Legislative Council Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1) 53 1 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Question Time Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY Legislative Council Leader of the Opposition Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:36): Supplementary. The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Ridgway. The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY Legislative Council The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Given the cuts that the minister has outlined, can she explain to the people of South Australia why it is a sound investment to invest $2 million a year into the member for Waite to be minister, yet take $1½ million a year away from the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics which is in the electorate of Waite—so you have a very clear choice. The Hon. G.E. GAGO Legislative Council Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (14:36): I would challenge the opposition in light of this very hypocritical concern for science and research. I would like to see what the Liberal opposition has done in approaching their federal colleagues to overturn these dreadful cuts to our science and research budget, including the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation. The commonwealth has cut $27.6 million from ANSTO's budget and also to the research and development (R&D) tax incentive program. The commonwealth will reduce the amount of assistance available to industry under this program by 1.5 percentage points. This will have a particularly harsh effect on small to medium enterprises, which of course we know make up the bulk of South Australia's economy, and comes at a time when Australia needs to obviously boost its expenditure, not slash and burn. So I would challenge members opposite me, if they were really genuine about doing something and if they were really sincere about wanting to do something about science and research, I would like to see telephone calls and I would like to see the correspondence that they have sent off to their federal colleagues urging them to reverse these hideous cuts to our science and research agenda.