President's 1998 Annual Report

AGC President's 1998 Annual Report

The following is the text of the Annual Report of the President of the AGC, Dr Geoff Hudson, to the Council's Annual Meeting in Adelaide on 16 June 1998.

The AGC has actively pursued its objectives of representing the interests of the broad range of earth science professions, namely:

	providing apolitical advice to Government on matters affecting the earth sciences
	promoting sound policies for effective earth science education and research, and
	providing the Australian public with a greater appreciation of the values of the earth sciences in economic, environmental and cultural terms.

Over the past year main issues addressed by the AGC included:

Response to the Minerals Council of Australia Tertiary Education Discussion Paper

The AGC formally responded to the Minerals Council of Australia's National Tertiary Education Taskforce discussion paper "Back from the Brink — Reshaping Minerals Tertiary Education" which was released in February 1998. The paper dealt with the directions for undergraduate and postgraduate tertiary education as it relates to the minerals industry in particular but raised important issues for tertiary education relevant to the geosciences generally and the interface between industry and the tertiary sector.

While welcoming the MCA's interest in and commitment to minerals education, one of the AGC's main concerns with the paper was that it generally viewed mining engineering, metallurgy and the geosciences collectively without due recognition of the different needs and circumstances of each of these areas.

Seminars on the paper were conducted by the MCA in several capital cities during April 1998 which were attended by AGC representatives. I attended the Sydney seminar as the AGC President along with Associate Professor Jim Jago. Dr Cec Murray was nominated by the AGC Vice-President, Dr Bob Day, to attend the Brisbane seminar. In my capacity as the Executive Director of the AMF, I was also invited to give a paper at the Perth seminar.

I am pleased to report that the Taskforce now accepts that the geosciences need to be considered as separate to the engineering disciplines, and further, that closing geoscience departments would result in a significant decline in registration numbers and hence potential employees for the minerals sector. It is further recognised that the stakeholders in undergraduate geoscience education include the petroleum and government sectors as well as a range of programs where geoscience is a component. I consider that that the AGC and the other geoscience respondents has had a most positive influence on the Taskforce deliberations and has helped avert a potentially very damaging situation for the future of the teaching of geosciences in Australia at tertiary level.

I would like to acknowledge the contribution of the Executive to the development of the AGC's response to this important paper and in particular to Dr Richard Hillis for his part on coordinating the response.

Marine Science and Technology (MS&T) Plan submission

Following an announcement in late 1996 by the then Science Minister Peter McGauran of the formation of an expert working group to assist in the development of a national MS&T Plan, the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science and Tourism (DIST) released of a scoping paper in early 1997 on the development of a MS&T Plan. This offered a valuable opportunity for the AGC to put forward policies to help strengthen the profile of the geosciences in the marine research sector. The AGC provided financial support for the development of a submission to DIST.

The AGC's submission, which was lodged in June 1998 and was one of 65 responses to the scoping paper, recommended three objectives for a geoscience component of a national MS&T Plan, namely:

implementation of a national geoscience program in the Australian Marine Jurisdiction (AMJ) comprising mapping of the seabed and substrate and of sedimentary basins within the AMJ
creating a National Marine Science Infrastructure with the aim of improving coordination between institutions and making more efficient use of facilities, and
strengthening national research and training facilities through research schemes targeted specifically at marine science.
The quality of AGC's submission was highly commended by the Commonwealth officer coordinating the development of the MS&T Plan. The Draft MS&T Plan is due to be released for public comment in June 1998 which it is hoped will signal sustained government support for a strong and vigorous marine geoscience sector. It would be appropriate for the AGC to respond to the document.

I would like to record my thanks to the Working Party responsible for the AGC submission and point out that in this instance the AGC supported their activities with travel assistance.

Raising the geoscience profile — AGC position statements

Over the past few months, the AGC Executive has developed a series of position statements across a number of key topics which are seen as highly relevant to geoscientists and improving the public perception and understanding of the role of the geosciences in Australia. These statements enunciate the AGC's position with respect to a number of mainstream issues and, as such, they provide an important framework within which AGC policy responses and options can be developed. The topics covered by the policy statements are:

	primary and secondary education;
	tertiary education;
	research;
	standards and ethics, encompassing professional development and registration;
	geoscience and the community, embracing the role of the geosciences in economic development, sustainable development and the environment, the Greenhouse debate and in geohazards; and
	geoscience in government.

The position statements have been developed into a standard format for consideration and it was proposed to consider them at this meeting. As a result of recent constructive additions and suggestions by The AusIMM, I now believe that the incoming Executive needs to consider these statements prior to bringing them back to a General Meeting for ratification.

Highlighting the crucial role of geoscience education resources for the future of geoscience

This topic has been discussed in some detail by the AGC Executive in recognition of the large volume of geoscience education material available and that there is much merit in looking at ways of improving the availability and access to resources for the teaching of geosciences in schools. The AGC views this as part of a wider objective of enhancing the profile of the geosciences in the community generally.

The AGC is aware of significant work being done in developing geoscience educational resources by a number of industry bodies, such as the Minerals Council of Australia and Chambers of Mines as well as several member societies, and is very supportive of this effort. From the AGC's viewpoint, while there is clearly an abundance of high quality resource materials available, there appears to scope for linking the significant amount of information available through some form of nationally coordinated effort. There is also a related issue of ensuring that educational resources are subject of some form of quality assessment to ensure that teachers have full confidence in utilising materials.

The AGC has recently written to the Minerals Council seeking its views on the concept of a nationally coordinated approach to geoscience educational resource development and indicating that the AGC would be willing to look at ways of facilitating such an exercise. Improving access to geoscience education material in schools is something which I regard as worthy of significant attention by the AGC. I believe there is ample scope for the incoming Executive to consider the matter in greater detail and define the issue with a view to determining appropriate strategies.

Climate Change Submission

The AGC lodged a submission to the Australian Ambassador for the Environment on climate change issues prior to the Kyoto summit in early December 1997. This came about as a result of an invitation, received at very short notice, to attend a consultative forum in Adelaide on 12 November 1997. The forum, which was convened by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), offered an opportunity for public input to Australia's stand on climate change negotiations for the Framework Convention on Climate Change meeting in Kyoto.

Because of an overseas commitment, I asked another member of the Executive, Associate Professor John Cann, to attend on behalf of the AGC. John reported that due to obstructionist behaviour by a representative of one of the conservation groups, he was unable to present any views on behalf of the AGC. Instead, he obtained agreement to lodge a submission with Australia's Ambassador for the Environment via DFAT. This submission was acknowledged by DFAT as a constructive contribution to the debate and was forwarded onto the Greenhouse Office within Environment Australia.

In its submission, the AGC indicated its willingness to contribute to a better informed debate on Greenhouse issues, noting the significant fluctuations in the global climate over the past few millions of years which have been identified in the geological record. In particular, the submission advocated the need to record and measure climatic events against the geological record of the last 7500 years, over which time sea levels have been relatively stable, and not simply to rely on human observations over recent generations.

New national science forum

With the ANZAAS Conference struggling in recent years, a Science Communicators meeting in Canberra in August 1997 ratified proposals for a National Science Forum (NSF) to replace ANZAAS as Australia's general science forum. Such a forum has the objective of capturing people's imagination and to raise awareness of the importance of science. The NSF, billed as ScienceNOW!, was held in Melbourne in May 1998 supported by the Victorian and Commonwealth governments and by Australia's leading science policy organisations.

Federation of Australian Science and Technological Societies (FASTS)

The AGC is also a member of FASTS which represents over 50,000 scientists in Australia through the involvement and participation of 41 full-member societies, 9 associate members, 3 affiliate members and 2 observer bodies. The AGC's membership of FASTS, which was formed in 1985, enables geoscientists to maximise their access to and influence upon national science and technology decision makers, including the formulation of policy and seeking to improve the overall climate for R&D to bring useful economic, environmental and social benefits to Australia.

FASTS' prime objectives are to foster close relations between the societies; to promote public understanding of science; and to encourage scientific dialogue between industry, government, and the S&T community.

FASTS is governed by a Board made up of elected representatives of its member societies. Many distinguished scientists have served on FASTS Board, including Australia's 1995 Nobel Laureate in Medicine and Physiology, Peter Doherty and former President of the Australian Academy of Science, David Curtis. The current President is Professor Peter Cullen, Director CRC for Freshwater Ecology and Professor of Resource and Environmental Science at the University of Canberra. Geoscientists are well represented on FASTS — the FASTS Executive includes Professor Bob Carter (School of Earth Sciences, James Cook University), who was recently elected as a Vice-President, and I am a member of the FASTS Board.

Major achievements of FASTS have included:

Significant contributions to changing the climate of opinion about the importance of Science and Technology (S&T) in Australia;
Lobbied to support the 150% tax incentive for R&D;
Adoption of a comprehensive S&T policy by the Australian Council of Trade Unions;
Lobbied for the creation of the Cooperative Research Centre scheme;
Significant contributions to the National Curriculum Project;
Lobbied for the Minister for Science to be in the Cabinet, since achieved with the appointment of the Hon John Moore MP who represents science and technology issues as portfolio minister in Cabinet;
Worked to improve the number and size of Australian Research Council Post-graduate Awards;
Development of a comprehensive policy document and Top Ten Policies; and
Achieving ex officio membership of the Prime Minister's Science and Engineering Council (PMSEIC).
Representations to various government initiatives, such as the:

Industry Minister's Innovation Statement;
Industry Commission's inquiry into Research and Development;
House of Representatives Standing Committee on Science and Technology;
PMSEIC discussion paper on `Key strategic issues for science and technology policy';
Australian Science and Technology Council Future Needs Study; and the
Replacement of the R&D syndication scheme.
FASTS also recently sponsored a major forum in Canberra on 25 February 1998 on the future of university science "Crisis or Crossroads".

In conclusion I would like to record my thanks to the Adelaide Executive Committee who have contributed very significantly over the last two years. In particular, I thank Geoff Wood and Jon Hayes who capably fulfilled the role of Secretary, and Clinton Foster who manages the AGC's finances in his role as Treasurer. AGSO continues to provide support to the AGC through the provision of a Secretariat which is critical to our ongoing activities. The Executive moves to Brisbane following this meeting where the important work of the Council will continue under the Presidency of Bob Day. I wish Bob and the incoming Representatives and Executive well in their endeavours and look forward to participating in my capacity as Past President.

Thank you very much

G R T Hudson
PRESIDENT

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