SENATOR TIM AYRES, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND INNOVATION AND MINISTER FOR SCIENCE: It is very good to be here today at the CSIRO's Westmead Health and Innovation Precinct Facility with Dr. Doug Hilton, the CEO of the CSIRO. Our premier national scientific and applied science research agency. The work of the CSIRO scientists and researchers here for Australia's health and the health of future generations of Australians is absolutely foundational in our national science effort. 

Researchers like Letitia Sng, a research scientist who is applying bioinformatics to uncover the biology of complex diseases. So crucial for Australia's premier place as a place for health and life science research. That builds jobs, builds opportunity, builds manufacturing here in Australia. But also makes Australians healthier and means that we're leading the fight against disease here and around the world. This is where cutting-edge work in genomics, digital health and AI is helping to shape the future of healthcare. Here in Sydney, Australia building this fantastic health precinct that delivers so much for Australia and Australians. 

It's a perfect place to announce ahead of the Budget that the Budget delivers an additional $387.4 million over 4 years to the CSIRO. That's on top of the around a $1 billion every year that the Australian Government spends on the CSIRO and its leading-edge science and applied industrial science for Australia. 

Also announcing that there will be ongoing funding of an additional $38 million a year from 2030 to 2031 for the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness in Geelong. And in addition to that what the Budget will contain is an announcement for capital funding to support the critical upgrades that are required at that facility so that it remains fit-for-purpose. 

I just remind Australians that this investment in the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, run through our premier science agency, is just so important in human disease preparedness terms. Making sure that Australia is contributing. We know that for governments around the world that it is more than a remote possibility that there will be future pandemics. Making sure that we are ahead of the game, protecting Australians, and Australia from future pandemics. But also all of the dealing with pandemics and biological hazards for agriculture, and for Australia's animals and plants as well, is absolutely important for our future. 

We're backing Australian science because Australian science is crucial for our health, for our welfare, for our future prosperity, and for our resilience. That additional funding secures the CSIRO and, on top of the additional funding that we announced last year in MYEFO and before – far from there being budget cuts at the CSIRO. The Albanese Government is delivering in spades for Australian science. 

We're very confident that this puts Doug and the leadership team in the CSIRO in a position where they can continue their work. Strengthening and making the CSIRO fit for the modern age. 

I also want to make a further announcement about the Budget. This is a Budget that’s focused – in a period where Australia is being buffeted by the biggest energy shock in the world's history. This is a Budget that’s focused on future productivity growth, on keeping downward pressure on inflation, and making sure that Australia is more resilient in an era where we can't take our future for granted. 

As part of this Budget. The Investor Front Door, that is currently located in Treasury, will move to my Department – the Department of Industry, Science and Resources. Combining with the Major Projects Facilitation Agency to put that Investor Front Door at the centre of our Future Made in Australia plans – the largest pro-industry package in Australian history. Bringing it sharper focus and the capacity to cut through and deliver major national projects that are in Australia's interest. That bring onshore critical metals production, iron and steel production, here in Australia. Transformational, national projects that build good jobs, in our outer suburbs, in our regions. It'll strengthen coordination within my Department, but right across Government. And it'll better align the regulatory processes and make sure that we're able to get these big projects on the front foot. 

It will connect those projects more directly to our Special Investment Vehicles – particularly the National Reconstruction Fund – but the billions of dollars that are in public investment vehicles that the Commonwealth Government has at its disposal will now be more coordinated in the national interest as a result of that decision. I'm very pleased with that decision. Grateful for the support of colleagues to bring more coordination and more direction to this important piece of work. 

And before I hand over to Doug Hilton, the CEO of the CSIRO. Of course, I might just make a brief comment about the Farrer by-election that is happening today. Almost half of the electors in Farrer have voted in early voting, and half will vote today. What this by-election demonstrates, if One Nation is elected today in Farrer, what that demonstrates without a shadow of a doubt is that a vote for the Liberal Party is a vote for One Nation. And a vote for One Nation is a vote for the Liberal Party. 

If the One Nation candidate is elected in Farrer today it is because Angus Taylor tore down the first woman leader of the Liberal Party, and directed preferences in her seat to the One Nation Political Party. That has been his decision, his contribution, to drag the Liberal Party into grievance politics. To enable the rise of One Nation in this seat. To direct preferences from the Liberals and the Nationals to One Nation. It makes it very clear: a vote for One Nation is a vote for the Liberal Party, and a vote for the Liberal Party is a vote for One Nation, and no future Liberal Party Government will be achieved in the absence of a Coalition with One Nation. Unthinkable for Australia. Unthinkable for what used to be a respectable party of the centre-right in the Liberal Party, and just a sign of how much Angus Taylor has diminished the Liberal Party in the few short weeks that he's been leader. 

With that, very happy to hand over to Doug Hilton, the CEO of the CSIRO. 

DOUG HILTON, CEO OF THE CSIRO: Thank you so much, Minister. What a great day. It is with a huge amount of gratitude that the CSIRO, all the staff at the CSIRO, have received this great vote of confidence from the Government in not just CSIRO, but in science, and the important role that science will play as our nation tackles some really profound challenges –
global precarity, challenges with productivity, challenges with our environment and sustainability. These are all things that we can do with this additional investment on top of the $1 billion that the Government provides CSIRO every year. This additional investment will allow us to become a more sustainable organisation and a more stable organisation. And those two things are important. It allows investment into our facilities, our equipment, and our cybersecurity. And it provides confidence to our staff that they have the long-term ability to do the creative science that this country so desperately needs. I think it's an exciting day. It comes with a huge amount of responsibility and that's responsibility that our staff and our collaborators are really eager to seize. Thank you, Minister. Thank you for the support you have for Australia's science sector and CSIRO. 

AYRES: Any questions? 

JOURNALIST: With this injection of funds, is this, in any way, an admission from the Government that there hasn't been enough funding for CSIRO? 

AYRES: Well, I think you can see over the life of the Government that where an additional contribution is required to make sure that the CSIRO is sustained properly that the Government has made that contribution. So we did it in MYEFO last year. This is right through the forwards, very substantial contribution right through the forwards, to make sure that the CSIRO has certainty about its sustainment. And indeed some additional capital support here to make sure that centres like the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, have certainty about the capital injection that they need to keep that facility fit-for-purpose. This is a Government that focused on science. We don’t just talk about it. We are delivering here in a way that sets up the national science agency with confidence for the future. And of course, Doug and his leadership and the Board are working through where programs begin and programs end and making sure that the CSIRO’s are research programs align with its priorities. That work will be ongoing. This is a substantial boost to the CSIRO and it is part of a purposeful approach that I'm determined to lead on behalf of the Albanese Government for Australian science. 

JOURNALIST: Can I just ask them a couple questions? At a practical level, what does this extra funding mean in terms of the work that the CSIRO can carry out? 

HILTON: So I think for CSIRO it means we're turning a corner. So, the sustainability challenges we're confronting are not ones that have come about in the last 1, 2, 3 years. They're really an accumulation of 30 plus years of challenges. So, we feel like this funding allows us to invest in confidence for the future. CSIRO celebrating its centenary this year, and I think it prepares us in a really profound way for delivering the science the country needs for the next 10, 20, 30, 40 years. It is a real turning point for the organisation. 

JOURNALIST: And the CSIRO said that it was going to have to cut hundreds of jobs due to funding pressures. How many jobs will be saved as a result of this extra funding injection? 

HILTON: This funding injection gives us real workforce stability into the future. And we're confident that we can maintain that workforce stability. And as the Minister said, that doesn't mean there won't be some changes because we should always be looking at the skills we need year-on-year to deliver the best possible science for Australia. So it gives us confidence, it gives staff confidence. You know, when you work in a creative industry like science, science is a creative process, people need the confidence of future funding to be able to do the best possible science. 

JOURNALIST: Voters in 2016 and 2019 rejected Labor's policies of changing negative gearing and capital gains tax. Why does the Government think it's now okay to make those changes? 

AYRES: Well, there's been a lot of commentary. Hasn't there? Over the last few months. And a lot of debate within the Australian community about tax settings in these areas. And a focus, I think, on these intergenerational questions. But I would say to you ahead of a Budget that is just a few days away – don't make alternative plans for Tuesday night and think that what you've read in the papers and the commentary about what's going on that you can rely upon that – 7.30 on Tuesday night will be a very consequential Budget for Australia. It will be designed to meet those challenges in productivity terms, in resilience terms, and keeping downward pressure on inflation. 

There have been some announcements made by the Government, including the two announcements that I've made today. But the Budget will contain all of the detail that Australians will be keen to see. In housing, we have a big agenda in housing to build more homes for Australians. To inject Commonwealth capital, to underwrite housing projects, to drive housing investment. That's been our plan to date. And I look forward to watching Jim get to his feet on Tuesday night and make the argument for the Government's agenda in the future. 

JOURNALIST: And by making changes to negative gearing and capitals gains tax is the Government breaking an election promise. Why is it okay in these sort of circumstances? 

AYRES: Well, we have been listening to Australians and particularly young Australians. But announcements about our approach on capital gains tax and on the tax settings that sit around housing and investments I will leave to the Treasurer on Tuesday night. That’s what a good Industry Minister does, and I intend to stick with that tradition. 

JOURNALIST: The ABC has been told that the Budget will include a migration shakeup to change the points test, which is used to select skilled migrants. Why is this needed? 

AYRES: I don't want to bore you again, and these are very important issues. The Budget, it isn't a sort of Excel spreadsheet. The Budget is a statement of the Government's priorities and the Government's values and our plans for Australia's future. But whether it's in housing, whether it's around the tax settings, whether it's around our migration settings. I'll let the Budget speak for itself, and I'll let Jim set those propositions out for you and for all of Australia on Tuesday night. 

JOURNALIST: And how difficult has the Iran war made it for the Government to calibrate this Budget? 

AYRES: Well, the Iran war has been as I indicated earlier, the biggest energy shock in the world's history. And the preparedness work that the Australian Government had done under Anthony Albanese since we were elected in 2022 – it was our fourth anniversary of that election just a little while ago – has been to build that Minimum Stockholding Obligation. So that acted as a shock absorber. But never being complacent about what that meant for Australia and Australians. Particularly in our farming sector, in heavy industry, in freight and logistics, in trucking where diesel is so important. Unleaded petrol is so important for commuters and people getting about their business. Jet fuel – so important for our aviation sector. And we have been a very active Government. Building a framework for dealing with this energy shock, and making sure that we are very active in the region. Delivering as much additional fuel and fertiliser and other critical supplies as we can. And I think Australians have seen the Government active on those questions. We are not complacent about the future. The Australian Government wants to see this conflict end. But we are absolutely aware of our responsibilities and how these underline how important that resilience agenda is for Australia's future. We live in an era where we can't take our future prosperity and security for granted, and this is why in my portfolio area – we have a Government that has the biggest pro-manufacturing and pro-industry package in Australia's history, because making more things here makes us stronger. 

Thanks very much.