Science meets Parliament
Every year the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS) holds "Science meets Parliament". This event provides an opportunity for scientists to meet parliamentarians and their advisers, to inform them of the latest scientific developments and help strengthen the links between science and government. This year the event coincided with the announcement of the MNRF-2 funding, providing a great opportunity to talk to parliamentarians about astronomy. Over 100 scientists, including three from the ATNF, and two thirds of parliamentarians participated in the event, held in Canberra on 21 - 22 August.
The first day was set aside for a comprehensive briefing on the state of Australian science and the various techniques and appropriate etiquette for approaching, communicating with, and lobbying members of Parliament. This included question and answer sessions with a panel of parliamentarians and another panel of lobbyists and advisers, both of which provided valuable insights into the workings of Parliament.
FASTS arranged appointments for scientists to meet directly with parliamentarians on the second day. They endeavored to link scientists with politicians from their electorate and by topics of interest nominated by the Members and the scientists.
The majority of scientists were pleasantly surprised at the level of interest expressed by the politicians. Some Parliamentarians expressed the desire to have more frequent contact to discuss and explain the science issues of the day.
Those of us who attended found the event to be a positive and worthwhile exercise and would recommend it to all at the ATNF.
Further information on FASTS and Science meets Parliament is available at http://www.fasts.org .
Jim Lovell (Jim.Lovell@csiro.au), Aaron Chippendale, Baerbel Koribalski