Kim Carr announced in advance the fate of the Greens Bill to end ministerial power to block funding for Australian Research Council recommended research
“There might be grounds on security or criminal intelligence that requires the minister to intervene.” As a way of protecting researchers, “this bill is not politically viable” he said in a Senate committee hearing (CMM March 10).
Which is pretty much what Labor and Government members of the Senate’s Education and Employment Legislation Committee reported yesterday.
Government senators reported:“removing ministerial discretion would raise serious questions about whether the minister was fulfilling their obligations under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. It would also prevent the minister from preventing projects being funded where there are due diligence or national security concerns—both grounds that were identified as reasonable and necessary by some stakeholders, particularly as the ARC is unlikely to have access to all the information available to the minister.”
Labor members of the committee concluded: “The ministerial veto contained in the ARC Act is a mechanism to facilitate the accountability of executive government.”
But they want transparency: They recommend amending the ARC Act to require a minister to table within 15 days, “the reasons, evidence and advice” they received to veto a grant.
And a review of the “ role and governance of the ARC to ensure its independence and prevent any—real or perceived—political interference.” The senators state ARC “sensitivity files” on researchers, “do not inspire confidence.”
It could be much worse for supporters of the existing grants model. It may well be if the Coalition is returned : Government senators used the inquiry to advance the government’s commitment to research as part of industry policy. They call for an “independent review of the ARC, with a view to maximising the impact of public investment in university research and driving a strong national system of research and development. “
As for the Greens: “Politics has trumped good policy-making with both the Government and Labor refusing to concede their political power to interfere and intervene in individual research grants,” the bill’s author, NSW senator, Mehreen Faruqi reports.