Following the announcement of the CSIRO’s climate research centre, Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel appeared on the ABC programme The World Today to discuss the new centre to be based in Hobart.

You can read the transcript below, or read it on the ABC’s website.

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26 April, 2016

KIM LANDERS: Just months after announcing hundreds of controversial job cuts, the CSIRO has confirmed it’ll set up a new centre for climate research in Hobart.

It’ll employ 40 full time scientists and will report directly to the federal government.

But the CSIRO has also confirmed that it’s pressing ahead with plans to cull 275 staff from the national science agency.

Penny Timms reports.

PENNY TIMMS: The focus of the proposed Climate Science Centre in Hobart will be climate modelling, and its scientists will report that information back to government.

Doctor Larry Marshall is the CSIRO’s chief executive.

LARRY MARSHALL: The direction of the centre will be coordinated by an independent national advisory group, and again, that group’s focus will be mapping the entire system, not just CSIRO.

But the notion will be for this centre to be the hub, if you like, to help coordinate all of the great work done across the nation.

PENNY TIMMS: The centre will be the hub for a global network of scientists and researchers, and it will work in collaboration with universities and the weather bureaus for Australia and the United Kingdom.

In addition, the centre will support 40 full time jobs, guaranteed for 10 years.

Though, that’s a bitter-sweet deal, with around 275 jobs to be slashed from the organisation nationally.

LARRY MARSHALL: Initially we planned to reduce about half of our measurement and modelling capabilities. So there’s 140 people in measurement and modelling, we planned to reduce that by about 65.

This change is, we’re only reducing that by about 30 people.

PENNY TIMMS: Why invest the money in setting up something new rather than continuing on and allowing those people to hold onto their jobs?

LARRY MARSHALL: Well we are largely transferring people that we already have, so we are trying to let them to hold onto their jobs.

There was another proposal which was to transfer the capability out of CSIRO and into the Bureau of Meteorology, that would have been a more expensive approach.

PENNY TIMMS: In a leaked email to staff, Dr Marshall says jobs will be cut in the divisions of minerals, land and water, agriculture, manufacturing, oceans and atmosphere and food and nutrition.

Sam Popovski is the secretary of the CSIRO Staff Association.

SAM POPOVSKI: Well, CSIRO’s lost one in five jobs, that’s around 1,400 jobs in the last two years, so any further job cuts, we believe, are not in the nation’s interest.

So although we welcome the revised proposal of 75 less jobs being cut, we would clearly say that the science that the CSIRO performs is incredibly important to Australia and that we should try to retain every job in the current environment.

PENNY TIMMS: The group will meet with the CSIRO in the coming days to discuss the planned centre and job cuts.

Australia’s Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel, says the proposed project signifies the importance of climate research and it also addresses concerns about job cuts.

ALAN FINKEL: Things were a little bit rockier than we’d hoped for. After the reorganisation announcement, there was a lot of objections voiced, as you’re very well aware. As a result of that, the CSIRO has done a lot of reconsideration.

It has consulted, and I have helped facilitate with those consultations, with the Bureau of Meteorology, with the university climate researchers and leadership, and with centres of excellence, Antarctic divisions.

And I think as a result of those consultations has seen a better way forward. Not just a better way forward but in absolute terms, a good way forward through this climate science centre.

PENNY TIMMS: Dr Finkel is confident the CSIRO will be staffed adequately, even once the job cuts come into effect.

ALAN FINKEL: My understanding is that the CSIRO, after its reorganisation, and prior to that as well, will have a very strong commitment to adaptation and mitigation research, which is important because climate change is a reality and we need to make sure we can do the best we can to both adapt and avoid.

But in order to do that effectively, the adaptation mitigation research needs to be extremely well informed by the modelling and projections and that is what this new climate science centre will enable.

PENNY TIMMS: Though, it’s unclear how long it will take for the climate science centre to come to fruition. It’s also not obvious how much the centre will cost to set up or operate.

The CSIRO’s Dr Marshall again.

LARRY MARSHALL: Well so 40 dedicated scientists will cost us a little over $6 million a year. So that’s about a $60 million commitment over the decade and obviously we’ll go well beyond that. But that’s just the cost of the people.

There’s also the cost of the infrastructure. But again, these costs go into that considerably more, you know, more, I couldn’t give you an exact number.

PENNY TIMMS: Dr Marshall says the Tasmanian Government has given a verbal commitment to help support the centre, though it’s not yet clear if that will be in the form of actual or in-kind support.

KIM LANDERS: Penny Timms reporting.