CSIRO accused of gagging scientist on emissions trading

Age
Friday 4/12/2009 Page: 12

A quarrel between the CSIRO and one of its employees came to a messy conclusion yesterday with ecological economist Clive Spash resigning and calling for a Senate inquiry. Dr Spash said the inquiry should investigate claims of censorship at the science body. He lashed out at his former employer, saying he had been treated "extremely poorly" by the organisation, which he said had gagged his views on emissions trading schemes. The spat centres on a paper Dr Spash wrote, titled The Brave New World of Carbon Trading, which criticised cap-and-trade schemes, such as the one the Rudd Government is proposing.

The CSIRO refused permission for the paper to be published in the journal New Political Economy because it deemed it in breach of the CSIRO charter, which prevents staff from publicly debating the merits of government or opposition policies. CSIRO chief executive Megan Clark later agreed to publish the paper, subject to amendments she would negotiate with Dr Spash.

But last week, under pressure from Coalition and Greens senators, Science Minister Kim Carr tabled in the Senate an unamended version of the paper, which Dr Spash, 47, had released in a private capacity, in breach of CSIRO policy. Dr Spash said the CSIRO charter, introduced by the Rudd Government last year, was leading to self-censorship. "The way the publication policy and the charter are being interpreted will encourage self-censorship," he said.

The affair follows previous allegations of censorship by the CSIRO of its climate scientists, raised by the ABC in 2006. In April this year four CSIRO scientists were told they were not allowed to give evidence to a Senate inquiry into climate change in a CSIRO capacity. Dr Clark yesterday rejected claims that Dr Spash had been harassed or his work censored. "CSIRO staff are actively encouraged to debate publicly the latest science and its implications and to analyse policy options. However, under our charter we do not advocate for or against specific government or Opposition policies," she said in a statement.

"The CSIRO charter protects the independence of our science. It also protects CSIRO scientists from being exploited in the political process. "Since February 2009 we have attempted to work through these issues with Dr Spash in a respectful way. I absolutely do not accept that asking Dr Spash to meet standards which are met by all our other staff could be considered harassment," she said. Dr Spash, who is British born, is heading to Europe where he plans to stay indefinitely.