Marine Science and Technology

AGC Submission on Commonwealth Government's Marine Science and Technology Plan

The following is the text of the AGC's response dated 15 July 1998 to the Government's Marine Science and Technology Plan Draft for Consultation which was released in May 1998. The Draft Plan may be accessed via the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science and Tourism's Website.

The reference in the second paragraph of the response to the AGC's recommendations relate to a formal submission on the draft Marine Science and Technology Plan lodged by the AGC in June 1997. A copy of this document may be obtained from the Secretary of the AGC.

Mr P W Wellings
Head, Science and Technology Division
Department of Industry, Science and Tourism
GPO Box 9839
CANBERRA ACT 2601

Dear Mr Wellings

MARINE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PLAN: DRAFT FOR CONSULTATION

I refer to your letter of 10 June 1998 to Dr Geoff Hudson in his capacity as President of the Australian Geoscience Council (AGC) seeking comments on the Marine Science and Technology Plan Draft for Consultation. Since your letter, I have been elected to succeed Dr Hudson as President of the Council.

The AGC congratulates the Working Group for scoping and presenting the challenges associated with Australian marine science in the Draft. We note that almost all of the recommendations put forward by the AGC in relation to marine geoscience issues have been incorporated, at least in part, in the Draft.

While the AGC is generally supportive of the consultation draft, we believe that it can be strengthened in two key areas:

The Draft itself shows the diversity and complexity of the issues confronting marine science, and identifies, correctly in our view, "the lack of coordination in the existing system" (p.4), and that "there is no mechanism coordinating marine science and technology at a national level" (p.5). In this context we are surprised that a stronger case has not been made by the Working Group for a single body to condense the various existing functions and groups into key centres/areas within an overarching management system, perhaps to be known as the Australian Marine Science & Technology Institute. Such a system, as suggested in our submission for marine geoscience as the `National Marine Geoscience Institute', would create and maintain a critical mass of marine scientists, ensuring efficient science outputs in Australia. The AGC urges the Working Group to address this difficult issue in the final plan.
No costings are associated with the outputs of the plan. As you would be aware, the Council's submission did include such broadly based estimates. We think that to gain acceptance and to be adopted by Government, estimates of the cost of delivering the outputs of the plan are essential.
We look forward to the plan and its implementation to support marine geoscience.

Yours sincerely
DR R W DAY
President