Does not rehire any previous board level appointees
Story submitted by Eric Worrall
The Australian government has decided to not renew any of the management board of the Australian CSIRO. Naturally, outgoing board members are not very happy with the decision. According to Simon McKeon, outgoing chairman of the CSIRO;
“There appears to be a “brutal” rule that directors of federal government agencies appointed under Labor will not get another term, the outgoing CSIRO chairman Simon McKeon has said.
“The reality is that, yes, there is a rule that no one on the board of a federal government agency has been reappointed,” McKeon said when asked about the Labor board appointees at an Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) function on Thursday. “It’s an issue that many people are finding worrying.”
McKeon, whose term as the CSIRO chairman ends in June, said it was not about him.
“The great majority of people who put up their hands to serve on a federal government agency are really doing it for the nation,” he said. “All I’m saying is we’re missing out on the corporate memory.
“It’s, I would argue, an unnecessary distraction to what’s already a very challenging bunch of organisations.”
Nobody is saying why the government appears to have taken a hard line on the non renewal of previous political appointments. In America it is normal for political appointments to be replaced by an incoming government. This is less common in Australia.
It is possible that McKeon’s outspoken views on climate change may have contributed to differences between the CSIRO board, and the more skeptical Australian government. According to his Wikipedia entry, Simon McKeon appears to be strongly in favour of more funding for climate research.
“On climate change, McKeon has expressed his desire to see the topic raised to the top of both the “political and public agenda”. He said “We may not have all the answers to what is occurring, … [b]ut the point is, why wouldn’t one take out very strong insurance to at least do what we can to future-proof our well-being?”
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_McKeon#Climate_change
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The only one of the CSIRO board I know is Chris Turney, the great polar explorer.
I’m not a fan.
But even so, I don’t approve of this action. Throwing out the lot is unacceptable.
If they were thrown out with a justification of “this leadership are all useless because…” then fair enough.
But this just looks like partisan bias. Science doesn’t need more politicisation.
Science indeed doesn’t need more politicization. Therefore throw out all the politicians and fake scientists on the board, which is ALL of them.
Had they acted objectively in the past, which they didn’t, which is a matter of record, they could stay. They are unscientific activists who have hurt science.
Those who have done their job properly should stay.
Those who have adopted a BLATANT political stance, should go.
This is why no-one on the CSIRO board was re-appointed.
If the board is already politicized then leaving it in place to claim to avoid politicization of science would merely be submitting to what Labor had already done. It sounds like they needed a thorough house-cleaning. The only problem is that it won’t go far and deep enough below the Board.
Yes, if they are already politicised then sack them. But if tey are not then listen to them.
Justify it. Do the debate.
The true-believer warmists don’t explain the reason for their position because they dare not debate.
We are right (I think). We should be wiling to prove that in the clash of debate.
Well, MC, the Liebor governments through our country, State and Federal, make determined action to sack every conservative member of any government board as soon as they come to power … they then go on to ensure that their appointees are entrenched for as long as is possible.
No, you are WRONG, cleaning out this rent seeking detritus is for the benefit of our Country … not for the perpetuation of socialist doctrines.
I see further down that this is specific to CSIRO and not a blanket application of political decisions to a science board.
Misleading article.
But the truth is, in my opinion, more flattering to Abbott.
(By which I mean “closer to what I would have done”).
MCourtney March 6, 2015 at 12:42 pm
But even so, I don’t approve of this action. Throwing out the lot is unacceptable.
Although I always respect your comments, this is one of the few times I disagree. New Zealand has a symbol of an unfurling fern which represents a new beginning. It is time for a new beginning.
CSIRO was politicized nearly 2 decades ago by a socialist group calling themselves The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists. They had a plan on how Australia should be run and proceeded to dictate to the Liberal Government on what it should be doing. The government told them to stand for election if they were so clever. Along comes CAGW and they grasped it for all it was worth. Their domination dreams were allowed out as they advised the appalling Labor government ( turned an economy in surplus into the biggest ever deficit with nothing to show for it).
CSIRO has done some wonderful work over decades. but when their own scientists politicized it, then it took charge of what was released and the direction of research. CSIRO has had some epic battles over intellectual property and copyright. So much so that they intimidate their own people.
That is how the warmists got control.
I have no idea how things work in Australia, but here in the US, it is standard practice for all political appointees who are not either appointed to a specific term of service (judges, Fed Reserve board) or are part of a board that is required to have a certain number of members from each of the two major parties to be replaced wholesale by a new administration.
In Australia the tradition has been that previous placements are often left in place to serve the new government. My understanding (and I might be wrong) is this tradition is based on theory is public servants serve the Queen – so their first loyalty is to the sovereign and state, rather than to the current leader of the parliament. This has been enforced by a strong tradition of bureaucratic memory and royal honours tradition, which has (in theory at least) provided an avenue of reward for civil servants who provide long, unbiased service.
This theory seems to have broken down a little – some issues such as climate change have become extremely polarised, politicians desperate for traction on issues they care about have sometimes appointed people with strong views which align with their policy positions. So incoming governments maybe now feel it necessary to put their own people in place, to make sure people do what they are told.
I’m not suggesting that the tradition of loyalty to the Queen rather than the government is better than the American tradition. A hilarious British political sitcom, “Yes Minister”, pokes fun at the concept, and strongly suggests that the reason senior civil servants are “apolitical” is that their first loyalty is to themselves – they spend most of their effort avoiding doing what their political masters want.
Thanks for the explanation. I had no idea why there would be a fuss over it at all.
MattS, To a point. When Clinton appointed Janet Reno and she was approved by the Senate one of the first things she did was fire all of the Federal District Attorneys. That was unusual.
Many of them were rehired but not the one who was investigating a case that may have been embarrassing.
(Sorry, I don’t remember the details.)
google clinton body count
CSIRO? Not in the “Glossary”
Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation
Acronyms should be defined the first time they are used. Not having such a rule or policy is like saying that you would rather force thousands of readers to have to look it up than to simply ask the author to type a few extra words. Surely the author must know that not every reader is from Australia or is familiar with the acronym for their national science agency. Strive to be “reader friendly” when writing an article for a world-wide audience.
The CSIRO used to be a highly respected organisation, then got overrun with political appointees. McKeon was made Australian if the year (Tim Flannery got one, so it’s not as prestigious as it sounds) by the Carbon Tax Government and appointed to the board of the CSIRO.That organisation has since disgraced itself with non-Science. the current Government recently slashed funding to the CSIRO because A/ we need to balance the budget and B/ there was an effort to get them to divest themselves of the climate garbage and focus on science, just as they were historically respected for doing. The board didn’t get the message, so they are out on their ears. Just for the record, a family member of mine was locked in minor court proceedings regarding planning permits with McKeon recently. Residents V Inappropriate local development type story (Arthur’s Seat Chairlift if you are interested). McKeon attended many VCAT hearings and was visibly smug, audibly guffawing and outright disrespectful when elderly local residents & others not familiar with legal hearings were less articulate. We are better off with him away from the levers of power and money.
The CSIRO has become shabby and corrupt: http://pindanpost.com/2013/04/14/shocking-corruption-in-csiro-doesnt-surprise/
CSIRO and Gramsci’s long march through the institutions is relevant here.
We need to remember that the politicisation of CSIRO was started by that good old Labor leftist Bob Hawke when he was Prime Minister of Australia in the 1980s. And, who did he make Chairman of the CSIRO? Well, none other than his good old Labor left-wing mate Neville Wran – the ex Labor Premier of NSW. The socialist left was on the march. Infiltration and subversion. Straight out of the Gramsci operations manual.
It’s easy to do. You just get a politically aligned Chairman, then a politically aligned Board, then a politically aligned senior executive who proceeds to appoint and/or promote politically aligned activists into critical positions. Over 20-30 years: easy peasy. Oh yes, and then freeze out or bully out those scientists of integrity who continue to hold to the principles of true science. The left can’t abide having these people disagreeing with them Think: Lysenko.
That’s where CSIRO’s climate research is today. Hence, why would anybody be surprised to see politically correct “science” oozing out of the organisation under the guise of true science? It’s the left-wing way; straight out of Gramsci’s manual.
At long last something is being done about it. May it long continue.
Find the book ” And not a shot fired” by Jan Kozak, (early 1950’s behind the Iron Curtain bureaucrat that describes exactly what you are talking about. It is the blueprint for what you said, except it has been going on since WWII. If not longer (WiKI has an excerpt on it just enter Jan Kozak, Czechoslovakia.)
C’mon you Auzies. Go the extra mile and throw the lot of out aftre they have been investigated for corruption and thrown in jail. That way you won’t have to pay their pensions either. Yippee
Cry me a river. now he and the rent seekers will have to find another cow to milk in the EU or maybe Mr. Obama will love this crew. Obama still has 18 months left on his contract plenty of time to milk dry the USA.
should have been done 5 years ago and don’t stop with the board . the next on the list is the ABC
All gloaters should head to “The Conversation.”
oh yeah? the labor abc support base?
I live rural
I hear enough sheep bleating:-)
I sure wish the Aussie anti-warmunist attitude would catch on in the US govt.
Things will change overnight if you get the right President, IMO. We Aussies were in despair as well, under the previous government – it seemed like every green folly, no matter how daft, got a budget and the unswerving support of politicians.
This all changed very quickly when we voted Abbott in. We now worry about what will happen if he loses the next election.
I suspect the Aussie example is having a strong impact worldwide. The more you mock that which must not be mocked, the more you diminish its aura of authority.
I hope you are right, but in the US we are under the boot of the obama junta and their EPA shadow-govt. Mocking does not diminish their dark aura; Roger Pielke Jr is being keel-hauled for merely disagreeing with the “celebrate diversity”, “freedom-of-speech” left.
His actions reinforce Harper’s in Canada and vice versa.
You kick America in the ass and Australia gets a nosebleed . Australia got sold out around the time of Harold Holts death . We shook the monkey of our back ( The commonwealth pound ) and replaced it with a gorilla called the American dollar . I brought a motorcycle a few years back when the Australian dollar was about the same as the American dollar . In Australia the bike cost $13,500.00 on road but in America the same bike cost only $7,000.00 ,and another, I fixed a young blokes Yamaha TTR , some how he broke the needle in half, I priced it from Yamaha America and it cost about $20 with shipping , from a bike shop here it costs $140.00 picked up . I could buy direct from Yamaha America but not Yamaha Australia . Australian governments are tared with the same brush and preach from the same book called money & economics before people & human rights.
Those who have done their job properly should stay.
Those who have adopted a blatant political stance, should go.
This is why no-one on the CSIRO board was re-appointed.
Under this rule, most other Labor appointees should also be dismissed.
Good. I agree, that is exactly what should be done if they are frauds.
Once CSIRO used to sponsor and do real useful scientific research. Now all it does is spout Global Warming/Climate change nonsense. A clean sweep of the Board will go a long way to fixing this and CSIRO can get back to business.
The observations on the Freudian slips in the CSIRO logo are spot on. Perhaps they need a new logo for the new Board.
The western world is full of top heavy bureaucracies ‘run’ by overpaid fat cat bureaucrats.
Whether it be the EPA, BBC, or CSIRO, they all need severe culling to bring back reality.
Eric’s Guardian article is by Australian Associated Press, and Guardian published it Friday 6 March 2015 08.46 AEDT. it begins:
“There APPEARS to be a “brutal” rule that directors of federal government agencies appointed under Labor will not get another term”
the following article is by The Guardian’s Daniel Hurst and is dated Friday 6 March 2015 15.07 AEDT
Malcolm Turnbull (more on him below) attempts to make Abbott ALONE responsible for a policy that doesn’t exist – an ongoing Turnbull tactic:
6 March: Guardian: Daniel Hurst: Malcolm Turnbull says ‘refreshing’ government boards PM’s ‘preference’
Communications minister says it has been Tony Abbott’s preference not to reappoint board members selected by former Labor government
***A government spokesman said on Friday that there was “no such policy” and that “a quick check would reveal over 50 government agencies which have reappointed board members who were originally appointed under the former government”…
“I think it’s fair to say that the government has had a policy or a practice of, by and large, not reappointing people, with a view to refreshing government boards,” Turnbull told the ABC. “That has certainly been the preference.”…
When asked whether the directive was issued by Abbott or the prime minister’s chief of staff, Peta Credlin, Turnbull said: “The prime minister has had the view that we should refresh the membership of government boards and, generally, that is what we have done.”…
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/mar/06/malcolm-turnbull-says-refreshing-government-boards-pms-preference
(Treasurer) Joe Hockey denies sacking Labor appointees is government policy
The Australian – 18 hours ago
Axe for ALP directors ‘gossip’
The Australian – 8 hours ago
THERE WAS AN ATTEMPT ON FEB 9 TO OUST PRIME MINISTER ABBOTT & REPLACE HIM WITH MALCOLM TURNBULL. IT FAILED. TURNBULL WAS GIVEN THE MONIKER ‘THE MINISTER FOR GOLDMAN SACHS’ BY FORMER LEFTWING PM, KEVIN RUDD. TURNBULL LOST THE LEADERSHIP OF THE RIGHTWING LIBERAL PARTY TO TONY ABBOTT FOLLOWING AN ATTEMPT TO INTRODUCE A (CO2) EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME.
THE MSM, ACROSS THE BOARD, ATTEMPTED TO OUST TONY ABBOTT AND INSTALL MALCOLM TURNBULL AGAIN LAST WEEK, BUT FAILED, BUT MSM IS ALREADY CLAIMING ABBOTT ONLY HAS UNTIL JUNE OR SO BEFORE HE’LL BE CHALLENGED AGAIN. (ANY SUGGESTION OF TURNBULL BECOMING PM HAS BEEN MET WITH MASSIVE BACKLASH FROM HIS OWN PARTY’S VOTERS.)
CHRISTOPHER MONCKTON WARNED LAST YEAR THAT ALL THIS WOULD TRANSPIRE PRIOR TO THE IPCC’S DECEMBER PARIS MEETING:
3.33 Youtube: Christopher Monckton: Behind the left’s push to remove Abbott
David King (UK Foreign Secretary’s Special Representative for Climate Change)
was asked whether all the nations of the world were now, in principle, ready to sign their people’s rights away in such a treaty. Yes, but there are two standouts. One is Canada. But don’t worry about Canada. They’ve got an election in the Spring of 2015 and we and the UN will make sure the present government is removed. He was quite blunt about it.
The other hold out is Australia. And Australia we can’t do anything about because Tony Abbott is in office until after the December 2015 conference. So that means you all have to guard Tony Abbott’s back. Because the Turnbull faction, in conjunction with the UN, will be doing their absolute level best to remove your elected Prime Minister from office before the end of his term and , in particular, before the end of 2015
(Wikipedia: The European Climate Exchange (ECX) manages the product development and marketing for ECX Carbon Financial Instruments (ECX CFIs), listed and admitted for trading on the ICE Futures Europe electronic platform. It is no longer a subsidiary of the Chicago Climate Exchange but rather a sister company…ECX / ICE Futures is the most liquid, pan-European platform for carbon emissions trading.
More than 100 leading businesses, including global companies such as Barclays, BP, Newedge, E.ON UK, Endesa, Fortis, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Shell have signed up for membership to trade ECX products)
We’re doing what we can to help Abbott – don’t worry, we fully appreciate how valuable he is to Australia.
And how long before the above mentioned control the board and decision making. From the Rockefeller hand book. The best type of control is not to own the business or institution , rather it’s best to sit on the board of directors and control the decision making .
If evil always triumphed, we would not have the freedom to speak out against evil.
That video and the implications of it should be heralded high and wide all over the net… This is not, imho, just a lucky guess or a psychic display of prescience on the part of Christopher Monckton, but rather a prescience based on a well informed understanding of the conspiracy to impose a climate change regime on the peoples of the planet. This is an evil of biblical proportions…heaven help us (and you lot of course), .
So it is perfectly ok when Labor does it, matter of fact, Daniel Andrews is doing it as we write this but when Liberals do it….It’s SO bad !!!!
Callmedan isn’t doing the same Bernard. He’s not waiting for contract renewals. Just came in firing people nominated by the CFMEU hitlist. And the Chook is doing the same in Qld.
My memory of CSIRO Boards was that they are only part-time positions (like a company board) not full-time appointments (in contrast with the heads of US government agencies). Appointments are for specified time periods with the usual staggering of terms so that there are only a certain percentage of the Board is up for renewal each year. Thus, the “loss of corporate memory” line is just a scare tactic as this cannot happen and in reality it seems as though this is maybe just a general shaking up of Board membership as opposed to anything else, by dropping some long-term appointees.
When science “experts” stand around on Rv trying to claim that the recent spate of bushfires were caused by climate change although they were obviously deliberately lit and the police are now prosecuting the arsonists, they can expect to lose their jobs. This was not CSIRO, but such is the climate in Australia.
My mistake – the “research” was undertaken under the auspices of the CSIRO
TV – stoopid autocorrect
Of course McKeon wants more funding to ‘study’ climate change. That’s the whole point, isn’t it?
The headline is totally untrue. The Government has not ditched the board of CSIRO. It has apparently decided not to renew the term of the Chairman. There is speculation that the government has a policy of not renewing the terms of labor appointees. That is speculation. The existing board members continue in place.
The speculation is denied.
The new QLD Labor Govt are doing the same thing. Telling Dept Heads appointed by the former LNP Govt they no longer have jobs if they cannot help Labor in QLD achieve its goals.
Abbott and his cabinet have been a disaster. The few good things they have been doing, such as sacking climate bureaucrats is lost in the noise of the general defunding of anything and everything.
The main problem is just about everything this government has done has been done by stealth. No declaration of any plans before the election and no attempt to sell the merits of them after the election. Just wake up and there’s another cut announced.
So tie this in to the article. No one in the Australian cabinet has come out and said they are skeptical of the threat of global warming. No one! There are “direct action plans” proudly touted. Carbon reduction targets, still adhered to. No, don’t take too much hart from the Australian government. Bunch of cowards and sneaks that are only clinging to power because the opposition Labour Party are led by a wet noodle too!
I think that assessment is a little harsh, Abbott made it a priority to abolish the hated carbon tax, and kept other promises, such as his promise to stop the refugee boats – Australia’s burden of illegal immigrant arrivals dropped to essentially zero within months of his government assuming power.
Yes he has kept the Direct Action fig leaf, I wish he would do away with the entire shambles – but maybe he has gone as far as he can. The problem with dismantling green industries is an awful lot of politicians, on all sides of politics, get very friendly with green entrepreneurs, who completely understand that their industry only exists because of political support.
There are lots of things I wish Abbott would do, which he hasn’t done, but he has delivered mostly competent government – a rarity in recent Australian history.
What does he mean, “We may not have all the answers to what is occurring…” ? This is ”settled Science” he’s talking about.
Eamon.
Stacking the public service hierarchy and the judiciary with individuals sharing their ideological views has long been the standard practice of Labor governments both state and federal. But conservative (Liberal/National) governments have been less inclined to do so, perhaps to the detriment of the country? Whether there is any substantive policy change on board reappointments or whether this latest brouhaha is just more of the baseless tirade of anti Abbott media slagging we’ve witnessed here recently is hard to say. But it is being denied by the Government:
An example of the previous Governments appointments that probably need to go, even if Labor were still in power. http://www.csiro.au/Portals/About-CSIRO/Who-we-are/Board/ShirleyIntVeld.aspx
“There appears to be a “brutal” rule that directors of federal government agencies appointed under Labor will not get another term, the outgoing CSIRO chairman Simon McKeon has said. “The reality is that, yes, there is a rule that no one on the board of a federal government agency has been reappointed“
If Simon McKeon, outgoing chairman of Australia’s premier science organisation, made a statement which does not on closer examination appear to be the truth – what a shocker.
Just one of many that emanate from the CSIRO.
If only someone could replace the Australian Media.
The ABC is a disgrace.
I agree, the ABC is a disgrace. As a former friend of the ABC and frequent viewer I am disgusted with the blatant propaganda being broadcast. I have since discarded my TV set and resolved to be uninformed rather than misinformed.
As people have pointed Anthony, this is a lie. To say no one has been reappointed was quickly falsified by a list of dozens.
I think Lord Malcolm, the 1st Viscount Goldmansachs, had an element of truth in his comment blaming Abbott666 as expressing a “preference” for renewal. Every government has a “preference” for their own appointees as opposed to the political lackeys of their opponents. This is not news, it does not extend to a policy. Let alone a universal law as the outgoing bloke claimed.
However, there would’ve been quite a few caveats and conditions on that. A preference to not renew where there has been blatant political bias (Triggs, CSIRO being two of the most egregious), manifest incompetence, or grotesque waste of public money in the position previously.
“There appears to be a “brutal” rule that directors of federal government agencies appointed under Labor will not get another term, the outgoing CSIRO chairman Simon McKeon has said. “The reality is that, yes, there is a rule that no one on the board of a federal government agency has been reappointed
Shame on McKeon for, lets say miscommunicating the issue, if this isn’t actually the truth.
It isn’t the truth.
But when did truth mean anything to those aligned to the green/socialist left?
It’s self evidently a lie but he knows his only hope is to tell a lie knowing that the Regressive meeja and the Opposition will now declare him a sainted martyr of the Abbott666 Regime. See the disgusting Gillian Triggs, for example. She should have been escorted out be security and told her stuff will be sent home in a box.