kingofthecastle
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Oh dear skippy and astro goose.
CSIRO and the Clive Spash controversy Recently CSIRO was in the news for allegedly suppressing the publication of a research paper that was critical of government policy on climate change. In his paper, the author, Clive Spash, basically argues that an emissions trading scheme for greenhouse gases is not a good idea. CSIRO management asked Clive to withdraw the paper after it had already been peer reviewed and accepted by a journal. The controversy made quite a splash in the media, particularly in the Australian newspaper (e.g. see here, here) and was reported around the world, with CSIRO copping a lot of flack. Reading the available material, it seems to me that the story is a bit more nuanced than came across in the media. The heart of the issue is CSIRO's Policy on Public Comment by CSIRO Staff. The policy basically says it encourages public statements by CSIRO researchers, subject to some constraints. The critical constraint in this case is "Policy Statement 3. CSIRO staff should not advocate, defend or publicly canvass the merits of government or opposition policies (including policies of previous Commonwealth governments, or State or local or foreign governments)." In explaining this policy, the document says: As representatives of CSIRO, staff should avoid making direct comment for or against government or opposition policy. In this respect, CSIRO policy may differ from some Australian universities; CSIRO differs in that it is a Commonwealth Government agency. This gives CSIRO the advantage that it can participate directly in the internal policy development processes of government. As Commonwealth officials CSIRO employees are bound by the Government Guidelines for Official Witnesses before Parliamentary Committees and Related Matters – November 1989. These guidelines state that Commonwealth officials: Should not advocate, defend or canvass the merits of government policies (including policies of previous Commonwealth governments, or State or foreign governments). Now, there is something that I didn't hear in the media. The constraint is not specific to CSIRO - it applies to all Commonwealth employees. CSIRO staff may be researchers, but they are still Commonwealth employees
Read more.
http://cyllene.uwa.edu.au/~dpannell/pd/pd0162.htm
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