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to encourage dialogue between industry, government and the science and technology community.
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to promote the public understanding of science and
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to foster close relations between member societies (of which AMOS is one).
I made the short drive from the Blue Mountains down to Canberra on Monday morning, while my saner colleague Ian decided to arrive the night before. When we arrived at the National Gallery, we were confronted with a sea of dapper scientists looking surprisingly at ease in their formal attire. My main reason for pursuing a career in science is its slack dress code and I could not share this ease. Many times over the next 48 hours I longed to loosen my tie… We began with an introduction to Inspiring Australia, an Australian Government Initiative to provide our country with a “strategic and coordinated approach to science engagement”. We then heard from the Honourable Bill Shorten MP, Leader of the Opposition. Mr Shorten wasted no time in declaring his support of science and intention to place science squarely on the national agenda. Bill was due to speak again that night at the gala dinner after the Honourable Ian Macfarlane MP, Minister for Industry. We then moved into the “meat” of the day, hearing from Fairfax and Australian Broadcasting Corporation journalists, a senior public servant, an expert tweeter (thesis whisperer Dr Inger Mewburn), some formidable lobbyists, the “Hamish and Andy” of academic science communication, and two professors. Each lecture was followed by a healthy dose of Q&A. The talk I took the most from was by the Australian National University’s Hugh White. Although his expertise is conflict and international affairs (my interpretation of his term, “strategic studies”), he had a keen sense for just how an academic might influence the policy process. Policy after all comes down to decisions, and if a scientist wants their science to contribute to a decision, it’s a good idea for the scientist to try and understand how specific decisions are actually made. This for me was one of the key themes across the two days: it is becoming less and less accepted for scientists to only do science. They are now being called on to communicate and engage, advocate and collaborate well beyond their usual disciplinary boundaries. My interest in these matters stems partly from the fact that I have one foot in government and another in science. Most attendees had both feet and most of their ankles purely in science, so were perhaps more interested in learning how to spread the word about their field, whether it was to the general public or a purse string-holding politician. Scientists then had a chance to let their hair down at the gala dinner in the great hall of Parliament House. I enquired with my hotel receptionist what “lounge suit”
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dress code meant and was saddened to discover I had not packed in accordance with the code. Happily I was still admitted and got to rub shoulders with national treasure Robyn Williams, Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie, National Computational Infrastructure bosses and a great number of scientists. With my shoulders still sore from all the rubbing, I found myself outside Parliament House shortly after sunrise the next morning, ahead of a breakfast forum addressed by the head of the ARC. Professor Aidan Byrne had many interesting things to say, not the least of which was “be careful what you say, Aidan”. He helped me understand some of the reality of administering such a giant grants scheme with an extremely lean staff. One of the delegates made the incisive point that the ARC might be considered less lean when one took into account the tens, if not millions of hours that scientists put into grant applications. I then prepared for my meeting, along with two fine chaps from CSIRO, with Senator Sam Dastyari. It is quite impressive that so many parliamentarians gave some of their time to meet just about every scientist at the event during the day. Some even met the Prime Minster, although I sadly didn’t get to hear how that went. Senator Dastyari spoke about a Senate Inquiry soon to be launched on the state of science in Australia. It will be very interesting to see how this develops. I’d barely gathered my breath before we were shuttled off to the National Press Club to hear from Professor Ian Chubb AC, the Chief Scientist of Australia. I foolishly thought that by his affiliation to the government, Professor Chubb might hold his tongue, but nothing could be further from the truth. He spoke eloquently, with humour and passion, about the importance of science. We whizzed back to Parliament House to observe Question Time. It really was fascinating to see our nation’s leaders in person, sitting, speaking, heckling, being “sent out of the classroom” and so on. One can only wonder what the Mongolian delegation in attendance thought of the whole affair. Before I hit the road there was one last event to attend, drinks hosted by the Honourable Adam Bandt MP and his colleagues from the Greens. They too promised their support of science, handing out Respect Research badges and mingling with the buzzing but tired delegates. I am extremely grateful for the support of AMOS, including the tireless help of Jeanette Dargaville. I would also like to deeply thank my employer, the Office of Environment and Heritage, who also supported my attendance. It was a real privilege to attend an event like this, and I urge anyone interested to jump if given the chance to go next year.