].
PENNY SACKETT: Actually, I want to make it one of my priorities in this role to understand how young people choose their careers and to make sure that the decisions they make are based on the best evidence, frankly. And I think that it's only in understanding how young people make those decisions, and how their careers are affected as they progress that we can really answer those questions, which are vital to make sure that we're using 100 per cent of Australia's human resource as we go forward.
QUESTION: Professor, you mentioned independent advice, giving of independent advice being your job, those issues like climate change and water have huge political implications and economic implications. Are you prepared for the pressure you might come under? Are you confident you'll be able to [indistinct]?
PENNY SACKETT: In conversations that I have had with the Minister and with the Prime Minister, I'm confident that we have the same understanding about the necessity for independent advice. It is also true that that advice only forms one piece of policy-making but I have no doubt that this Government and I have the same view about the need for that advice to be independent.
KIM CARR: Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you.