Sources claim that approximately 30 research jobs across New South Wales developing climate change resistant crops might be axed due to the government pulling funding. The Public Service Association says the $130 million partnership between the state and federal government's Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) signed five years ago is in jeopardy after the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) cut funds.
The union claims 20 field scientists and technicians at the Grains Agronomy and Pathology Partnership (GAPP) in Tamworth and another 10 in Wagga Wagga "have been told to clear out their desks by June 30 this year".
The DPI has dismissed the union's suggestions. "The NSW government is not cutting funding for this program nor is it being redirected elsewhere," the office of Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders stated. It said the "protracted" negotiations were due to a bureaucratic reshuffling at the federal body.
Source: centralwesterndaily.com.au