Retorts

Redundancies

Harvard professor Michael Porter was paid over $1.5 million to report on the NZ economy. He reported we should graduate less lawyers and more scientists, and needed more innovation to develop successful industries. It is interesting to note that in Japan, 1.9 accountants and 228 engineers are employed per 10,000 workers; in NZ, we employ 97 accountants and 50 engineers per 10,000. Over the past 20 years, NZ has suffered a net loss of 1,500 scientists who will now be working for our competitors.

It is therefore very concerning that DSIR has had to lay off 46 scientific staff a little earlier this year, including 11 from Geology & Geophysics and 12 from Land Resources. Amongst these were Dr Given, a world authority on rare plants, and Mr Hicks, who played a major part in identifying the risks of landslides into the Clyde Dam.

A recent statement from the Minister of CRIs that "DSIR and MAF are carrying more people than the total overall research funding -- public and private -- can sustain" indicates that more redundancies are planned. At a time when we are all told to look to market signals in the choice of a career, such job losses cannot provide any confidence in students that further training in science is a sensible option for their future.

The chairman of the Manufacturers' Federation R&D committee, Mr Bill Foreman, has called for a doubling of R&D spending. Why is there not more encouragement for training in the areas of innovation identified by Porter, and which are driving the successful economies of Germany, Japan and Sweden?

Dr A.H. Kirton, President, NZ Association of Scientists